Is it permissible to expel the jinn from a disbeliever?

The questioner : Is it permissible to expel the jinn from a disbeliever, even if this expulsion helps him to embrace Islam?

The Shaykh : We see that what has spread in this age is the interest in the topic of jinn possessing humans and adopting many means, most of which are not prescribed. Among these is addressing the jinn that possesses a human and asking it, "Are you a Muslim or a disbeliever? Why are you possessing him?" You know the details better than I do. This is not prescribed. All that came in the Shari'ah that is permissible is only for the Muslim to recite some verses or some surahs over the possessed person to expel the jinn from him. As for interrogation, extracting information, and seeking assistance, this is not permissible. This contradicts the saying of Allah the Exalted: Our Lord the Exalted narrates in Surat al-Jinn about the jinn, but they spoke and said: meaning they derive from them, seeking victory and strength from them so that no one would transgress against them. So the humans seeking assistance from the jinn became a cause for the jinn to entangle the humans in predicaments that contradict the Shari'ah, and perhaps even contradict tawhid (the oneness of Allah), such that it takes them out of tawhid into shirk (associating partners with Allah). meaning toil and misguidance. Therefore, it is not permissible to seek assistance from the jinn or for humans to ask the jinn, "Are you a Muslim or a disbeliever?" and so on, and it answers them with something. From where does the human know that this one is speaking the truth or a lie? And you...

The questioner : We want to expel the jinn from him, a Christian.

The Shaykh : I know, my brother, but by what method? We say the method: there is nothing here except only expelling the jinn from the human. We are talking now about the method. What do you mean? That is what interests me. Is it only reciting over this possessed person? Suppose he is a disbeliever, a Christian, what is the method? I am talking now about the method. The principle regarding the jinn, which is from the unseen world, is that we do not trust its words, just as you do not trust the words of a human whose truthfulness or falsehood you do not know. You do not believe him; you must put him to the test and deal with him for a long period to see if he is among the truthful or the liars. After that, you believe him, and perhaps even with your belief in him, you believe him cautiously, because he may have an interest. This is a reality, unfortunately, that we see happening today. You may associate with a man for a few years, then it becomes clear that his companionship with you was only for an interest, and then he turns his back on you. This is a human, like your story. So what about the jinn, which you do not see and do not know? Is it a Muslim? Is it a disbeliever? Is it a truthful Muslim? Is it a lying Muslim? From where do you know that? Therefore, it is not permissible for the Muslim who talks to the jinn that has possessed a human to say to it, "Are you a Muslim or a disbeliever? Why are you possessing him?" and then believe it. Allah is the Greatest! I was reading recently the well-known hadith known to everyone: I thought about the matter. This soothsayer, in some authentic reports in "al-Bukhari" and others, is described as a companion of the jinn. The jinn used to ascend to the sky at that time and eavesdrop on the conversation of the angels regarding what would happen. It would descend with what it heard and throw it into the ear of its human companion, adding to that news a hundred lies. So when the human companion speaks about what his jinn companion informed him of, he hits the mark in one and lies in a hundred. Yet the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning if you believe the human who, like in your story, has a connection with the jinn, you will have disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). So how can the Muslim human lower himself to the position of the companion who used to associate with that jinn that eavesdropped on the sky? Now the human takes the words of the jinn directly, saying, "I am a Muslim," or "This is a sorcerer, his sorcerer is so-and-so," and so on. He takes its words and accepts them fully. Glory be to Allah! Our Lord forbade us to believe that soothsayer who receives from the jinn, yet now we believe this one who receives from the jinn that has possessed the human. This usage is absolutely not permissible today, except reciting the Qur'an to extract the jinn from that human. This is assistance for this Muslim to be saved from the harm of this jinn. As for expanding on that, this will undoubtedly cause hardship for the one who engages in this method, as came in the hadith. And I observe something in the present age: we have passed through stages, all of which are modern deception. The first stage, if you remember, was what they called magnetic hypnosis. They would put a person to sleep, saying he must have special predispositions to be put to sleep, then they would ask him and he would speak words he did not know. This is how they presented the matter. Years passed with people being deceived by this type of magnetic hypnosis. Then they brought out a new innovation: summoning spirits. This is greater misguidance. Magnetic hypnosis does not exceed, as they claim, exploiting existing traits or specializations in some individuals among humans. But summoning spirits means dominating the spirits that have left this world, whether in faith or disbelief, whether in Paradise or in the Fire. In other words, their souls are in a garden of the gardens of Paradise or in a pit of the pits of the Fire. How can these spirits be summoned? The soul that is in a garden of the gardens of Paradise, what would make it leave that garden to the torment of the world? First, this is in general. Then, for it to be under the command of a human, a person who is still in the bonds of life, who asks it and it answers, and then the soul returns to where it was! Glory be to Allah! The soul is bound now, as came in a hadith, and even if its chain is weak, its meaning is indicated by a group of hadiths: "The grave is a garden of the gardens of Paradise or a pit of the pits of the Fire." How is it possible for this human, who may be a disbeliever, a polytheist, or a misguided one, from whom this misguidance of summoning spirits originated? It came from Europe and spread among the people, and even some of the Al-Azhar scholars adopted it. One of them wrote a book he called "The Spirits." The author of the book "Al-Jawahir," the tafsir of Tanthawi Jawhari, wrote a book he called "The Spirits" and fully believes that this is a scientific fact reached by the science of the present age. Then we moved to the third stage: now the issue of summoning spirits, we have not heard much about it, but now it is the communication of humans with them, contacting them, asking them, and interrogating them, and I do not know what will come after that. Therefore, we must adhere in every matter to what our righteous predecessors (Salaf) were upon, so that we may be guided by our Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He. Is there anything else?
Abu Layla : Our Shaykh says, "communication with the jinn." This word, but you said "communication with humans."

The Shaykh : Yes, I mean communication with the jinn.

The questioner : Beating the possessed person?

The Shaykh : No, we did not find this in the Sunnah. Rather, it was reported from the action of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him). If this type of striking does not harm the one being struck, as Ibn Taymiyyah himself said, and if it is beneficial—and this is what I do not believe—then there is no harm, in the sense that there is no harm to the one being struck. I am addressing this issue from a purely scientific angle. I say that many of those who treat the expulsion of jinn from humans add things to the recitation of the Qur'an that are not from the way of the Qur'an. For example, some use sidr, some use oil, and other things I have not memorized. I ask myself: Is the secret in expelling the jinn from the human in the Qur'an? Or the oil? Or the sidr? Or something else I do not know? As I said, if it is by the combination of both, that means the Qur'an alone is not sufficient. And we have disbelieved? Where did we take the permissibility of reciting the Qur'an over the possessed human from? From what came to us from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in some incidents that he recited and the jinn came out, but he did not use anything other than the Qur'an. So now, when we use something else with the Qur'an from material substances, do you see the secret is in the Qur'an or in the material? I do not believe the secret is in the material. The secret is, without doubt or hesitation, in the Noble Qur'an. So I think that using any material thing with the Qur'an is among the deception and delusion of the people, so that the people do not open up to this Qur'anic benefit. And in that case, he will have partners in his profession and craft, not that he uses this and that. So I say I do not see the use of these means at all, except the recitation of the Noble Qur'an.

The questioner : What is the recitation of the Qur'an that is mentioned in the Sunnah?

The Shaykh : No, there is nothing specific other than the recitation. There is nothing specific.

The questioner : The issue of striking the possessed person: a real story happened in... The man who made the reconciliation between the two people told me about it. A young man in their neighborhood was possessed, so they took him to his house and recited the Qur'an over him. Along with the recitation of the Qur'an, they struck him. But the striking was harmful. When they saw that the person had been afflicted with a very exhausting condition in his body, they carried him and threw him in the street! Yes, they placed him in the street like that. A man from the neighborhood passed by, found this young man, picked him up in his car, and took him to his family. They said, "So-and-so did this to you." So they went to the court and complained against them. When they were brought before the judge, he naturally ruled that they be imprisoned. After the imprisonment, there was a settlement, and they paid money to the hospital, and so on. I said, this is...

The Shaykh : This is a more important benefit.
Al-Halabi : One of the brothers, I think Egyptian, was reciting over a man, and the man died. Yes, he was reciting and striking, and the man died before him.

The questioner : One of the committed brothers struck him until he was transferred to the Islamic Hospital, and then he died there.

The Shaykh : This confirms what we are saying. Subhan Allah.

The questioner : A man here, a doctor in Shari'ah and such, wanted to expel it. He wanted to use striking, so he grabbed the woman by... He said, "Come out, enemy of Allah," meaning by the command of Allah... There was a lot on her, so the woman was distressed. They transferred her to the hospital. Her tendons were almost torn from the intensity of how he squeezed her hand.

Another questioner : And one of them taught me: if you want to expel the jinn, you must use this grip. He showed me: put your two fingers in the throat and press quickly, and it will come out.

The Shaykh : His name is Abu Ma'har...

The questioner : My Shaykh, I asked some of those who expel jinn and deal with them, and he says he does not expel them except with the Book and the Sunnah, and he deals with the Muslim jinn. So I said to him, "How did your dealing with the Muslim jinn begin?" He said to me, "When there was a person, and he said, 'I am at your service,' but before you start summoning me, you must fast for three days." He designated these days for him and taught him some dhikr and supplications that I have not noted in my mind yet, so that he can use them. Then he started coming to me and said he helps me in treating some cases. For example, if we come to this person possessed by a jinn, we want to know if this is a natural seizure or from a jinn. I place a piece of cloth, then I place on it something like a ruler or something, and I say and recite the verse of al-Humazah. He said, "Then Surat al-Humazah," and then I say, "By the power of this surah, O Muhammad ibn Maimun, if he is possessed by a jinn, then lengthen the measurement, and if it is natural, shorten the measurement." So it lengthens and shortens like this measurement.

The Shaykh : What is the measure?

The questioner : He places cloth and puts on it something like a ruler or something, and he places pitch and sets it on fire before starting this process.

The Shaykh : Who is the one being called?

The questioner : Muhammad ibn Maimun.

The Shaykh : Who is he?

The questioner : The Muslim jinn that he claims.

The Shaykh : Is this permissible?

The questioner : Of course not.

The Shaykh : So, just as they say in our region in Sham, they called it unemployment.