INFORMATION ABOUT JINN, ANGELS AND PEOPLE

Previous essays have dealt with Islam and various beliefs in Islam. All have dealt with, in one way or another, the basic belief and the Creedal Statement of Islam. This is to believe and say that there exists only one Creator, His name is Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet and Messenger. This means to believe in God and all the Prophets and Messengers from Adam (may Allah increase his honor) to Muhammad (may Allah increase his honor). To become Muslim, enter Islam, one must say and believe in the Creedal Statement of Islam with the intent in one’s heart to become Muslim and leave all things which contradict this belief.

God told people through the Prophet and Messenger Muhammad (may Allah increase his honor) that He created Heaven and Hell. For those who believed properly in God and His Prophets, but committed large sins, depending on whether God forgives their sins or not, they will either be punished in Hell for their sins and then raised to Heaven, or go directly to Heaven. But those who refused to believe properly in God and His Prophets will be punished eternally in Hell, because not to have faith deserves punishment.

God created people and jinn and ordered them to worship Him. Some of them obeyed and some of them didn’t. Angels, a third creation, always obey the Creator.

Angels were created from light. They are all Muslims and will always be Muslims. They are neither male nor female. They do not eat, sleep nor drink. They live in the skies. Some Angels will give the punishment to those in Hell, because Angels are completely obedient to God.

People were created from earth. The first man was Adam (may Allah increase his honor) from whom Eve, the first woman, was created, and then from them the Earth was populated. Adam (may Allah increase his honor) taught his children what God ordered him to. It is well known that people are male and female, they get married and have children. Some are Muslims, and some are non-Muslims.

Jinn are another creation. Jinn were created from fire. Some are Muslim and some are non-Muslim. They are invisible to man in their original form. They are male and female. They eat, drink, get married and have children. In general, they live longer than humans.

Some people in their ignorance that God created a being called jinn, have mistaken the actions of jinn as being supernatural, whereas it is not supernatural, since jinn are simply another creation. The things that jinn do have been attributed to what people have called poltergeists. When people have seen jinn in other than their original form, not knowing what jinn are, they have called jinn ghosts. Jinn can live around people and can help or hurt them.

Angels often prevent jinn from doing all the things they would do to people. The Prophet Solomon had control over all jinn. Sometimes they will appear to children when they won’t appear to adults. Thus, the child who claims to have an invisible playmate may very well be playing with a jinn.

The first jinn was Iblis, otherwise know as Satan. He objected to God’s order and for this became a non-Muslim. However, not all jinn are non-Muslims. Muhammad (may Allah increase his honor) taught Islam to both jinn and people. Some jinn are Muslims and some jinn are non-Muslims.

So we know that God created people and jinn and ordered them to obey His orders. We should worship the Creator and obey what he ordered us to do. We know that man is limited. A man at any time cannot know everything that is to his benefit, but God, the Creator, knows everything about the creation, and has revealed to His Prophet Muhammad (may Allah increase his honor) the information we need to live in obedience to God.

In following the rules of Islam, one protects himself. Since we are limited, we may not know the wisdom of every order, but we should follow it, knowing that if we do as God ordered we deserve reward, and if we don’t, we deserve to be punished.

Being faithful and following the orders of God is beneficial not only in this life but in the next. We all pass through experiences that are difficult and we need the help of others. In Islam there is a care felt for another Muslim that often exceeds expression. There is a saying in Islam which means that the one who wants to reach true piety wants for his brother Muslim the same good things that he wants for himself.

This desire prevents petty jealousies that people often succumb to. The Muslim is ordered to have good manners and deal well with people, to care for his neighbor. The Muslim does these things not for his neighbor, but in obedience to God. Therefore, he does not feel proud, nor does the neighbor feel indebted, because they both know that the one who gives is not looking for praise or favors, and the one who receives recognizes that all things are from God. This care is evident in all the teachings of Islam.

Muslims are required to become educated in how to perform all their Islamic duties, such as learning the attributes of God, the attributes of the Prophet, how to pray, how to fast and so on. In addition, it is required, for example, for some Muslims to gain knowledge in all fields of study as needed.

But the Muslims have an advantage, because by learning religion they know if some information is right or wrong by referring back to the information given in the Qur'an and Hadith which contain a vast amount of information about the creation. Take the example of the theory of spontaneous generation, which stated that living things arose spontaneously. They used to say that a sweaty shirt on a pile of wheat is where mice came from, or maggots came from rotten meat. This was accepted by serious scientists until the seventeenth century. Whereas in Islam, it is known that each living thing gives rise to its offspring. Had the scientists at that time studied Islam, the true religion, they would not have wasted their time on such a question and could have better spent their time on developing more useful techniques of observation and study.

Science is very useful and beneficial. However, science should not be the thing on which one bases one's life and beliefs, but rather science should be used for what it is, a tool. The Qur'an and Hadith contain a vast amount of information about the creation. If one is wise, he accepts this information and uses the means available to him to make the best use of this information beneficially. That is why, when Muslims applied Islam they were the most scientifically advanced people. Doing this is how the Muslim expands and learns. Another example, the people who spend their time studying ghosts and some natural phenomena hoping to find some secret or another are wasting their time. If they simply learned what Islam taught, they would understand much of these, and it would free them to study things which are more beneficial.

For a person to gain the most from this life and the next, it is necessary for him to believe properly in his Creator and Muhammad, the Prophet and Messenger. First to admit to this belief by believing and saying that there exists only one Creator, His name is Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet and Messenger, with the intent in one’s heart to become Muslim and leave anything which contradicts this belief. Having become Muslim, he has given himself a common base with all Muslims. By having this common base, he then has to learn the Islamic knowledge every Muslim is required to know, and with this comes the responsibility to take care of himself by following what the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah increase his honor) taught, and preventing himself from what the Prophet forbid by God’s order.

Knowing to abstain from what God ordered us to abstain from is good. While we enjoy the freedom and pleasure of those things which are permitted to us by God we have peace of mind, knowing that these things are not harmful to ourselves or others. This is the care that the Muslims have, and the consolation which keeps them going when things are hard to bear.

 

Table of Contents