Ibn Qayyim on How We Spend Our Day

Ibn al-Qayyim [rahimahullah] said,

When a person spends his entire day with no other concern but Allaah alone, 

• Allaah [subhaa nahu wa ta’ala] will take care of all his needs and take care of all that is worrying him. 
• He will empty his heart so that it will be filled only with love for Him, free his tongue so that it will speak only in remembrance of Him [dhikr], and cause all his faculties to work only in obedience to Him.

But when a person spends his entire day with no other concern but this world, 

• Allaah will make him bear its distress, anxiety and pain. 
• He will leave him to sort himself out, and cause his heart to be distracted from the love of Allaah towards the love of some created being.  
• He will cause his tongue to speak only in remembering people instead of remembering Allaah.
• He will cause him to use his talents and energy in obeying and serving the people.
• This person will strive hard, laboring like some work-animal, to serve something other than Allaah.

Everyone who turns away from being a true slave of Allaah by obeying and loving Him, will be burdened with servitude to some created being. Allaah says in the Qur’an [interpretation of the meaning]:

And whosoever turns away [blinds himself] from the remembrance of the Most Beneficent, We appoint for him a shaytaan to be his Qareen [intimate companion]. (Sura al-Zukhruf, Ayah 36).

It was narrated that Anas [radi Allaahu anhu] said that the Prophet [sallal laahu alaihi wa sallam] said: 

Whoever is mainly concerned about the Hereafter, Allaah will make him feel independent of others and will make him focused and content, and his worldly affairs will fall into place.  But whoever is mainly concerned with this world, Allaah will make him feel in constant need of others and will make him distracted and unfocused, and he will get nothing of this world except what is decreed for him.  (narrated by al-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2389 and classed as Saheeh by Shaykh Muhammad Naasiruddin al-Albaani [rahimahullah])

(Source: al-Fawaa’ id, page 159)

Can Humans Marry Jinn?

Like humans, jinn also come from a variety of different religions, ethnicities, regions of the world, etc.  There are Muslim jinn and kaafir jinn.  There are probably Sunni jinn and Shia jinn and Sufi jinn and maybe even desi jinn.  There are good jinn and bad jinn as the Holy Quran states, “There are among us some that are righteous, and some the contrary.  We follow divergent paths” (Translation of the Meaning of the Holy Quran, 72:11).  The jinn themselves live together and procreate as the Holy Quran states, “He was one of the Jinn, and he broke the Command of His Lord.  Will you then take him and his progeny as protectors rather than Me?…” (Translation of the Meaning of the Holy Quran, 18:50) as this verse proves that jinn procreate and have progeny.

However, the question that this post attempts to answer is whether or not humans and jinn can intermarry.  Intercourse is possible between species here.  There is somewhat of a difference of opinion held upon the matter of marriage.  Malik held the opinion that a human male could marry a female jinn but a human female could not marry a male jinn.  Similarly, if a human male was to marry a female jinn, the female jinn would count amongst being one of the four wives the male would be allowed to marry.  Ibn Taymiyyah held the opinion that humans and jinn could intermarry and have children.

Nevertheless, many scholars say marriage between a human and a jinn is not allowed in Islam.  Scholars that say this marriage is impermissible point to the verse, “And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates among yourselves…” (Translation of the Meaning of the Holy Quran, 30:21).  In this verse, mates among yourselves seems to point to humans being allowed to marry only within humans (and jinn within jinn).  Al-Hasan al-Basri held the opinion that marrying a jinn was possible, yet not permissible in the Shar’iah.  You may ask, what?  It is similar to the idea of a Muslim man wanting to marry a Hindu woman.  It is possible, yet it is not allowed in the Shar’iah.  Nevertheless, even if it is possible to marry a jinn, it comes highly recommended that one try not to pursue it…

Update: Shaykh Bilal Philips was recently asked the question of the permissibility of humans and jinn inter-marrying.  He stated he was of the opinion that it is impermissible.

Who is Shaytan?

Shaytan a.k.a. Satan is the enemy of mankind.  He is Iblees and is one of the jinn.  We learn about Shaytan so that we can be aware of who he is and we can learn how to avoid him.  What is the wisdom behind the creation of Shaytan?  This wisdom includes the idea that struggling with Shaytan and his allies is an example of completing one’s servitude to Allah (SWT).  For example, saying Audhubillah when we get an evil thought from Shaytan is a form of worship.  The creation of Shaytan is a test and a manifestation of Allah’s complete power.  We now appreciate the opposite more.  We fear sin now because of Shaytan as Allah’s complete control and ownership is demonstrated.  The creation of Shaytan is a manifestation of Allah’s complete wisdom and we should praise Allah for suppressing the Shaytan and showing His Patience. 

We may be wondering what is the wisdom behind Iblees’s prolonged life?.  Possible answers could include the fact that with Iblees present, it is harder for humans in this life.  Therefore, the reward for doing good will be multiplied many times over.  Additionally, with a prolonged life, Iblees will be able to accumulate many more sins over time.  Considering this, the punishment for Iblees in the Hereafter will be greater and equal to the amount of sins he created.  One more explanation on why Iblees has a prolonged life is due to Allah’s Justice.  Iblees was very righteous and committed before he refused to bow down to Adam.  Therefore, Allah (SWT) has prolonged Iblees’s life so that he is not able to have any leeway on the Day of Judgment (opinion of Ibn Taymiyyah).  The story of Iblees refusing to bow down to Adam is a proof to show that jinn were created before humans.  The Holy Quran says, “When we said to the Angels, ‘Bow down to Adam,’ they bowed down except Iblees.  He was one of the jinn” (Translation of the Meaning of the Holy Quran, 18:50).

Ibn Taymiyyah held the opinion that Iblees is “the father” of all jinn just as Adam is the father of mankind.  Furthermore, from all jinn is produced a qareen for every human.  A qareen tries to seduce his subject by giving one evil thoughts or bad dreams.  Even Rasoolullah (SAW) had a qareen as he told Aisha (ra) in Sahih Muslim.  However, Rasoolullah (SAW) was protected from his qareen as his qareen helped him in doing good.  The Holy Quran says, “If anyone withdraws himself from remembrance of (Allah) the Most Merciful, We appoint for him a Shaytan, to be an intimate companion to him” (Translation of the Meaning of the Holy Quran, 43:36).

Indeed, Shaytan is the enemy of mankind.  “Verily, Shaytan is an enemy to you so treat him as an enemy.  He only invites his adherents that they may become dwellers of the blazing Fire.” (Translation of the Meaning of the Holy Quran, 35:6).  Iblees will never become Muslim.  We must treat him as our enemy and not friend him.  Shaytan will always try to deceive us as this is his ultimate goal.  His promise can be found in the Holy Quran (Surat al-Araf, 7:16-17 & Surat al-Israa, 17:62-64).  We must be aware of Shaytan at all times.  We need to make sure that we never make Shaytan our enemy in public, yet he is our best friend in private.  Shaytan tries to hurt us the most at the moment of death.  If we cannot withstand Shaytan when he is not fully focused on us in our everyday life, then how do we expect to withstand him at our moment of death?  Therefore, let us understand the evils of Shaytan and do our best to avoid him.  We should always say Audhubillah when we receive an impure thought.

Black Magic-Defined

What is the difference between black magic and white magic?  There is no difference!  All magic is black magic (except for fake magic such as misdirections or optical illusions).  The reality of magic involves seeking help from the jinn, which involves pleasing the jinn (i.e. worshipping them).  Therefore, all magic involves shirk!  The nature of jinns is they crave attention and adoration considering they somewhat suffer from an inferiority complex to humans.

The proofs that man is better than jinn include:

1. intelligence and knowledge
2. Shaytan having to prostrate to Adam (as)
3. jinn follow our civilizations and religions
4. the only time intentional encounters between jinn and man take place are during black magic
5. jinn cannot harm humans unless Allah wills it

Ibn Taymiyyah (rahmatullah) held the opinion that Shaytan is the father of all jinn (as Adam (as) is the father of all man).  Insha’Allah, in a future post, I will elaborate more on jinn as this post is intended more for magic.

What are the types of magic?  They involve summoning jinns to attach/kill other people or overtake their bodies, to break marriages or prevent/hinder intercourse, and to even blow on knots with incantations (Surat Falaq, 113).  Others try to use magic to fight magic by trying to lift spells while others use it as a form of fortune-telling to predict the future.

One must differentiate between astrology and astronomy.  Astronomy (a permissible field to study) is the science which maps the movement of the stars.  Astrology is the metaphysical craft that attempts to predict the future (zodiacal signs fall under this category).    What are the evils in visiting an astrologer or sorcerer?

• If you believe in what the fortune teller says, you claim that this person has knowledge of the unseen (an attribute of Allah), hence this is a form of shirk.
  • Proof:  Abu Hurayrah narrated, “Whoever comes to a soothsayer and believes what he says, or has intercourse with a woman in her back passage, has nothing to do with that which has been revealed to Muhammad (SAW)”  [Abu Dawud]
• If you do not believe in what the fortune-teller says, then your prayer is not accepted for forty days!
  • Proof: “Whoever went to a fortune-teller and asked about some matter (of the unseen) and believes him, his prayer will not be accepted for forty days” [Muslim] (I believe another narration exists that does not mention the “believes him” part, however, I was unable to locate this hadith, today.  Insha’Allah, I will update this.

Now, we understand the dangers of never going to a soothsayer or a fortune-teller.  Now consider, if we were to phone the fortune-teller?  There is agreement that this is still not acceptable, correct?  What if we were to email or snail mail the fortune-teller for advice?  Still, no good, right?  What if the fortune-teller was send us his opinions on a small piece of paper wrapped up in a cookie?  Do we understand now the fitnah of fortune cookies?  Therefore, insha’Allah, we must never read fortune-cookies or our zodiac signs, even if it is for fun.  It is still haram, even if we do not believe in the contents in which we are reading.  I personally eat my fortune cookies, I am just careful not to read its contents.

Well, one may ask, I’m just doing magic or astrology for the fun of it.  To them, we should respond that one’s heart can become attached to this practice, instead of to Allah.  One may therefore start believing others know of ilm al-ghayb (unseen future).  In case of magicians, one may believe that they have power to bring good/evil.  Allah (SWT) and His messenger (SAW) have clearly prohibited these actions.  It is haram to even read about black magic.

To conclude, I would like to end with two hadith.  One in which Rasoolullah (SAW) told us to avoid the seven deadly sins.  After shirk, magic was listed second in a hadith found in Bukhari.  The second hadith worth mentioning is that whoever has done magic has done shirk (found in Nisa’i).