Pars Today

Welcome to our latest episode of “Path towards Enlightenment”, which is an endeavour to make you and us familiar with an easy and fluent explanation of God’s Final Scripture to all mankind, the holy Qur’an that was revealed to the Last and Greatest of all Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

In our previous episode we completed explanation of “Surah Nooh” and today we start explanation of the next Surah, that is, “Surah Jinn” – the number 72 in the serial order of compilation of the holy Qur’an.

It was revealed in Mecca and has 28 Ayahs. The title of the Surah indicates that it mainly treats a species of creatures invisible to the human eye, and hence called “jinn”. Endowed with some sort of intelligence and the moral choice to discern good from evil, the jinn have believers and disbelievers amongst them. They were acquainted with the prophets of the past and the previously revealed heavenly scriptures. With the start of the universal mission of Islam it became incumbent upon them, similar to the human race, to believe in the message entrusted by God Almighty to the “Mercy unto the whole creation”, that is, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). They will be rewarded or punished according to their specific deeds. The Surah ends with Ayahs referring to the Almighty Creator’s knowledge of the unseen that is unknown to all beings.

We now invite you to listen to Ayahs 1, 2, and 3:

“In the Name of Allah, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful – Say (O’ Prophet): It has been revealed to me that a team of the jinn listened [to the Qur’an], and they said, “Indeed we heard a wonderful Qur’an (i.e. Recital);

“Which guides to rectitude; hence we have believed in it and we will never ascribe any partner to our Lord.

“Exalted be the majesty of our Lord, He has taken neither any spouse nor son.”

God Almighty commands the Prophet of Islam to inform the human society that unknown to him, his recital of the Holy Qur’an was heard by a group of jinn, who aptly listened to its words of wisdom and believed in it, saying they had not heard such a highly rational and superior message. This is indicates the jinn possess reason, understanding, perception, and linguistic knowledge, as well as feel the responsibility to spread the message of guidance amongst their community.  

This group of jinn then proceeded to propagate the message of Islam amongst their community, saying the holy Qur’an leads everyone to the Straight and Unwavering Path of God, Who alone is worthy of worship, is far too glorious to have any partner in managing the affairs of the universe, and unlike the creatures is above the carnal traits to have spouses or children.

These Ayahs teach us that:

1. According to the monotheistic perspective, the universe is not limited to the visible creatures of the material world, but has beings and realities of spirit that the physical eyes cannot see. One such species is called jinn.
2. The intellect analyses and accepts the words of wisdom, and strives towards perfection by shunning falsehood and superstition.
3. True faith is devoid of polytheism and disbelief.

Now let us listen to Ayahs 4 and 5 of the same Surah:

“Indeed the foolish ones among us used to utter atrocious lies concerning Allah.

“Indeed we thought that humans and jinn would never utter any falsehood concerning Allah.”

These Ayahs negate the false beliefs, whether of the humans or of the jinns, since both are prone to be misled by Satan the outcast who is from among the species of the jinn, and makes people utter atrocious lies concerning the Almighty Creator. An example is the wrong belief of the polytheist Arabs who used to say that the Almighty fathers children through a spouse, and the angels are His daughters.

The righteous amongst the jinn had never imagined that mankind and jinn would dare utter any falsehood against God Almighty; and now since they have discovered the ultimate truth through proper comprehension of facts, they repent and seek forgiveness in the Divine court.

From these Ayahs we learn that:

1. We should not be hasty in accepting superstitions and ideological deviations.
2. It is a sign of foolishness to entertain false thoughts, utter lies, and resort to mischief.

In conclusion of this week’s episode of Path towards Enlightenment, here are Ayahs 6 and 7 of Surah Jinn:

“Indeed some persons from the humans would seek the protection of some persons from the jinn, thus only adding to their rebellion.

“They (the jinn) thought just as you (deviated humans) think that Allah will not raise anyone from the dead.”

Among the causes of deviation from the straight and unwavering path of God is the malpractice of some humans to invoke the jinn and seek protection from them, which only increased their disobedience, leading to disbelief in such fundamentals of faith as Resurrection.

It is narrated from the Prophet of Islam that whoever goes to a sorcerer, a soothsayer, or a liar and acknowledges their words, certainly disbelieves in all Divine Scriptures.

These Ayahs teach us the following points:

1. Those who drift away from religion, spirituality, and moral values, only deceive themselves and are perpetual losers on the Day of Resurrection.
2. Those who indulge in such malpractices as invoking the jinn in pursuit of the perishable pleasures and properties of the world, end up astray.
3. It is thus wrong to believe in the words of soothsayers and sorcerers who claim to have news of the future through jinn.

RM/AS/SS