I will start my review by stating a dialogue from 2010 movie 鈥楾he Karate Kid鈥�
Mr. Han (Jackie Chan): Just tell me, Xiao Dre, why? Why do you need to go back out there so badly? Dre Parker (Jaden Smith): Because I'm still scared. And no matter what happens, tonight, when I leave, I don't want to be scared anymore.
I am a timid guy truth to be told. I have been throughout my whole life. So, when I watched the 鈥楧abbe鈥� series, I got more scared and I didn鈥檛 want to be scared anymore, that鈥檚 why I decided to read a book about Jinn/ Djinn/ Genie and came across this one. Anyways, I will try not to spoil the content while reviewing this book:
I have been curious about the world of the Jinn. That secret, invisible race that shares the world we live in. Before reading this book, I thought I knew a great deal about this world due to the large number non-fiction book that I read. But I was dumbfounded while reading this book. The book dealt with the most important topics related to the jinn and demons and mentioned stories of different times that prove their existence and get to know us more about these creatures.
One thing everyone should know that, Iblees/ Shaytaan/ Satan/ Lucifer/ The Devil is neither the fallen angel of Biblical lore, nor the son of the God (Astagfirullah) as mentioned in various stories these days. He is just a Jinn who was given the status of the leader of the Angels because of his devotion to Allah and also that status was taken away when he disobeyed Allah鈥檚 order. Before reading this book, I didn鈥檛 know that they have categories among themselves and based on that their power varies. Some of them can change shapes and travel through space. From this book we know that, Iblees sets his throne on the water. From there, he sends out his troops to tempt mankind. According to Shaytaan, the greatest temptation that a devil can make a person give into is to separate from their spouse. The jinns that follow the devil, will always try to misled us in wrongdoing in various ways. It鈥檚 so easy for them to manipulate us with their trickery. And I didn鈥檛 know that we are in a constant battle with the devils to stay on the path of ALLAH. Luckily, this book explained a great deal about how they trick us and it also came with many verses and remembrances that protect people from them.
So, this is really a good book, but sometimes it gets boring and repeats same thing multiple times. And sometimes I also felt more in-depth research was needed on certain topics. A lot of this may be due to the translation, and not from the author. All that being said, the information in this book is invaluable to an Islamic education.
I've always been curious about the world of the Jinn. That secret, invisible race that shares the world we live in. Often I've wondered if they live on a parallel plane, or are they separated from us by a thin veil of space fabric that is easily breached at will? The scientific questions regarding the existence of the Jinn boggled my mind.
Solomon had power over them, they heeded his every ask. They also have mad skills when it comes to construction and travel. They can change shapes and travel through space. The jinn are made of fire, but they are no less open flames than we are walking mounds of clay. The mystery of Allah's creation is in how He made us from base elements and the essences of these substances.
They may not be immediately visible to man, but man appears to them. Though they seem capable of ignoring us and leading their existences the way they would. The jinn are here for the same purpose that we are; to worship Allah and win our way back into Paradise, where the Huri await with golden pools for eyes and the gardens beneath which rivers ebb and rise.
Chapter 51 (Sura Al Dhariyat), Verse 56 in the听Quran: "And I have not created jinni and mankind except that they should serve Me."
However there is a dark side to proceedings. Satan,that arch enemy of all that is good, was a Jinn. I do not know if this affects the race of jinn in any way, but Satan employs the Jinn to carry out his dirty work.
The term Satan or 'Shaitan' in Arabic is simply used to denote a mischievous demon, and so is used to describe all Jinn who try to lure mankind away from the Straight Path, which is Islam. The Big Satan is known as Iblees in the Quran, but it isn't clear if this is his given name. By the way, don't let the term 'Mischievous' fool you there about the shaitans, these are not adorable pixies trying to tempt you to invade the cookie jar. These beings personify evil and everything that is black in your soul, but to that in a moment.
So, about Iblees. He is The Fallen Angel of Biblical lore, except of course he is no angel, and never was. Allah tells us that angels are beings made of light, they have no distinction between wrong and right, and they cannot choose to defy Him.
Iblees though, was of the Jinn, as is mentioned in Surah Al-Kahf, and he had a conscience. And was capable of defying his Lord if he wanted to do so. He had risen to a position of honor in the eyes of his Lord. He threw that all away however, when he chose to rebel rather than bow down to Adam (peace be upon him), and hence was flung out of the heavens and condemned.
鈥淐hapter 18 (Sura al-Kahf) Verse 20 in the听Quran: And remember when we said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam, and they fell prostrate, all save Iblees. He was of the Jinn, so he rebelled against his Lord鈥檚 command鈥�.
The rest of course, is history. We know what happens next. Iblees extracts a promise from Allah allowing him to stay on Earth as long as it exists. And he in turn vows to never rest until he has turned every single human that walks the planet away from paradise, which is promised only to the righteous.
And thus begins the age old battle between Shaitan and man. Between good and evil, between darkness and light. Told and retold in many a form, this theme recurs throughout out culture. Be it in Harry Potter, The Lord of The Rings, The Odessey or the Illiad or The Ramayana there is always a dualism, always a positive and a negative, always a fight between good and bad.
These battles are mental as much as physical. Could Frodo have reached mount Doom if his virtue had lacked the fortitude to withstand Sauron's psychedelic trickery? Would Odesseus have resisted the Sirens or any of the other supervillains he ended up overcoming if his mind had not been of a singular will?
Similarly, it is not for idle horseplay the Shaitan try to deceive us. It is not for trivialities such as Hogwarts, Middle Earth or your two story flat near Fairfield Gardens that they harry us along every step of our path. This battle we fight is for something greater. It is for our very souls, our very destinies and eternal lives. Iblees tricked Adam (pbuh) and caused him to leave paradise, and with him he condemned all his descendants to life on Earth. And if he has his way, he will drag all of us down into an eternity of hell.
And he has his work cut out for him. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said 鈥�"Satan flows in the children of Adam like the flowing of the blood.鈥溾€�" and yes indeedy, he is that close. He is the sneaking whisperer telling you to prolong your Salah just a little bit longer, and he hangs by your shoulder whispering sweet nothings trying to distract you while you pray. To each of us he has assigned an agent, our very own personal Shaitan, charged with ambushing our progress.
"鈥淭here is none among you except that he has a partner entrusted to him from among the jinn.鈥�" - Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
There are weapons to fight them of course, the Shaitan may never harm the soul of the pious. Ultimately it lies upon each of our individual shoulders, we are responsible for our own souls. It is we who decide to be taken in by the devious machinations of the devils, and it is also we who decide to fight them. We may fail sometimes, and we may fall hard trying. Or we may become tempted and lose our way for sometime. But none of that matters if we fight back. There is hope until the very last.
"鈥淚f you were not to commit sins, Allah would take you away and replace you with a people that would make sins and seek Allah鈥檚 forgiveness and He would forgive them" Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) narrated by Muslim.
All this i gained from this valuable tome (though the pop culture references were mine 0. And yet i have only brushed the surface of the wealth of knowledge it contains. May Allah forgive me if i have made any mistakes. Highly recommended to anyone remotely curious about the topic. I have uploaded the PDF version on 欧宝娱乐 (insha Allah shaikh al-Ashqar won't mind:), so please do download and have a good read!
One should mention the name of Allah when they enter their home so as to keep Shaytaan from entering with them.
When you eat & drink using yr left hand - Shaytaan eats & drinks with you. In short, the nourishment of the food is lost.
Muslims are forbidden by the Prophet to sit between shade & sunlight, as it is where Shaytaan loves to sit
Why are we not allowed to pray when the sun is rising or setting? Rasulallah said: "Do not seek to pray when the sun is rising or setting, verily it rises and sets between the two horns of the devil"
Shaytaan fears Allah - But when the armies came in sight of one another, Shaytaan fled saying: Lo! I am innocent of you. Lo! O see that which you do not. Lo! I fear Allah. And Allah is severe in punishment. (The Holy Quran - Al Anfaal)
Rasulallah has forbidden the killing of snakes found in homes, as they could be Jinns who have accepted Islam and have taken that form.
Rasulallah said: In Madina, there are jinn that embraced Islam, if any of you should see one of them (that is a snake) in a house - he should warn it three times and if it appears after that - it should be killed, for it must be a devil
Shaytaan has no power over pious Muslims: "Lo! My faithful bondsmen - over them you have no power, and your Lord suffices as their guardian" (The Holy Quran - Al Israa)
When closing a door (whether the main door of the house or the bathroom) mention Allah's name for that will make it impossible for Shaytaan to open it.
"Which of the favours of your Lord do you deny?" (Surah Rahman) A beautiful response to it: "There is none of your bounties , Oh Lord, that we deny. And for you is the praise"
鈥淚blees sets his throne on the water. From there, he sends out his troops to tempt mankind. According to Shaytaan, the greatest temptation that a devil can make a person give into is to separate from their spouse.