<<<<< Back to Chapter 2

---

Islamic Voodoos

CHAPTER 3

Angels and Jinns

Belief in the Islamic angels and jinns are the two most important ingredients of Islamic faith system. Verse 2:285 of the Qur'an says Muslims must believe in Allah, His angels, and His Books. Verse 2:3–4 commands the believers to believe in the unseen, meaning, perhaps, the jinns.

If any Muslim rejects the idea of the existence of angels and jinns, he loses his Islamic faith. In verse 4:47, Allah has reserved stiff penalty for such disobedience. Ibn Kathir interprets the penalty of Allah (in 4:47) in this manner:

…effacing means turning them blind; turn their faces backward means put their faces on their backs and make them walk backwards; curse them means to turn them into animals.

Because of such seriousness of Allah, it is important to understand Islamic angels and jinns. Let us start with the Islamic angels.

Islamic Angels

Gabriel Cleansing Muhammad

Just as the Qur'an has a Sura exclusively for the jinns (Sura 72), it also contains a Sura named Malaika (the angels, Sura 35) exclusively dedicated to Islamic angels. Allah has also named this Sura as Fatir (The creator).

 The very first verse (35:1) of this Sura says that Allah has appointed angels as messengers (that is, as couriers) of His dicta. In other words, Allah has angels who deliver His errands to His human messenger (such as Muhammad). The modality of Allah’s communication can be described in this manner:

Allah®angel®human messenger®laity.

In this verse, Allah even confirms that his angels have wings—two or three or four. It is not clear how an angel could have three wings. To avoid embarrassment, eminent tafsir writer, such as ibn Kathir, assumes it must be pairs. That is, an angel may have up to eight wings in total.

However, Allah’s mind is not that easy to understand, for, in Sahih Bukhari (4.54.455) we read that Muhammad saw Gabriel (Allah’s archangel) with 600 wings. Perhaps, this means 300 pairs.

Interestingly, Allah contradicts Himself. Here is the proof: verses 12:109, 21:7–8, 25:20–21 say Allah sends only men as messengers; verse 27:82 says Allah sends a beast as a messenger.

In verse 35:10 Allah says:

35:10 Whosoever desires honour, power and glory then to Allâh belong (sic)all honour, power and glory [and one can get honour, power and glory only by obeying and worshipping Allâh (Alone)]. To Him ascend (all) the goodly words, and the righteous deeds exalt it (the goodly words i.e. the goodly words are not accepted by Allâh unless and until they are followed by good deeds), but those who plot evils, theirs will be severe torment. And the plotting of such will perish. (Tr. Hilali and Khan)

 

Ibn Kathir uses this verse to explain the modus operandi of an Islamic angel. He writes:

When the Muslim servant says, `Glory and praise be to Allah, there is no god worthy of worship except Allah, Allah is Most Great and blessed be Allah,' an angel takes these words and puts them under his wing, then he ascends with them to the heaven. He does not take them past any group of angels but they seek forgiveness for the one who said to them, until he brings them before Allah, may He be glorified. Those who remember Allah and glorify Allah by saying, `Glory be to Allah, Allah is most Great, all praise is due to Allah and La ilaha illallah, these words go around the Throne buzzing like bees, mentioning those who said them.

The Prominent Angels of Allah

Here is partial list of prominent Islamic archangels and their duties:

• Azazil (also known as Azrail): he is the angel of death. Believers shudder whenever Azrail is mentioned.

• Gabriel: he is the most famous courier of Allah. He brought all the messages of Allah to Muhammad. He is also known as Ruhul Quddus or the soul of Allah. Carrying the seed of Allah in his body (presumably in his testicles), Gabriel appeared in the form of a complete man, to Mary, and impregnated her with Allah’s seed (see 3:49, 16:102. 19:17).

• Munkar and Nakir: they are the angels of graves. They punish the non‑Muslims in their graves, but reward the Muslims, who, when they were alive, had demonstrated their ardent love for Muhammad.

• Michael: he is a military officer, as well as a helping hand for Gabriel. He and Gabriel helped Muhammad to win the Badr and Hunain battles.

• Harut and Marut: they are the angels of magic and sorcery. Jalalyn writes that Harut and Marut, the two angels of Babel, warned people of the danger of learning sorcery from the devils as well as from them. Harut and Marut were sorcerers who used to teach people magic. It is also said that they were two angels who had been sent to teach [sorcery] to people as a trial from Allah (see 2:102).

• Israfil: he blows the horn/trumpet to announce the onset of the Islamic resurrection days.

The angel of death has several assistants. In verse 6:61 Allah mentions that when the time of death approaches to someone, He immediately sends His messenger (angel of death) to take his life. Ibn Kathir further explains the act of the angel of death (Azazil or Azrail) in this manner:

God sends guardian angels to look over humans; the Angel of Death has angels who pull the soul from its body and when it reaches the throat, the Angel of Death captures it. They guard the soul of the dead person and take it to wherever Allah wills, to Illiyyin if he was among the righteous and to Sijjin if he was among the wicked.

Allah repeats this situation in 32:11 when He says that the angel of death (it is Azrail—ibn Kathir) takes out the soul of a person; then the angel takes the soul to Allah. Ibn Kathir writes that the angel of death’s helpers draw out the soul from the rest of the body until it reaches the throat, then the angel of death takes it.

The taking of unbelievers’ lives is ghoulish. In verse 8:50–51 Allah describes how Islamic angels of death end the lives of non‑Muslims. When the angels take the lives of unbelievers, they smack the unbelievers on their backs and faces, and the unbelievers taste the blazing fire. This is because of the unbeliever’s own actions. On the context of this verse, ibn Kathir explains:

During the Badr fight, when the idolaters faced the Muslims, the Muslims smote the idolaters’ faces with swords; when the idolaters took to flight the angels smote the idolaters’ rear ends. However, these verses are in generally applicable for all unbelievers. Soul is a physical part of the body. When the angels stretch out their hands to take out the soul from an unbeliever’s body, the soul gets scattered around the body, but the angels retrieve it just like a needle is retrieved from wet wool. In this case the veins and the nerves will still be attached to the soul.

Ibn Kathir further explains this abnormal situation in connection with 47:27 when Allah says that the angels will smite the faces of the hypocrites. Thus, ibn Kathir continues:

That is, how their situation will be when the angels come to take their lives, and their souls cling to their bodies, causing the angels to extract them by force, harshness, and beating.

For meting out such savage torment to the non‑Muslims, Allah is grateful to His angels, whom He Himself had created from light. Allah expresses His gratitude to His own creations in verse 79:1. In this verse, Allah swears by the angels who tear out by force the souls of sinners (unbelievers).

Besides extracting soul (similar to surgery on heart, or kidney, or lung) from every human, Allah has appointed an angel to protect it. In verse 86:4 we read that every soul has a protector over it (i.e., every human being is watched by an angel).

In 13:11 Allah says that He has appointed guards (angels) in front and behind for each person. Besides, there is one angel on the left, and one angel on the right. This implies that Allah has employed five angels to each human being. Thus, currently, considering the world population to be six billion, there should be around thirty billion angels right here on earth. This is a mind‑boggling figure, to say the least. We, humans, are literally swimming in an ocean of Islamic angels. Allah did not mention about the number of angels protecting other species, such as, animals, insects, cattle, birds, and fishes. If we were to consider theses creatures, the number of angels surrounding this little planet is truly astounding. On verse 13:11 Ibn Kathir writes:

Ibn Kathir’s mathematics does not seem to be accurate. Perhaps he forgot to add the angel who protects the soul. If we now consider two shifts of work schedule for each group of angels, there are ten angels guarding one person, or sixty billion angels in total.

Curiously, the Qur'an contradicts itself when it records in verses 2:107, 9:116, 17:111, 29:22, 32:4 and 42:28 that Allah himself is the only protector of a human being (animals included, I guess). To confuse us further, Allah says in verse 5:55 that His messengers are our only protectors.

The angels are more well‑informed (read educated, Islamically) than Allah. In verse 4:166 Allah says that the angels certify Allah’s possession of knowledge. Then Allah attests that Muhammad’s knowledge is from Allah.

Islamic Angels are Males

Allah’s bias towards male extends even to His angels. Allah says in verse 6:9 that had He sent an angel to Muhammad, it would surely have been a man‑angel. On Allah’s gender apartheid, ibn Kathir says that this is because they will not be able to look at the angel due to light. Jalalyn says that since no human being is capable of seeing an angel, Allah sends an angel in the form of an earthly man.

Finally, here is a summary of Islamic angels, as we find in various sources of Islam.

§         Moses slapped the angel of death on its eyes...(Sahih Bukhari, 4.55.619)

§         Muhammad saw Gabriel in a cloud… (Sahih Bukhari, 4.54.454)

§         Angel of the mountain requested Muhammad to order anything…(Sahih Bukhari, 4.54.454)

§         Prophet Abraham saw that the complexion of the angel of death is dark, having rough straight hair, smelly, covered with black dress, flames of fire coming out of his mouth, and nostrils in streams…. (Ghazali, p.4.388)

§         When a man recites the Qur’an an angel kisses his forehead…(Ghazali, p.1.211)

§         Angels spread their wings out of cheer for the seeker of knowledge… (Ghazali,1.23)

§         The angel takes the form of a man when it speaks with Muhammad…(Lings. p.45)

§         Muhammad conversed with angels—that was why he did not eat raw garlic and onions…(Lings, p.168)

§         Munkar and Nakir are the two black angels of grave… (Walker, p.341)

§         When a man tells lies, he produces bad odor, so much so, the angels move miles from him…(Sunaan Tirmidhi, 1248)

§         Angels record attendances of Friday prayer…(Sunaan Nasai, 2.1388, 1389, 1390)

Islamic Jinns

The Qur'an says Allah created the mankind and jinns to worship Him (51:56).

As usual, the Qur'an has contradictory statements on Allah’s purpose/s for the creation of men and jinns. For example:

Verse 35:15 says men need Allah but Allah does not need them, whereas in the above (51:56) verse Allah says He needs men and jinns to worship Him. To confuse further, Allah says in verse 7:79 that He created many men and jinns destined for hell. These humans and jinns are worse than cattle. Ibn Kathir provides the reason. He writes:

…some jinns disobey God. They are deaf dumb and blind. Allah knew about the disobedience of these jinns and wrote it in a book fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth.

Why are some men and Islamic jinns worse than cattle, even though Allah created them? The eminent tafsir writer Jalalyn provides the answer. He says:

Because [at least] they [cattle] seek what is beneficial to them and stay away from what is harmful to them: these individuals, on the other hand, are proceeding towards the Fire, out of [sheer] obstinacy.

Allah places great significance on the influence and activities of Islamic jinns. He has named an entire Sura (Sura 72) in the Qur'an as The Jinn.

This is a late Meccan Sura Allah revealed this Sura on Muhammad's return journey from Taif. Muhammad went to Taif to seek help from the Quraysh. Reportedly, the Quraysh ridiculed him, and their children pelted stones at him. Gabriel wanted to help Muhammad to destroy the Quraysh city, but Muhammad declined Gabriel’s help.

Dejected, frustrated, and angry, Muhammad went solo to a recluse, and, at night, recited the Qur'an. A few jinns listened to Muhammad’s recitation of the Qur'an. Jalalyn writes that the jinns were from the city of Nasibin. According to ibn Abbas Gabriel informed Muhammad that nine jinns of Nusaybin, near Yemen, listened to the recitation of the Qur'an, converted to Islam, and hastened to tell their companion about their discovery of Islam.

Islamic Classification of Jinns

Verse 72:6–7 says that many human beings sought power through jinns but the jinns brought adversity to them. Those who sought the power of jinns, and the non‑Muslim jinns themselves did not believe in the resurrection day. On the tafsir of these two verses ibn Abbas writes that there are three kinds of jinns. They are:

• Jinns who fly in the air

• Jinns who ascend and descend wherever they wish

• Jinns who resemble dogs and snakes (these are non‑Muslim jinns)

According to Ghazali (p.3.43) there are four types of jinns. They are:

• Serpents

• Scorpions

• Worms

• Jinns roaming the sky like air

Ibn Abbas further compares the power seekers of jinns and the non‑Muslim jinns to the unbelievers of Mecca.

This means there are Muslim jinns and non‑Muslim jinns, even today.

In verses 72:8–10 Allah says that the jinns attempt to eavesdrop on the conversation of Allah with His companions (that is, His angels, messengers, and prophets), but Allah chases the jinns out by hitting them with meteorites.

This means meteorites are Allah’s projectiles to annihilate the disobedient or non‑Muslim jinns. Whenever we look at the star‑studded sky, and observe a meteorite, we can be certain that Allah is punishing the infidel jinns, even today.

In verse 72:11 Allah says that some jinns are righteous, some are not. Ibn Abbas writes that the jinns are divided into various religious sects—some are Christians, some are Jews.

This means: besides Muslim, Christian and Jewish jinns; there are Shia jinns, Sunni jinns, Hanafi jinns, Shafii jinns, Hanbal jinns , Maliki jinns, Kadiani jinns, Jaffri jinns, Aga Khani jinns, Khoja jinns, Sufi jinns, al‑Qaeda jinns, Hamas jinns, al‑Fatah jinns, Lashkar‑e‑Taiba jinns, Jaishe Muhammad jinns, Jamat jinns, Khelafat jinns, HUJI jinns, Ansar al‑Islam jinns, Hijb at‑Tahrir, jinns, Jamiatul Mujahidin jinns, Ahl al‑Sunna jinns,

Mecca - Stoning of the jinn

Taliban jinns, Hindu jinns, Buddhistjinns, Shikh jinns, Mormon jinns, Jehovas Witness jinns—just as many belief systems are there, there are types (and sub‑types) of jinns.

After the judgment day, righteous jinns (Muslim jins) will enter heaven and they will have sex Hurs. Since Allah made the jinns out of fire, we may assume flames of fires copulating with the Hurs.

Just as Allah has divided the mankind into two camps—the camp of Islam (Dar al‑Islam) and the camp of warfare (Dar al‑Harb,) Allah also has two worlds of the jinns—the world of Islamic jinns, and the world of un‑Islamic jinns. In verse 72:14 Allah says that only the jinns who embrace Islam are on the right track. Allah will use the non‑Muslim jinns as the fuels of hellfire.

Ibn Kathir writes that Muhammad had a conversation with the jinns. Let us read 72:18–19.

72:18: And the mosques are for Allâh (Alone), so invoke not anyone along with Allâh. (Tr. Hilali and Khan)

72:19: (It has been revealed to me that) When the slave of Allâh (Muhammad) stood up invoking (his Lord Allâh) in prayer to Him they (the jinns) just made round him a dense crowd as if sticking one over the other (in order to listen to the Prophet's recitation). (Tr. Hilali and Khan).

On the context of 72:18 ibn Kathir writes that the jinns said to Muhammad, `How can we come to the Masjid while we are distant, meaning very far away - from you and how can we be present for the prayer while we are far away from you' So Allah revealed this verse (that is, 72:18).

Ibn Kathir even mentions that nine jinns visited Muhammad at Nakhla when Muhammad was reciting the Qur'an there. Elaborating the context of 72:19, he writes that when Muhammad stood in prayer, a multitude of jinns surrounded him to listen to him (the Qur’an). When they heard Muhammad reciting the Qur'an they almost mounted on top of him due to their zeal. When they heard him reciting the Qur'an they drew very near to him. Muhammad was unaware of the jinns until Gabriel came to him and made him recite 72:1.One of the jinns was named Zawba`ah (also see 46:29–31). Tabari lists the names of other seven jinns. They were: Hassa, Massa , Shasir, Nasir , Ayna al-Ard, Aynayn and al-Ahqam (Tabari, p.vi.118).

The Overwhelming Power of Islamic Jinns

The Qur'an alludes to the awesome power of Islamic jinns in connection with Prophet Solomon (Sura 21 and 27).

In verse 21:82 Allah says devils, in the form of jinns, dived into the water to retrieve pearls, jewels, etc., for Solomon. Allah protected Solomon from these devils.

In 27:17 Allah says that jinns fought for Solomon.

Muhammad and Gabriel visit hell

In verse 27:39–40 we read that to impress Solomon, a mysterious man competed with a jinn of Solomon to bring the mansion of Queen of Sheba. In the end, Solomon gave the job to this mysterious, pious person. This man brought the glittering edifice of Queen of Sheba to Solomon before Solomon blinked his eyes. Curiously, the Qur'an is silent about the identity of the pious person. It might be that Muhammad’s plagiarism of Jewish folklores was not smart enough.

Ibn Kathir mentions that this mysterious character was probably Asif bin Barkhiya, Solmon’s scribe. He was a truthful believer (that is, a Muslim) who knew the Greatest Name of Allah.

Further, Ibn Kathir also provides some description of the jinn contender of Solomon. It was Ifrit, the mountain‑sized jinn. Ibn Abbas writes that the name of this jinn was ‘Amr’. This jinn vouched that he could bring Queen Sheba’s mansion before Solomon could stood up.

Ash Shifa (p.202) writes that the jinns look like Indians or the Sudanese. So when you see any Indian or Sudanese remember jinns.

Here is a compilation of a few unique features of Islamic jinns:

• Jinns eat bones and animal dung; Muhammad met a delegation of jinns in the city of Nasibin... (Sahih Bukhari, 5.58.200)

• A deputation of jinns informed Muhammad that they ate bones, dung and charcoal… (Sunaan Abu Dawud, 1.1.0039)

• Jinns eat bones and dung…(Mishkat 1.186)

• Muhammad caught a jinn…(Sahih Bukhari, 4.55.634)

• While Muhammad was at pray at Nakhlah a company of Jinns passed by. They were seven Jinns from Nasibin… (Lings. p.99)

• Iraq is a place of rebellious jinns and disease with no cure…(Malik’s Muwatta, 54.11.30)

We must remember that the most prominent, favourite, and obedient jinn of Allah was the Satan. Allah gave him the name Iblis. However, Allah kicked Iblis out from paradise when Iblis disobeyed to prostrate before the newly created Adam.

---

>>>> To continue to Chapter 4