We Have Heard a Wondrous Qur'an

There is a hadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned how, before his prophethood, the jinn would get on top of one another and form this line up to the heavens, and then they would listen to the speech of the angels, to something that may have been given to them. But after his prophethood, they could not do that.

That is why Sūrat al-Jinn speaks of a group of jinn that was sent out. Groups of jinn were sent out in jamāʿats, like the big jamāʿat; they were sent out in groups, to find out what it was that had caused this change in the universe. They were not able to go up to the heavens. There were massive changes that took place in the heavens and the earth due to the birth of the Prophet^***. The whole thing was prepared for it: avenues were closed off, and so on.

So these groups were sent out. It was one particular group, and they were from Naṣībīn, or Naṣībiyyīn; and that is where the Prophet (peace be upon him) was returning, and he stopped there to make Fajr^****.

Qul ūḥiya ilayya annahu istamaʿa nafarun min al-jinni fa-qālū innā samiʿnā qurʾānan ʿajabā. That whole part was revealed. When they observed this, they went back, and they embraced the faith.

So the jinn have this imagination; and they have the various faiths among them, and so on and so forth. Our belief, though, the fundamental belief that we have to have, is that there is such a creature, the jinn, as Allah mentions in the Qur'an; that they have been created for worship, as human beings have; and, as Allah mentions in the Qur'an, that We created them from a particular type of fire. Beyond that, how many jinns there are, and what their description is, and so on, are all additional matters. What's important is that we believe in them: that this is another creation of Allah (swt).

The Prophet (peace be upon him) was sent to them. There are hadith from ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd and others, in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) is reported to have gone to meet the jinn, and discussions took place. ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) was actually told to stay back within a circle, and so on and so forth. There is a lot of detail there. This is not the place for it, though it is an interesting topic for most people.

And the whole of humanity. Truth and guidance, light and radiance. Ḥaqq, from the Lord: that's the truth from Allah (swt). Hudā is, again, guidance from Allah (swt). Wa bi-l-nūri wa-l-ḍiyāʾ: this phrase, bi-l-nūri wa-l-ḍiyāʾ, is not in all of the versions of this book. It is only in some of the books. Bi-l-nūri wa-l-ḍiyāʾ is not in all of the books. There is more discussion about this afterwards. The section after this one is on the Qur'an, the speech of Allah; but before it comes point 33.