Surah Al-An'aam (6) — Ayah 128

128. On the Day when Allah will gather them all together, He will say, "O assembly of jinn! You have misled many of mankind." And their human friends will say, "Our Lord! We benefited from each other [135] until the term You appointed for us came to pass." He will say, "The Fire is your abode [136], to remain therein forever, except as Allah wills to save [137]. Surely, your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing."

[135]
Jinns Overpowering Humans:

In Surah Jinn, Allah the Exalted has mentioned a similar subject, that there were some people among mankind who used to seek refuge with the jinn. This act of humans further increased the arrogance of the jinn, meaning those jinn who overpowered certain humans. In the era of ignorance, when a person got stuck in a jungle or faced a life-threatening situation during a journey, he would say, “I seek refuge in the master of this jungle.” According to their superstition, every jungle had a separate king, and whoever sought refuge from him, he would respond to his plea, and this king was usually a devil or a jinn. Upon hearing such pleas from humans, the jinn would swell with pride and say, “Now I have become the chief not only of the jinn but also of humans.” Jinn are an unseen creation who can take on various forms. Among them, just like among humans, the majority are evil, who are also called wicked spirits. These spirits sometimes, especially during travel or in impure places, take on a frightening form to scare humans and impose their dominance over them. Such evil spirits are commonly called ghosts and witches among us. The supplication that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught us to recite when entering the toilet is as follows: “O Allah! I seek refuge in You from the male and female jinn (whether the evil spirits are masculine or feminine).” [بخاري۔ كتاب الاستيذان۔ باب الدعاء عندالخلاء] The clear meaning of this is that such evil spirits can trouble and disturb humans.

Mutual Benefit Between Jinn and Humans:

Now, the exact forms of mutual benefit between jinn and humans are not known to us, but one well-known form that we observe is the subjugation of jinn. The humans who subjugate jinn are called “Aamil” in our language. These people perform “zakat” of various Surahs, verses of the Noble Quran, or other incantations and charms. The term “zakat” here is coined to describe their entire process. The method of their zakat is such that, for example, if a person wants to perform the zakat of Surah Jinn, he will go to a jungle at night for forty days and recite the mentioned Surah a specified number of times, drawing a protective circle or boundary around himself, and will continue this practice for forty days, abstaining from certain foods or acts during this period. While performing this act at night, jinn will come in various forms to frighten him, but they will not be able to enter the protective circle and attack him. If during this time the Aamil becomes afraid of the jinn, the jinn will take revenge on him, for example, by making him sick, paralyzed, insane, clinging to him and causing various torments, or even killing him. This punishment will be according to the acts performed by the Aamil up to that point. But if the Aamil continues his practice with full determination and is never frightened by the evil spirits, and completes the forty-day course, then he is successful. Some jinn will become subservient to him, from whom he can get various tasks done. Whenever he needs that jinn, he can recite Surah Jinn once to summon him, and the Aamil can assign him the required task and get it done. It is obvious that if an Aamil has subjugated a jinn or evil spirit, he can use it for worldly benefits by assigning it to the desired task. When a jinn possesses a woman and troubles her (note that jinn usually possess women, rarely men), the Aamil is called. He summons the jinn, finds out the situation, promises to treat the patient, and collects offerings from the family. Here, another noteworthy point is that jinn usually trouble women in the locality where an Aamil resides. This leads to the conclusion that sometimes, for their own interests, Aamils themselves send jinn, and when called for treatment, they collect their offerings. In any case, there are many stories about jinn troubling humans and the feats of Aamils, and some incidents are also observed, but the reality is known only to Allah.

[136] Since this entire business closely resembles magic, and the practice of seeking knowledge of the unseen through jinn is also included in it, therefore, in the view of the Quran, this too is disbelief. That is why Allah has prescribed Hell as the punishment for such jinn and humans.

[137] The punishment for sins is given with consideration to the circumstances and conditions, and this is what justice demands. Therefore, the duration of the punishment in Hell for such people will be increased or decreased exactly according to justice.