The Albaani Site

What is the ruling concerning asking the jinn
about matters of the Unseen?

Shaikh al-Albaani said, “We do not hold that one should turn to the Jinn concerning questions about matters of the Unseen since that is one of the causes for the misguidance of mankind. In the Noble Quran, Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, mentioned some of the misguidance of the polytheists of the past. So the Lord of all Creation, the Blessed and Most High, said, narrating the story of the Jinn who came to the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, and believed in him, part of what those Jinn said was, “And verily, there were men among mankind those who sought refuge with the masculine among the jinns, but they (i.e., the jinns only) increased them in sin and disbelief.” Jinn 72:6

Seeking the help of the Jinn in order to gain knowledge of the Unseen is, as some of the people of the past said when disapproving of people seeking help from one another, “… like a prisoner calling for help from another prisoner.” So mankind seeking help from the Jinn to gain knowledge of the Unseen is just like a man seeking the help of another man since both categories, man and jinn, share in the fact that neither of them has knowledge of the Unseen.

As for when by Unseen a matter is intended which actually occurred but is absent from mankind due to the fact that their strength and power is limited and the strength of the Jinn is greater, then likewise we say: it is [still] not befitting [to ask the Jinn]. Since if they are continually called upon the matter will expand just as a hole in a garment keeps increasing until it cannot be patched up^[1], and thus the people will fall into associating partners in worship with Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, [shirk], committing shirk in the Attributes of Allaah. Since as you all know Allaah is one in His dhaat [essence], one in the fact that He Alone is worshipped–so none of His Creation whatsoever can share with Him in knowing the Unseen. As He, the Blessed and Most High, said, “(He Alone is) the All-Knower of the Unseen, and He reveals to none His [knowledge of the] Unseen. Except to a Messenger (from mankind) whom He has chosen …” Jinn 72:26-27

So the Prophets and the Messengers themselves did not know the Unseen but Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, taught them some of the matters of the Unseen through revelation.

And there is no Prophet after our Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم.

Thus, the path to acquiring knowledge of the Unseen is blocked, whether it is concerning knowledge of those things from the Unseen which have not yet occurred or those things of the Unseen which have occurred but which mankind does not have the strength or ability to acquire [even though they have taken place]. So seeking the aid of the Jinn in this type, without doubt, is humiliating and [nothing but] misguidance, which can lead, as I have just said, to associating partners with Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.

Perhaps from the modern day proofs of this is what has reached us about your country in particular, Kuwait. That there is a person there who claims to have knowledge of the Unseen such that he ordered his followers to migrate from Kuwait to here, Jordan, and that there would be snow and it would be very cold in Jordan so he ordered them to buy some blankets and other such things to keep themselves warm with and that on the contrary in Kuwait, Allaah forbid, there would be a blazing fire along with other false and futile claims that he made–do you have any knowledge about that?

Questioner: We received some news, O Shaikh, that he is in Syria and there is another in Egypt, from the Sufis.

Shaikh al-Albaani: But there followers here [in Jordan] say that their Shaikh is in Kuwait.

Questioner: This is correct. They have followers dispersed [in different places, some of whom] went to Kuwait. Last Sunday they made an announcement in the newspaper that they were waiting for everybody. And the Shaikh was present in Syria and another in Egypt, and they announced to their followers that the Day of Resurrection was about to be established. So they left the schools, and this is true, and some of them sold their land and left.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Many of them came here.

Someone in the gathering said: The abode of the Shaikh of this tariqah [Sufi way] in Kuwait is that of Fareed Hamdaan. And his son and brother are here [in Jordan].

Questioner: Last Sunday and Monday many of the newspapers announced that one of their Shaikhs was in Syria and the other in Egypt.

Shaikh al-Albaani: It is possible, whatever the case, that there is movement [of these people or Shaikhs] and [people] preferring [one to another]

The proof here is that opening the door to communicating with the Jinn leads man to fall into misguidance which has been forbidden.”

Al-Fataawaa al-Kuwaitiyyah, pp. 38-40.

^[1] Shaikh al-Albaani used an old Arabic example here, saying:

اتَّسَعَ الْخَرْقُ عَلَى الرَّاقِعِ

The literal translation would be as I have put in the post, i.e., a hole in a garment is patched up but keeps increasing such that the patch cannot cover the hole anymore and the meaning is as Abu Hilaal al-Askari explained  in Jumhuratul-Amthaal (1/160), “And it means: The problem/corruption increases such that it cannot be rectified or contained.”