Human Beings and Jinn within a Quranic Vision
Published in January 4, 2019
Translated by: Ahmed Fathy
Introduction:
We have received a question from our dear friend Mr. Amin Rifaat, may the Lord God bless and reward him; he is one of the main pillars of our Quranism website; he supervises publishing our books in English on this website: (https://www.amazon.com/Understand-Quran-works-Ahmed-Mansour-ebook/dp/B07B6FRQVM). Here is his question: (Dear Dr. Mansour ... Is there a difference between the two Arabic/Quranic words which denote human beings: (Bashar) and (Ens)? Why are both terms mentioned in this verse: ""So eat, and drink, and be consoled. And if you see any humans (Bashar), say, ''I have vowed a fast to the Dominant Lord, so I will not speak to any humans (Ens) today.''"" (19:26)? ... Thank you). Of course, we seize the chance of this question to write a lengthy answer in this article.
Firstly:the two Arabic/Quranic words (Bashar) and (Ens) are exact synonyms:
Both words are synonymous and refer to human beings in general.
1- This verse is about the creation of Adam and all human beings: "Your Lord said to the angels, "I am creating a human being from clay, from molded mud."" (15:28).
2- The Quranic/Arabic plural word (Ens) which denotes "human beings" or "humans" is the root of the Quranic/Arabic singular word (Ensan) which means "the human being"; the Lord God says the following about the creation of Adam and all human beings: "We created the human being from clay, from molded mud." (15:26); "We created the human being from an extract of clay." (23:12); "Has there come upon the human being a period of time when he was nothing to be mentioned? We created the human being from a liquid mixture, to test him; and We made him hearing and seeing." (76:1-2).
Secondly: the difference between human beings and jinn regarding how both were created:
1- The jinn were created from the energy of fire: "He created man from hard clay, like bricks. And created the jinn from a fusion of fire. So which of your Lord's marvels will you deny?" (55:14-16).
2- The jinn were created before the creation of Adam: "We created the human being from clay, from molded mud. And the jinn We created before, from piercing fire." (15:26-27).
3- The only angel who disobeyed the Lord God by refusing to prostrate to Adam is Iblis who was, as a punishment, turned into one of the jinn; i.e., Satan the Devil, and was expelled from the Upper Realm; Satan and other devils and jinn cannot pass through the first heaven of the universe: "We said to the angels, "Bow down to Adam." So they bowed down, except for Satan. He became of the jinn, and he defied the command of his Lord. Will you take him and his offspring as allies instead of Me, when they are an enemy to you? Evil is the exchange for the unjust ones." (18:50).
4- The jinn and devils reside/exist in the Barsakh levels of the earth.
4/1: The earth has seven levels: the weak, physical one and is overlapping six Barsakh, metaphysical levels, in which three types of ethereal beings/creatures live: (1) angels which write deeds and words of human beings, (2) devils who try to seduce human beings and jinn, and (3) jinn. This is what the jinn said: "We realized that we cannot defeat God on earth, and that we cannot escape Him by fleeing." (72:12).
4/2: The jinn, like other Barsakh ethereal creatures, can see human beings; the opposite is not true; i.e., human beings cannot see jinn, devil, and angels: "O children of Adam! Do not let Satan seduce you, as he drove your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of their garments, to show them their nakedness. He sees you, him and his tribe, from where you cannot see them. We have made the devils allies of those who do not believe." (7:27).
4/2/1: Because human beings cannot see the jinn they imagine that the jinn have frightening looks, especially at night, and Moses had the same idea as per the following verses.
4/2/1/1: "Throw down your staff." And when he saw it wiggling, as if it were one of the jinn, he turned his back to flee, and did not look back. "O Moses, come forward, and do not fear, you are perfectly safe." (28:31).
4/2/1/2: "Throw down your staff." But when he saw it quivering, as though it were one of the jinn, he turned around not looking back. "O Moses, do not fear; the messengers do not fear in My presence." (27:10).
5- The Lord God has not committed the human beings to the service of the jinn or the jinn to the human beings; yet, some of the jinn were committed to the service of Solomon.
5/1: "And for Solomon the wind - its outward journey was one month, and its return journey was one month. And We made copper flow for him. And there were jinn that worked under him, by the leave of his Lord. But whoever of them swerved from Our command, We make him taste of the torment of the Inferno. They made for him whatever he wished: sanctuaries, statues...Then, when We decreed death for him, nothing indicated his death to them except an earthworm eating at his staff. Then, when he fell down, it became clear to the jinn that, had they known the unseen, they would not have remained in the demeaning torment." (34:12-14).
5/2: "To the service of Solomon were mobilized his troops of jinn, and men, and birds - all held in strict order." (27:17).
5/3: "A sprite of the jinn said, "I will bring it to you before you rise from your seat. I am strong and reliable enough to do it."" (27:39).
Thirdly: shared elements between human beings and jinn:
1- There were messengers sent by the Lord God to jinn and others to human beings; the Lord God will say the following to the disbelievers among both human beings and jinn: ""O assembly of jinn and humans, did there not come to you messengers from among you, relating to you My Verses, and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?" They will say, "We testify against ourselves." The life of the world seduced them. They will testify against themselves that they were disbelievers." (6:130).
2- Acts of worship and being tested within bearing responsibility: "I did not create the jinn and the humans except to worship Me. I need no livelihood from them, nor do I need them to feed Me." (51:56-57).
3- The following two challenges:
3/1: Both cannot produce a text similar to the Quran: "Say, "If human beings and jinn came together to produce the like of this Quran, they could never produce the like of it, even if they backed up one another."" (17:88).
3/2: Both cannot move through the Barsakh levels of the heavens and the earth: "O communities of jinn and humans! If you can pass through the bounds of the heavens and the earth, go ahead and pass. But you will not pass except with authorization. So which of your Lord's marvels will you deny? You will be bombarded with flares of fire and brass, and you will not succeed. So which of your Lord's marvels will you deny?" (55:33-36).
4- The Quran is the Divine Message addressed to both human beings and jinn from the lifetime of Muhammad until the end of days.
4/1: The question (So which of your Lord's marvels will you deny?) is repeated in several verses in the Quranic Chapter 55, and the human beings and jinn are mentioned together in some verses in the same Chapter: "When the sky splits apart, and becomes rose, like paint. So which of your Lord's marvels will you deny? On that Day, no humans and no jinn will be asked about his sins. So which of your Lord's marvels will you deny?" (55:37-40).
4/2: The Lord God made some of the jinn listen to the Quran.
4/2/1: "Say, "It was revealed to me that a group of jinn listened in, and said, 'We have heard a wondrous Quran." (72:1).
4/2/2: "Recall when We dispatched towards you a number of jinn, to listen to the Quran. When they came in its presence, they said, "Pay attention!" Then, when it was concluded, they rushed to their people, warning them." (46:29).
5- There are (dis)believers among both human beings and jinn. The believing jinn said the following: "Among us are those who are submitting, and among us are the compromisers. As for those who have submitted - it is they who pursue guidance. But as for the compromisers - they will be firewood for Hell." (72:14-15); they said the following also about the disbelieving jinn: "But the fools among us used to say nonsense about God." (72:4).
6- There are preachers of the Truth among both human beings and jinn. We will not mention the ones from among human beings here as we have covered this topic several times in our previous writings. The following Quranic verses are about the preachers of the Truth from among the jinn.
6/1: "Recall when We dispatched towards you a number of jinn, to listen to the Quran. When they came in its presence, they said, "Pay attention!" Then, when it was concluded, they rushed to their people, warning them. They said, "O our people, we have heard a Book, sent down after Moses, confirming what came before it. It guides to the truth, and to the Straight Path. O our people! Answer the caller to God, and believe in Him; and He will forgive you your sins, and will save you from a painful torment." He who does not answer the caller to God will not escape on earth, and has no allies besides Him. Those are in obvious error." (46:29-32).
6/2: "Say, "It was revealed to me that a group of jinn listened in, and said, 'We have heard a wondrous Quran. It leads to guidance, so we have believed in it; and we will never associate within polytheism anyone with our Lord. And Exalted is the Grandeur of our Lord-He never had a mate, nor a child." (72:1-3).
7- There are preachers of falsehoods and lies among both human beings and jinn.
7/1: Most of both human beings and jinn are being misled and misguided by Satan and his devils.
7/1/1: Satan the Devils and devils under him try to seduce and tempt as many as possible from the jinn and human beings: "Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of the humankind. The King of the humankind. The God of the humankind. From the evil of the sneaky whisperer. Who whispers into the hearts of people. From among the jinn and among the humankind."" (114:1-6).
7/1/2: The Lord God says the following about devil-companions who seduce and tempt human beings and jinn: "We had assigned companions for them, who glamorized to them what was in front of them, and what was behind them. And the Word proved true against them in communities of jinn and humans that have passed away before them. They were losers." (41:25).
7/2: The disbelieving jinn and human beings cooperate in spreading devilish revelations of Taghut and falsehoods.
7/2/1: They spread devilish narratives, tales, falsehoods, lies, and hadiths; e.g., the ones authored by Paul of the New Testament and by Al-Bokhary and their likes among imams/leaders of misguidance. The Lord God warns us against the devilish revelations here: "Likewise, We have assigned for every prophet an enemy - human and jinn devils - inspiring one another with fancy words within arrogance in order to deceive. But had your Lord willed, they would not have done it. So leave them to their fabrications." (6:112).
7/2/2: The disbelieving misguided/misguiding human beings initiate the spread of devilish narratives/hadiths and the disbelieving jinn help them in this grave sin: "Some individual humans used to seek power through some individual jinn, but they only increased them in misguidance." (72:6).
7/3: The devilish revelations include tenets/beliefs of polytheism; chief among them are the deification/worship of jinn and angels; of course, that the misguided human beings worship jinn/devils means that they obey and submit to them.
7/3/1: "On the Day when He gathers them all together, then say to the angels, "Was it you these used to worship?" They will say, "Be You glorified; You are our Master, not them. In fact, they used to worship the jinn, and most of them believed in them."" (34:40-41).
7/3/2: "And they invented a relationship between Him and the jinn. But the jinn know that they will be gathered. God be glorified, far above what they allege." (37:158-159).
7/3/3: "Yet they attributed to God partners - the jinn - although He created them. And they invented for Him sons and daughters, without any knowledge. Glory be to Him. He is exalted, beyond what they describe." (6:100).
7/4: On the Last Day, the misguided, deceived losers will wish to take revenge against the misguiding jinn and human beings who have misled them: "Those who disbelieved will say, "Our Lord, show us those who led us astray - among jinn and humans - and we will trample them under our feet, so they become of the lowest."" (41:29).
8- The losers among both human beings and jinn will be gathered together on the Last Day: "On the Day when He gathers them all together: "O assembly of jinn, you have exploited multitudes of humans." Their allies among the humans will say, "Our Lord, we have profited from one another, but we have reached the term that you have assigned for us." He will say, "The Hell-Fire is your dwelling, wherein you will remain..." (6:128).
9- The losers among both human beings and jinn will enter into Hell together.
9/1: "He will say, "Join the crowds of jinn and humans who have gone into the Hell-Fire before you." Every time a crowd enters, it will curse its sister-crowd. Until, when they are all in it, the last of them will say to the first of them, "Our Lord, these are the ones who misled us, so inflict on them a double punishment in the Fire." He will say, "Each will have a double, but you do not know."" (7:38).
9/2: "We have destined for Hell multitudes of jinn and humans. They have hearts with which they do not understand. They have eyes with which they do not see. They have ears with which they do not hear. These are like cattle. In fact, they are further astray. These are the heedless." (7:179).
9/3: "As for him who says to his parents, "Enough of you! Are you promising me that I will be raised up, when generations have passed away before me?" While they cry for God's help, "Woe to you! Believe! The promise of God is true!" But he says, "These are nothing but tales of the ancients." Those are they upon whom the sentence is justified, among the communities that have passed away before them, of jinn and humans. They are truly losers." (46:17-18).
9/4: "...The Word of your Lord is final: "I will fill Hell with jinn and humans, altogether."" (11:119).
10- Both human beings and jinn will be divided into three categories on the Resurrection Day: two categories in Paradise and one in Hell.
10/1: "And you become three classes. Those on the Right - what of those on the Right? And those on the Left - what of those on the Left? And the Forerunners, the Forerunners. Those are the nearest." (56:7-11); "And those on the Left - what of those on the Left?" (56:41).
10/2: The human beings and the jinn in Paradise will be of one sex, regardless of being males and females on earth, and they will have houris for their pleasure formed out of their good deeds; these verses are about houris: "We have created them of special creation. And made them virgins." (56:35-36).
10/2/1: "In them are maidens restraining their glances, untouched before by any humans or jinn." (55:56).
10/2/2: "Houris, secluded in the tents. So which of your Lord's marvels will you deny?" (55:72-75).