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Ruling on Addressing the Jinn and Angels

Question: 425766

If people talk to the unseen world for example they address a jinn or an Angel or a dead person. Is this considered as major shirk? not calling up on them and asking them anything or relying upon them etc. but if someone were to say ‘o Jinn are you there’ or ‘o angel are you here’ etc, would this be considered major shirk? Some people when a loved one has passed away, go to his or her grave and talk to the deceased as if he is still alive. (If they don’t ask anything of him and they only talk, what is the Islamic ruling on this?) If someone were to visit an abandoned place and says ‘o jinn are you here, is this considered major shirk? If he’s not asking anything of them but the person just wants to communicate, what is the ruling on this?

Answer

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.

Firstly:

It is not legislated to address jinn or angels, as if a person says: "O jinni or O angel, are you here, or can you hear me?" Nor is it legislated for us to communicate with them, as this is a realm of the unseen; they see us but we do not see them, and they hear our speech but we do not hear theirs. If communication with them were legislated, permission for it would have been given in the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.

Undoubtedly, such actions open the doors to whispers and illusions that one is better off without, leading to conjecture based on falsehood, speaking without knowledge, and perhaps, if one imagines their response and interaction, to asking them for help, seeking their support, or calling upon them in times of hardship; otherwise, such calling and speaking is futile and meaningless!

What is legislated concerning the deceased is visiting them, greeting them, and praying for them, not speaking and conversing with them.

One should occupy themselves with what benefits them and beware of indulging in illusions, affectation, and innovation.

Secondly:

Addressing a jinni, an angel, or a deceased person constitutes shirk if it involves supplication to them, which includes requesting a need, attracting benefit, or repelling harm; such as seeking refuge with jinn, calling upon them for help, or requesting that from the deceased or an angel.

Allah Almighty says(interpretation of the meaning): And there were men from mankind who sought refuge in men from the jinn, so they [only] increased them in burden. (Al-Jinn 72:6).

And Allah Almighty says(interpretation of the meaning): And who is more astray than one who invokes besides Allah those who will not respond to him until the Day of Resurrection, and they, of their invocation, are unaware. (Al-Ahqaf 46:5).

Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his interpretation of the first verse (8/239): "And His saying: And there were men from mankind who sought refuge in men from the jinn, so they [only] increased them in burden. I.e., We used to think that we had superiority over mankind because they sought refuge with us, that is, when they settled in a valley or a desolate place, from the wilderness and the like, as was the custom of the Arabs in their ignorance; they would seek protection from the great ones of that place, from the jinn, that they might not harm them with something displeasing, just as one of them would enter the land of his enemies under the protection of a great man and his covenant and guardianship. So when the jinn saw that mankind sought refuge with them out of their fear of them, they [only] increased them in burden meaning: fear, terror, and panic, until they remained more fearful of them and sought refuge with them more, as Qatadah said: they [only] increased them in burden meaning: sin, and the jinn grew bolder over them with that." End quote.

In conclusion:

Invoking jinn or angels (in du`a) is shirk, and addressing them without supplication is not permissible, and it is a gateway and means to shirk.

And Allah knows best.

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