Sihr & jinn - Werkstuk over Magie in de Islamitische wereld. PDF

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Werkstuk over Magie in de Islamitische wereld....

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Laurens Adeaga 3rd Bachelor of Arts in Oriental Languages and Cultures: Japanology (Ghent) Academic year 2019-2020

Sihr & Jinn: The basics of Magic in Islam

Islam Prof. Ayang Utriza Yakin

3836 words

Introduction This essay on black magic and jinn in islam aims to provide outlining answers to

Laurens Adeaga 3rd Bachelor Japanology

questions on a topic that does not come up often, if ever, in a non-islamic environment. I have chosen to investigate this subject out of my own curiosity towards it in the hope of presenting a somewhat concrete idea of what this concept entails, how it is believed to have originated, and the most common opinions and perceptions on it. As unfamiliar as most people in our environment and myself are with the subject, I felt it was imperative to abide by the very basics of it. The main goal of this work is to provide an insight that leads to a better understanding of this mysterious aspect of one of the most widespread religions in our world today.

Magic I would like to start off by defining what we, today in the West, define as “magic”. A quick google search for the English definition of magic results in the following: “The power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.”. It is important to note the use of the word “apparently” in the English definition as this already shows a discrepancy in the English meaning of the word and that of my own mother tongue. In Dutch the definition for “Magie”, translated to English goes as follows: “The conscious paranormal influencing of reality.”. Notice how the meaning is nearly the same except for the usage of “apparently”. In Dutch we make a distinction between “magie” and “goochelarij”, though both translate to “magic” in English. The best way to translate “goochelarij” would be “magic tricks” or simply the illusion of performing magic, but not actually performing magic. This notion will be important later on in this essay. Aside from a dictionary definition it is actually rather hard, or even impossible, to define what magic actually entails, after all every phenomenon that wasn’t understood in the past was or could have been placed under the denominator of magic or miracle

1

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and this could still be true for things we’d consider magic today, if any. Defining the content of magic is rather a practice of defining what it isn’t, especially in relation to science and religion, than the other way around1. Despite the word having a very high cultural value, the scientific value of the word magic is for this reason very low to nonexistent.

Sihr Linguistically sihr means “that which is hidden or secret” because of the mysterious and esoteric nature of the practice. It is considered to be the muslim equivalent of magic and is thus also translated as such. Sihr is mentioned 23 times in the Qur’an and 29 times in Hadith. Although the Qur’an mentions the practice in the verses, it doesn’t condemn sihr itself but rather denounces those who allowed themselves to be enchanted by the idea of it, specifically by the angels who have come to put man to the test as we will see later on. In Hadith on the other hand sihr is severely denounced as can be concluded from several examples instructing to kill any practitioner of sihr2.

Muslim theologian and philosopher Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī created a classification of practices considered to be sihr in his commentary on the Qur’an in the early 13th century. These included practices similar to what was considered magic or witchcraft in medieval Europe such as astrology, illusionism and requesting help from spirits and demons to perform certain acts. However, they also held a variety of other practices including sleight of hand, usage of drugs and perfumes, influencing crowds by means of

1 Knight, Michael Muhammad. Magic in Islam, (Penguin, 2016), 5. 2 Fahd, T., “Sih ḥr”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th.

Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. 2

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charisma, rumor-spreading and creating division between people by means of slander3. It’s noticeable how these last few examples seem like odd practices to categorize as magic because of their non-supernatural nature. Contemporary Saudi scholar and writer of The sword against Black Magic and Evil Magicians, Wahid Ibn Abdessalam Bali4, contests al-Rāzī’s classification for exactly that reason and states that magic, or sorcery, absolutely requires a supernatural force5 that does not stem from Allah. Bali’s taxonomy of sihr is therefore much narrower and focuses more on what is classified within sihr as sihr al-aswad or “black magic”as opposed to Sihr al-abyad or “white magic”. White magic is magic that is considered lawful due to its non-demonic nature and good intentions such as the enchanting speech of someone reciting the Qur’an6 and or performing counter spells to black magic, for instance. These, however stem from Allah and are therefore not recognized as magic by some muslim scholars such as Bali. In our own terms we could say this is the difference between a “miracle” and “magic”. That being said, we will no longer entertain this semantic discussion and for the sake of pragmatism, we will not further be using the dichotomy of white magic and black magic as the focus of this essay is on the latter. From this point on, whenever we speak of sihr it can be assumed we’re referring to the unlawful, or black magic.

Sihr in everyday life is believed by many to be the cause of a wide scale of unfortunate events caused by a saher, or sorcerer, who is typically hired by someone out of jealousy, grudge, hatred, etc.. These unfortunate events can range from seemingly mundane minor accidents such as tripping multiple times a day while walking to more severe 3 Knight, Magic in Islam, 16. 4 Davies, Owen. Magic: a Very Short Introduction. (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012) 5 Kruk, Remke. "Harry Potter in the Gulf: Contemporary Islam and the Occult." British

Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 32, no. 1 (2005), 54. 6 Netton, Ian Richard. Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilization and Religion. (London

RoutledgeCurzon, 2013), 377. 3

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cases as the decline of one’s business or even death. What lies at the basis of sihr is the same notion that makes the practice as haram, or illegal, as it is: the reliance on malicious spirits called Jinn. By doing so the practitioner of sihr appeals other powers than that of Allah and therefore commits kufr and shirk, translating to disbelief and idolatry7. The idea is that by summoning jinn to use their natural abilities for one’s own purposes, the saher makes it seem as if he is using his own power to manifest the supernatural in front of the eyes of man, when in reality he is relying on the power of the jinn. It is for this reason that the sources in Islam label the practice as trickery and fraud. It is notable though, that there are interpreters of the Qur’an who do believe the sorcery of the saher is real8, this viewpoint however, seems to enjoy less popularity among scholars.

The Qur’anic origin of Sihr The story of how sihr was taught to humans has a wide array of interpretations, therefore we will stick to the most common interpretations and try to stay as general as possible in the following summary. Harut and Marut were two angels sent to earth by Allah as a test for humankind. These two angels held the knowledge on how to engage with the jinn or in other words how to perform sihr. They were sent to the city of Babylon and were permitted by Allah to teach sihr to anyone who wished to be taught. However, these angels would only teach them after warning them that they shouldn’t partake as they were sent down as a test and that anyone who would learn the practice of magic would be committing kufr and would be denied entry to Jannah, which is the 7 Kruk, Remke. Harry Potter in the Gulf, 54. 8 DOOSTDAR, ALIREZA. "DO JINN EXIST?" In The Iranian Metaphysicals: Explorations

in Science, Islam, and the Uncanny, 52-57. PRINCETON; (OXFORD: Princeton University Press, 2018), 53. 4

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Islamic paradise. Despite being warned by Harut and Marut, the people of Babylon insisted they be taught the practice and so sihr became known to humans. All the different kinds of practices within sihr that exist originate from this event in Babylon.

“And they learned what harmed them, not what profited them. And they knew that the buyers of (magic) would have no share in the happiness of the Hereafter. And vile was the price for which they did sell their souls, if they but knew!”-Al Baqarah 2:102

Another remarkable interpretation claims that Harut and Marut did not teach it themselves but rather showed people to the location where they could find jinn that would teach them sihr. But they still however warned them as they did in the first interpretation we summarized.

The most famous part of the Qur’an that deals with magic is that of the prophet Musa, or Moses as he is called in the Bible, and his encounter with the sorcerers of the Pharaoh. In this passage Musa enters a competition with these sorcerers orchestrated by the Pharaoh who wants to prove that the miracles Musa performs are nothing but mere tricks before the proclaimed actual magic of his mages. On the day of the competition Musa allows the sorcerers take the first turn.

“Sprinkling water on the earth, they threw their ropes and rods to the ground; presently, it seemed to Moses that the ropes and rods were writhing like serpents.”9

So not only to eye of the public and the Pharaoh had the illusion been successful, but 9 Turner C. Bāqir., and BehbPdī Muhammad Bāqir. The Quran: a New Interpretation. (Psychology Press, 1997), 187. 5

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even to Musa himself instilling insecurity in his own ability in the process. He however heard the word of Allah, reassuring him that he would come out of this competition triumphant by His will:

“Throw the staff which you hold in your right hand and you will see; for as soon as it hits the ground it will swallow up everything cast down by the sorcerers. Theirs are but magic tricks which deceive the eye; whatever a sorcerer does, he will not prosper.”10

And so Musa threw down his staff, which then turned into a giant serpent swallowing up all the ropes and rods of the sorcerers and so convincing them of the existence of Allah, compelling them to ally themselves to Him.

In this short summary of the passage we can see the aforementioned attitude of Islam regarding sihr and saher. It is apparent that the trickery of this magic is not that there is no magic happening at all, because there is. In the example of Musa and the sorcerers of the Pharaoh, the Qur’an explains that the ropes and rods of the sorcerers don’t actually transform into serpents, but the magic is cast upon eye of the beholder which is enchanted to see what is not there. This practice is not supernatural and so it doesn’t seem to meet the qualifications for English notion of actual magic but it does however seem to fit the previously mentioned Dutch word “goochelarij”, or magic tricks to a great extent. Does this mean that in Islam modern day magic shows and magicians, or rather “goochelaars” are considered to practitioners of sihr? There is no consensus among scholars regarding this debate. Some of the more strict, conservative theologian scholars will argue that all of these practices are in fact haram without exception and

10 Ibid, 187. 6

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those on the other side of the spectrum such as Dr. Yasir Qadhi have stated that these are mere illusions with the purpose of entertaining. He claims it doesn’t rely on jinn or lead to devil worship and therefore it should not be considered sihr.

Jinn Sihr, as previously mentioned, is not a produce of the saher but relies completely on the services of the entity called a jinn.To get a grasp on what sihr is, we must understand what jinn are. They have a Surah titled after them and are mentioned approximately 29 times in the Qur’an as beings that were created by Allah alongside humans and and lmalāikah11, or angels. Their mythological origin however, dates back to pre-Islamic times.. These beings are described as having been created out of smokeless fire12, being able to shapeshift, fly and even travel through time. Jinn exist in the same world as us humans and so we are able to interact with one another. Although they can perceive us, we cannot perceive them. Most Arabian literatures also agree that the name jinn originates from the word ijtinan, which translates to “being invisible to the eye”13. Despite the common pejorative connotation to the word “ jinn” due to its association with Iblis, or Satan, there are in fact also benevolent jinn as explained by the following passage from the Qur’an:

“There are among us some that are righteous, and some the contrary: we follow divergent paths.” Al-Jinn 72:11

11 Qnal Ali. The Qurʼ an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English. (Clifton, NJ:

Tughra Books, 2008), 1345. 12 NASSER, LANA. "The Jinn: Companion in the Realm of Dreams and Imagination." In

Dreaming in Christianity and Islam: Culture, Conflict, and Creativity, edited by BULKELEY KELLY, ADAMS KATE, and DAVIS PATRICIA M., 143-54. (NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY; LONDON: Rutgers University Press, 2009), 143. 13 NASSER, LANA. The Jinn, 144. 7

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Here we see that much like humans, jinn are individuals who make their own choices and therefore they too will ultimately be judged by Allah for the path they have chosen. Beside good and evil, there are multiple classifications of jinn. Among these are those that can fly, those that take the form of dogs and snakes, those that dwell in a certain place at a time, exceptionally strong and or evil ones, etc.. We will not be looking into each separate type, however interesting that would be, but it is important to note that there exists a high diversity within these types. It is also mentioned in a Hadith text that every person has a “companion jinn”, or qareen, that was assigned to them. The prophet Muhammad was no exception to this and by Allah’s virtue he was able to convert his own qareen into a Muslim14, which is remarkable because it is generally believed that the qareen of the Muslim does not believe.

Invoking jinn The relationship between jinn and saher can easily be misinterpreted. One would think that being the invoker of a jinn also means one is master of that jinn but in reality nothing could be further from the truth. As we have previously established, the jinn is superior to man in every physical aspect. So why would they subordinate themselves to the sorcerer? Well, they don’t. Upon the invocation of a Jinn by a sorcerer an exchange is made between the two. The sorcerer receives whatever evildoing it is he requested, but what is in it for the jinn? Their motive lies within their psychology. Although Allah granted them with great power, speed, invisibility to humans, etc., humans were granted with knowledge, greater intelligence, the revelations, and prophets. Dr. Qadhi states that jinn are motivated to cooperate with the saher because they are being driven by an

14 Ibid, 144. 8

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inferiority complex15 towards humans. They want to feel superior and they demand exactly that in return for their service: for the sorcerer to completely degrade, subordinate and humiliate themselves before the jinn. This notion is reminiscent to the story of Iblis, commonly translated as the devil. When Allah created Adam He ordered16 to prostrate to Adam. All the angels followed this command but Iblis, who was a Jinn, refused this command. Believing himself to be superior to man, a being made out of clay, he disobeyed Allah and became a disbeliever. Even though he had come to be identified with the Christian notion of Satan, his role differs from it in that it is more ambivalent than the Christian description of a being of pure evil “And [mention] when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers.” Al-Baqara 2:34

It is for this motive of satiating a feeling of superiority that the ways of invoking are as atrocious and disrespectful within the context of Islam as they are. They are meant to attract a jinn by presenting it with an opportunity to feel superior. If done successfully the jinn will request you go further and further in this behaviour to satiate themselves while simultaneously guiding the saher further away from Allah. To provide a concrete idea of how sihr is performed we’ll summarize the various ways of invocation as described by Bali. He notes that he only describes these to demonstrate the reprehensibility of the sorcerers practices.

15 Memphis Islamic Center (MIC). “The Reality of Sihr (Black Magic) - What, Why and

How to protect - Dr. Sh. Yasir Qadhi.”YouTube video, 2:02:44. November 3, 2014. 16 Al-Azm, Sadik J. "The Tragedy of Satan (Iblis)." In Islam – Submission and Disobedience, 131-78. (Berlin: Gerlach Press, 2014), 138. 9

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1.

Reciting spells:

The sorcerer enters a dark room and lights a fire with an incense depending on what is trying to be achieved. He recites charms which exalt the jinn and other idolatrous spells. He must be in a ritually impure condition while doing this by being in a ritually impure state or for example, by wearing an old garment. Hereafter a jinn, in the form of a dog or snake, will appear before him to which he must give his orders.

2.

Animal sacrifice:

The sorcerer sacrifices a (preferably black) animal without pronouncing the name of Allah over it. He then throws it away in a deserted spot usually inhabited by jinn. He then returns home and chants an idolatrous spell. A jinn will appear to whom he must make his demand.

3.

Black magic:

The sorcerer put the Qur’an on his feet as if they were shoes and enters the lavatory like this. He then recites idolatrous magic formulas in the toilet. Thereafter he sits down in a room and gives the jinn its orders. This blatant display of unbelief will have the jinn hasten to obey him.

4.

Filth:

The sorcerer writes a chapter of the Qur’an with an unclean substance such as, e.g. period blood. Thereafter he pronounces idolatrous magic formulas. A jinn will appear to whom he must give his orders.17

17 Kruk, Remke. Harry Potter in the Gulf, 56. 10

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5.

Reversal:

The sorcerer writes a surah from the Qur’an in separate letters and in reverse. Thereafter he recites it. A jinn will appear to whom he must give his orders.

6.

Studying the stars:

The sorcerer watches the ascent of a particular star and starts addressing it with magic chants and formulas that contain idolatrous elements. He proceeds to make certain movements, pretending to bring down the spiritual power of the star. In reality he is worshipping the star and so committing idolatry, though the astrologer may not even be aware. He will believe that the star is helping him while it is in reality the doing of the jinn.

7.

The handpalm:

The sorcerer will write a square in the left hand of a prepubescent boy who hasn’t performed the lesser ablution. He will write various idolatrous magic f...