Evolution and Islam and Jinn: Difference between pages

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Traditional and modern academic scholars understand the Quranic accounts of the creation of man, and of his sustenance growing from the earth, as special acts of creation, in line with the Judeo-Christian worldview prevalent in its late antique milieu (such as the very ancient belief that [[Creation_of_Humans_from_Clay|the first man was created from clay]]). In modern times, such interpretations of the Quran are widely regarded to be in conflict with the scientific theory of evolution. A common trend among modern Islamic scholars is to deny evolution as a scientific fact, at least with regard to the origins of mankind, even if evolution may be accepted as an explanation for the diversity of plants and other animals on Earth. A further, modernist approach, is to not only partially or fully embrace the theory of evolution as compatible with the Quran, but even to interpret its verses as alluding to the process. This article describes the verses and arguments that are sometimes employed for such purposes, as well as those cited by critics to challenge these interpretations.
'''Jinn''' (جن‎ ''ǧinn'', singular جني ''ǧinnī'' ; variant spelling ''djinn'') or, as Romanized more broadly, '''genies'''<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/genie|2=2012-04-27}} Genie] - Wiktionary, accessed April 27, 2012</ref> are said to be supernatural creatures that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. They are mentioned in the [[Qur'an]], [[hadith]], other [[Islam and Scripture|Islamic texts]] and Arab folklore. The Jinn are believed to exist in many sub-species themselves, with some living in the air, others as humans on land, and some like "snakes and dogs".<ref>Hughes, Thomas Patrick (1885). "Genii". ''Dictionary of Islam: Being a Cyclopædia of the Doctrines, Rites, Ceremonies'' . London, UK: W.H.Allen. pp. 134–6. Retrieved 4 October 2019.</ref> Together, the various jinns, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of [[Allah]]. Like human beings, the jinn can also be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent.<ref>El-Zein, Amira. [http://books.google.com/books?id=H-k9oc9xsuAC&pg=PA116-IA117&lpg=PA116-IA117&dq=Jinn:+Medieval+Islamic+Civilization+-+An+Encyclopaedia&source=bl&ots=TSnTkHUY_j&sig=mXTd96-4uH5A5dpRvcBvgDGjUS4&hl=en&ei=HScES6WOBMLDlAek9IHtAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Jinn%3A%20Medieval%20Islamic%20Civilization%20-%20An%20Encyclopaedia&f=false "Jinn,"] 420-421, in Meri, Joseph W., ''Medieval Islamic Civilization - An Encyclopedia''.</ref>


==Evolution of modern humans==
==Islamic beliefs==
While the study of human evolution is a field regularly enriched by new discoveries and uncertainty regarding the exact ancestral relationships between the various hominid species, there is a scientific consensus on common ancestry - that humans evolved as part of the family tree of life on Earth. It is beyond the scope of this article to provided detailed evidence of human evolution. It suffices to point out that the fact that modern humans evolved and share a common ancestor with all life on earth is backed by multiple lines of evidence, including overwhelming DNA evidence and the numerous fossils of pre-Homo sapiens species that lived on earth for millions of years prior to the evolution of modern humans.<ref>[http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence What does it mean to be human?] - Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History website</ref>  
The jinn are mentioned frequently in the Qur'an. There is a [[surah]] titled Sūrat al-Jinn (the 72<sup>nd</sup> chapter of the Qur'an), and [[Mistranslations_of_Islamic_Scripture_(English)#.2867:5.29_Shooting_stars|verse 67:5]] discusses the stars from the "lowest heaven" which are used as missiles against any mischievous jinn that attempts to eavesdrop on conversations between angels.<ref>[http://www.islamawareness.net/Jinn/world.html The World of Jinn] - Invitation to Islam, Issue 4, January 1998</ref>


To give just a couple of examples, powerful DNA evidence that humans have common ancestry with other primates includes [[w:Endogenous_retrovirus|endogenous retroviruses]]. These viral remnants in our genome are now thought to have played a role in our evolutionary development in many cases, but must have been passed down after infecting the germline cells of our common ancestors shared with various other primates. We know this because they appear in the exact same locations of our genome and that of certain primate families. Additionally, for the most part they correlate with what is expected from other evidence regarding the timing of the various points at which each primate family split off from our own lineage (or are otherwise explained by independent evidence).<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXfDF5Ew3Gc DNA Evidence That Humans & Chimps Share A Common Ancestor: Endogenous Retroviruses] - Youtube.com</ref><ref>For a detailed and balanced discussion of the evidence relating ERVs to human evolution, see Jorritsma RN.  (2022) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8781664/ How Well Does Evolution Explain Endogenous Retroviruses?-A Lakatosian Assessment.] Viruses. 14(1):14. doi: 10.3390/v14010014. PMID: 35062218; PMCID: PMC8781664.</ref> Another powerful genetic line of evidence is the fusion of two primate chromosomes to become chromosome 2 in humans.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK3O6KYPmEw Professor Ken Miller on DNA fusion events] - Youtube.com</ref>
In Islamic theology jinn were [[Creation|created]] from smokeless fire by Allah as humans were made of clay.<ref>{{Quran-range|55|14|15}}</ref> According to the Qur'an, a jinn named ''ʾIblīs'' refused to bow to Adam when Allah ordered angels and jinn to do so. For disobeying Allah, he was expelled from [[Heaven|Paradise]] and called "''Šayṭān''" (Satan). The Qur'an also mentions that Prophet [[Muhammad]] was sent as a prophet to both "humanity and the jinn," and that prophets and messengers were sent to both communities.<ref>{{Quran|51|56}}</ref><ref>Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb al-Ṭabarī, ''Tuḥfat al-gharā’ib'', I, p. 68; Abū al-Futūḥ Rāzī, ''Tafsīr-e rawḥ al-jenān va rūḥ al-janān'', pp. 193, 341</ref> In Surah al-Jinn, the Qur'an describes a contingent of jinn being sent by Allah to Muhammad to hear and then convey his message to other jinns.


==Quranic verses about the creation of Adam and mankind's descent from him==
The Qur'an also describes Sulayman (Solomon) has having had an army of jinn that god had made subservient to him.
===Quran 32:7 et. al. - Creation of the first man from clay===
{{main|Creation of Humans from Clay}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|32|7}}|Who made all things good which He created, and He began the creation of man from clay;}}


Since this verse says Allah "began" the creation of man from clay, it does not seem to leave a role for earlier ancestors in the beginnings of humanity prior to Adam.  
Jinn are usually invisible to humans, and humans do not appear clearly to them. Frequenting [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Toilet Etiquette#Say a prayer when entering, to ward off jinn and demons|toilets]],<ref>{{Abudawud|1|6}}</ref> they feed on feces and bones,<ref>{{Bukhari|5|58|200}}</ref> have the power to travel large distances at extreme speeds and are thought to live in remote areas, mountains, seas, trees, and the air. Like humans: jinn can also choose to become Muslims, will be judged on the Day of Judgment, and will accordingly be sent to Paradise or [[Hell]].<ref>''Tafsīr''; ''Bakhsh az tafsīr-e kohan'', p. 181; Loeffler, p. 46</ref>


One modern interpretation of this verse claims that instead of clay being a building material for the first man, the word "began" refers rather to the earliest pools of water and clay where life began according to one scientific theory (ultimately leading to the evolution of humans). But there is no major model of [[w:abiogenesis|abiogenesis]] which considers clay itself essential for life (as opposed to a replication surface or catalyst).
===Scholars' views===
While many Islamic scholars today reject the possibility of jinn possession, there is classical precedent for belief in jinn's ability to possess and interact with human beings in this and numerous other ways. Most famously, [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] was a proponent of this view in his ''Essay on the jinn'' (Ibn Taymiyyah also claimed to know and have mastered the "poetry of the jinn").


More importantly, the very next verse clarifies that this refers to the first man, since his descendents are created from conventional sexual reproduction:
All qualities and behaviors of the jinn other than possession and interaction with humans (such as those listed above), however, are agreed upon, as they are stated in explicit terms in Islamic scriptures.


{{Quote|{{Quran|32|8}}|Then He made his seed from a draught of despised fluid;}}
==Cultural presence==
The word translated “seed” in Pickthall's translation quoted here is nasl نسل, which means progeny (i.e. descendants).<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000286.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 3032 نسل]</ref>


Even more explicitly, a few verses state that Adam was made from clay:
===In the Muslim world===
Belief in jinn and some form of black magic and jinn-human communion is an inextricable part of Islamic doctrine, however the details of jinns' interaction with human beings is less explicitly formulated in Islamic scripture. Still, belief in jinns' ability to: engage in specific black magic contracts with human witches and warlocks, possess human bodies, fall in love with human beings, rape human beings, haunt houses, etc. is wide-spread in the Muslim world. Many Muslim-majority countries have laws explicitly outlawing the practice of black magic as well as black-magic squads employed by the state to hunt down alleged sorcerers. Exorcism (''Ruqya'' as conducted by ''Raqis'', or exorcists) as a cure for jinn-possession is also extremely commonplace in the Muslim world and in many places constitutes a multi-million dollar industry. Exorcists are infamous for abusing their patients under the guise of exorcising jinns.


{{Quote|{{Quran-range|15|26|29}}|'''And We did certainly create man out of clay from an altered black mud.''' And the jinn We created before from scorching fire. And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "I will create a human being out of clay from an altered black mud. '''And when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My [created] soul, then fall down to him in prostration.'''"}}
===In the West===
In many modern cultures, a Genie is portrayed as a magical being that grants wishes. The earliest of such jinn stories in folklore originate in the book of the ''One Thousand and One Nights''<ref>[http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/arabian/bl-arabian-jinni.htm The Fisherman and the Jinni] - from The Arabian Nights, translated by Sir Richard Burton in 1850</ref>, but the idea of jinns granting magical acts through black magic to sorcerers was a well-established in pre-Islamic Arabia (and Islam confirmed this).


{{Quote|{{Quran|17|71}}|And [mention] when We said to the angels, "Prostrate to Adam," and they prostrated, except for Iblees. He said, "Should I prostrate to one You created from clay?"}}
==Relevant Quotations==


{{Quote|{{Quran|3|59}}|Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created Him from dust; then He said to him, "Be," and he was.}}
===Qur'an===
The Jinn are described in the Qur'an as having been made of a smokeless flame:
{{Quote|{{quran|55|15}}|And the jinn did He create of smokeless fire.}}
Which were created before humans:


Other verses are quite specific that Allah created man with his "hands" from clay or mud as a material:
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|15|26|27}}|26. We created man from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape;


{{Quote|{{Quran|55|14}}|He created man from clay like [that of] pottery.}}


{{Quote|{{Quran-range|38|71|75}}|[So mention] when your Lord said to the angels, "'''Indeed, I am going to create a human being from clay. So when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My [created] soul, then fall down to him in prostration.'''" So the angels prostrated - all of them entirely. Except Iblees; he was arrogant and became among the disbelievers. [Allah] said, "O Iblees, what prevented you from prostrating to '''that which I created with My hands?''' Were you arrogant [then], or were you [already] among the haughty?" He said, "I am better than him. '''You created me from fire and created him from clay.'''"}}
27. And the Jinn race, We had created before, from the fire of a scorching wind.}}


Academic scholars have noticed another parallel between the Quranic stories of Adam and Jesus. In {{Quran|3|49}} and {{Quran|5|110}} Jesus is said to have miraculously created birds with Allah's permission by forming them out of dust or clay, then breathing into them. See the section on Jesus and the Clay Birds in the article [[Parallels_Between_the_Qur'an_and_Late_Antique_Judeo-Christian_Literature#Jesus_and_the_Clay_Birds|Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature]].
The first part of Surah al-Jinn discusses the activities and thoughts of a group of Jinn who encountered Muhammad:
{{Quote|{{quran-range|72|1|14}}|1. Say (O Muhammad): It is revealed unto me that a company of the Jinn gave ear, and they said: Lo! we have heard a marvellous Qur'an,


===Quran 7:27 et. al. - All people are descended from Adam and Eve===
2. Which guideth unto righteousness, so we believe in it and we ascribe no partner unto our Lord.


The Quran is explicit that every person alive is ultimately descended from Adam and his spouse alone.
3. And (we believe) that He - exalted be the glory of our Lord! - hath taken neither wife nor son,


{{Quote|{{Quran|7|27}}|O children of Adam, let not Satan tempt you as he removed '''your parents''' from Paradise, stripping them of their clothing to show them their private parts. Indeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them. Indeed, We have made the devils allies to those who do not believe}}
4. And that the foolish one among us used to speak concerning Allah an atrocious lie.


{{Quote|{{Quran|4|1}}|O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.}}
5. And lo! we had supposed that humankind and jinn would not speak a lie concerning Allah -


{{Quote|{{Quran|17|70}}|And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.}}
6. And indeed (O Muhammad) individuals of humankind used to invoke the protection of individuals of the jinn, so that they increased them in revolt against Allah);


====Y-chromosomal Adam, Mitochondrial Eve, and the minimum population bottleneck====
7. And indeed they supposed, even as ye suppose, that Allah would not raise anyone (from the dead)
Some modern Muslim scholars argue that the notion of two ancestral “parents” is consistent with recent scientific findings that show a common female and male ancestor of all modern humans. This results, however, from a confusion with the nicknames (Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam) by which scientists have referred to human's earliest genetic ancestors. These two individuals, however, are distinct from the Quranic characters as they are simply the last common male and female ancestors of everyone alive today and not of all humans in history. More importantly, whereas the Qur'an describes Adam and his mate (who, notably, was created ''after'' him and from him), Mitochondrial Eve lived some 50,000 to 80,000 years earlier than Y-chromosomal Adam.<ref>[http://biologos.org/blog/does-genetics-point-to-a-single-primal-couple Adam, Eve, and Human Population Genetics: Responses to Popular Arguments] - Biologos website</ref>


Genetic evidence also overwhelmingly indicates that humans diverged from earlier species as a population rather than as a single couple.<ref>[http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/how-big-was-the-human-population-bottleneck-not-anything-close-to-2/ How big was the human population bottleneck? Another staple of theology refuted.] - Why Evolution is True website by Professor Jerry Coyne</ref>
8. And (the Jinn who had listened to the Qur'an said): We had sought the heaven but had found it filled with strong warders and meteors.


==Special creation of sustenance==
9. And we used to sit on places (high) therein to listen. But he who listeneth now findeth a flame in wait for him;
The Quranic six day creation account describes in {{Quran-range|41|9|10}} a four day period during which the nourishment on Earth and its mountains were created. The next two verses {{Quran-range|41|11|12}} then describe the creation of the heavens in two days. Scientifically, however, the evolution of life on earth and [[w:Food chain|food chains]] is an ongoing process which has never ceased.


{{Quote|{{Quran-range|41|9|10}}|Say, "Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two days and attribute to Him equals? That is the Lord of the worlds." And He placed on the earth firmly set mountains over its surface, and He blessed it and determined therein its [creatures'] sustenance in four days without distinction - for [the information] of those who ask.}}
10. And we know not whether harm is boded unto all who are in the earth, or whether their Lord intendeth guidance for them.


==Quranic verses purported to mention evolution==
11. And among us there are righteous folk and among us there are far from that. We are sects having different rules.
===Quran 29:19-20 et. al. - Repeated creation===
At least one or some combination of the verses set out in this section are typically quoted by proponents of evolution (or human evolution) in the Quran because they mention that Allah "repeats" his creation. Supposedly, this sounds a bit like evolution. However, this is a distortion of the verses, which are about a future creation of each person after their death. This is so that they can return to Allah after death and be condemned or rewarded. This purpose is most explicit in the first verse quoted below, Q. 10:4. As with some of the other passages quoted in this article, according to classical commentaries these verses are concerned with the future resurrection of the dead. Indeed, the Quran has many other verses aimed at critics who doubted the possibility of resurrection. None of the verses unambiguously mention repeated creation as having occurred in the past on Earth.  


In all of the verses quoted in this section, the verb "repeat" has the Arabic form IV imperfect tense. The form I imperfect tense is used for "begins" creation in each verse (except for Q. 21:104, which uses the perfect tense). The Form IV imperfect is also used for "will produce" in Q. 29:20. This grammatical information can be verified by following the links for each verse and viewing the "Roots" metadata. In Quranic Arabic, tense (or aspect) is a complicated topic still debated by academic scholars, giving rise to different English translations. Nevetheless, the imperfect tense can certainly serve a number of purposes including to indicate future events.<ref>Alasmari, J, Watson, J.C.E & Atwell, E. (2018). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jawharah-Alasmari/publication/323291430_A_CONTRASTIVE_STUDY_OF_THE_ARABIC_AND_ENGLISH_VERB_TENSE_AND_ASPECT_A_CORPUS-BASED_APPROACH/links/5a8c4d1f458515a4068ad4d1/A-CONTRASTIVE-STUDY-OF-THE-ARABIC-AND-ENGLISH-VERB-TENSE-AND-ASPECT-A-CORPUS-BASED-APPROACH.pdf A Contrastive Study of the Arabic and English Verb Tense and Aspect A Corpus-Based Approach.] PEOPLE: International Journal of Social Sciences, 3(3), 1604-1615</ref>
12. And we know that we cannot escape from Allah in the earth, nor can we escape by flight.


{{Quote|{{Quran|10|4}}| To Him is your return all together. [It is] the promise of Allah [which is] truth. Indeed, He begins the [process of] creation and then repeats it that He may reward those who have believed and done righteous deeds, in justice. But those who disbelieved will have a drink of scalding water and a painful punishment for what they used to deny. }}
13. And when we heard the guidance, we believed therein, and whoso believeth in his Lord, he feareth neither loss nor oppression.


{{Quote|{{Quran|21|104}}|The Day when We will fold the heaven like the folding of a [written] sheet for the records. As We began the first creation, We will repeat it. [That is] a promise binding upon Us. Indeed, We will do it.}}
14. And there are among us some who have surrendered (to Allah) and there are among us some who are unjust. And whoso hath surrendered to Allah, such have taken the right path purposefully.}}
The interaction between men and jinn is further stressed here:


At least one commonly cited verse points to existing creation as an analogy to the repeated creation which will come on the day of resurrection. Certainly, the listener is asked to observe the original creation, though it is unclear whether they are also able to observe repeated creation already on Earth:
{{Quote|{{Quran|6|128}}|On the day when He shall muster them all together: 'Company of jinn, you have made much of mankind.' Then their friends among mankind will say, 'Our Lord, we have profited each of the other, and we have reached the term determined by Thee for us. He will say: 'The Fire is your lodging, therein to dwell forever' - except as God will; surely thy Lord is All-wise, All-knowing.}}Prophets are sent to both humans and jinn:
{{Quote|{{Quran|6|130}}|'Company of jinn and mankind, did not Messengers come to you from among you, relating to you My signs and warning you of the encounter of this your day?' They shall say, 'We bear witness against ourselves.' They were deluded by the present life, and they bear witness against themselves that they were unbelievers.}}
Jinn are aware of at least some previous revelations given to and used by humans (mentioning Moses), and spread the word to warn other jinn:
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|46|29|31}}|29. And when We turned to thee a company of jinn giving ear to the Quran; and when they were in its presence they said, 'Be silent!' Then, when it was finished, they turned back to their people, warning.
30. They said, 'Our people, we have heard a Book that was sent down after Moses, confirming what was before it, guiding to the truth and to a straight path.
31. O our people, answer God's summoner, and believe in Him, and He will forgive you some of your sins, and protect you from a painful chastisement.}}


{{Quote|{{Quran-range|29|19|20}}| Have they not considered how Allah begins creation and then repeats it? Indeed that, for Allah, is easy. Say, [O Muhammad], "Travel through the land and observe how He began creation. Then Allah will produce the final creation. Indeed Allah, over all things, is competent."}}


Two similar examples are:
The Qur'an states that Sulayman (Solomon) had control over an army and workforce comprised of jinns and animals, among others:
{{Quote|{{quran|27|17}}|And there were gathered together unto Solomon his armies of the jinn and humankind, and of the birds, and they were set in battle order;}}{{Quote|{{quran-range|34|12|14}}|12. And unto Solomon (We gave) the wind, whereof the morning course was a month's journey and the evening course a month's journey, and We caused the fount of copper to gush forth for him, and (We gave him) certain of the jinn who worked before him by permission of his Lord. And such of them as deviated from Our command, them We caused to taste the punishment of flaming Fire.


{{Quote|{{Quran|27|64}}| Is He [not best] who begins creation and then repeats it and who provides for you from the heaven and earth? Is there a deity with Allah? Say, "Produce your proof, if you should be truthful."}}
13. They made for him what he willed: synagogues and statues, basins like wells and boilers built into the ground. Give thanks, O House of David! Few of My bondmen are thankful.


{{Quote|{{Quran|10|34}}|Say, "Are there of your 'partners' any who begins creation and then repeats it?" Say, "Allah begins creation and then repeats it, so how are you deluded?"}}
14. And when We decreed death for him, nothing showed his death to them save a creeping creature of the earth which gnawed away his staff. And when he fell the jinn saw clearly how, if they had known the Unseen, they would not have continued in despised toil.}}
The Qur'an describes a jinn from Sulayman's forces delivering to Sulayman, in the blink of an eye, the throne of the Queen of Sheba:
{{Quote|{{quran-range|27|38|40}}|38. He said: O chiefs! Which of you will bring me her [the queen of Sheba's] throne before they come unto me, surrendering?


Another verse sheds some light on the possible referent for this analogy (if indeed any of these verses at all mention repeated creation that has already occurred on Earth).
39. A stalwart of the jinn said: I will bring it thee before thou canst rise from thy place. Lo! I verily am strong and trusty for such work.


{{Quote|{{Quran-range|30|24|27}}| And of His signs is [that] He shows you the lightning [causing] fear and aspiration, and He sends down rain from the sky by which He brings to life the earth after its lifelessness. Indeed in that are signs for a people who use reason<br />
40. One with whom was knowledge of the Scripture said: I will bring it thee before thy gaze returneth unto thee [in the "twinkling" of an eye]. And when he saw it set in his presence, (Solomon) said: This is of the bounty of my Lord, that He may try me whether I give thanks or am ungrateful. Whosoever giveth thanks he only giveth thanks for (the good of) his own soul; and whosoever is ungrateful (is ungrateful only to his own soul's hurt). For lo! my Lord is Absolute in independence, Bountiful.}}
[...]<br />
And it is He who begins creation; then He repeats it, and that is [even] easier for Him. To Him belongs the highest attribute in the heavens and earth. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.}}


Another possibility occurs elsewhere (again, if existing repeated creation is meant at all). The first two verses are similar to others which detail the destruction and replacement of former faithless and disobedient peoples:
The Qur'an describes Satan (Iblis) as having been of the Jinn:
{{Quote|{{quran|18|50}}|And (remember) when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam, and they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He was of the jinn, so he rebelled against his Lord's command. Will ye choose him and his seed for your protecting friends instead of Me, when they are an enemy unto you? Calamitous is the exchange for evil-doers.}}
The Qur'an says that Satan has a team of invisible entities spying over mankind. In the eyes of exegetes, these are the Jinn:
{{Quote|{{quran|7|27}}|O Children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you as he caused your (first) parents to go forth from the Garden and tore off from them their robe (of innocence) that he might manifest their shame to them. Lo! he seeth you, he and his tribe, from whence ye see him not. Lo! We have made the devils protecting friends for those who believe not.}}
While some classical Islamic scholars differentiated between the "''shayateen''" (plural of Satan, or Shaytan, and translatable as "demons") and the jinn, most simply understood the shayateen to be the group of jinn who committed themselves to serving Shaytan (the head evil Jinn) or who engaged in evil black magic contracts with people. The Qur'an describes such demons as having helped propagate the secrets of black magic that had been revealed to the people of Babylon by two angels:
{{Quote|{{quran|2|102}}|And follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind magic and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babel, Harut and Marut. Nor did they (the two angels) teach it to anyone till they had said: We are only a temptation, therefore disbelieve not (in the guidance of Allah). And from these two (angles) people learn that by which they cause division between man and wife; but they injure thereby no-one save by Allah's leave. And they learn that which harmeth them and profiteth them not. And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew.}}


{{Quote|{{Quran-range|30|9|11}}|Have they not traveled through the earth and observed how was the end of those before them? They were greater than them in power, and they plowed the earth and built it up more than they have built it up, and their messengers came to them with clear evidences. And Allah would not ever have wronged them, but they were wronging themselves.
=== Hadith ===
Then the end of those who did evil was the worst [consequence] because they denied the signs of Allah and used to ridicule them.
Bones and animal dung are food for jinns:
Allah begins creation; then He will repeat it; then to Him you will be returned.}}
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|5|58|200}}|Narrated Abu Huraira:


In Middle Eastern antiquity, the Great Flood (not evolution) was accepted as the reversal of creation, and the survival of Noah was the new creation. Since the Qur'an supports this story, this may also have been considered an existing example of ''repeated'' creation.
That once he was in the company of the Prophet (ﷺ) carrying a water pot for his ablution and for cleaning his private parts. While he was following him carrying it (i.e. the pot), the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Who is this?" He said, "I am Abu Huraira." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Bring me stones in order to clean my private parts, and do not bring any bones or animal dung." Abu Huraira went on narrating: So I brought some stones, carrying them in the corner of my robe till I put them by his side and went away. When he finished, I walked with him and asked, "What about the bone and the animal dung?" He said, "They are of the food of Jinns. The delegate of Jinns of (the city of) Nasibin came to me--and how nice those Jinns were--and asked me for the remains of the human food. I invoked Allah for them that they would never pass by a bone or animal dung but find food on them."}}{{Quote|{{Abudawud|1|39}}|Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: A deputation of the jinn came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said: O Muhammad, forbid your community to cleans themselves with a bone or dung or charcoal, for in them Allah has provided sustenance for us. So the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade them to do so.}}
Jinn frequently visit toilets:
{{Quote|{{Abudawud|1|6}}|Narrated Zayd ibn Arqam: The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) said: These privies are frequented by the jinns and devils. So when anyone amongst you goes there, he should say: "I seek refuge in Allah from male and female devils."}}


===Quran 71:13-14 - Creation in stages===
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|71|13|14}}|"What is the matter with you, that ye place not your hope for kindness and long-suffering in Allah,- Seeing that it is He that has created you in diverse stages?" }}
After this verse, the topic abruptly changes to seven heavens. There is no evidence given anywhere to indicate that these ''stages'' refer to evolution. Indeed, in responding to their lack of hope, these verses expect the Quran's 7th century listeners to understand the meaning, which could hardly then be evolution. The tafsir of Ibn Kathir suggests that the topic may have been the stages of [[Embryology in the Qur'an|embryology]] described elsewhere in the Quran.<ref>[http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Nooh/What-Nuh-said-when-He-called-H--- Tafsir of Ibn Kathir for Q. 71:13-14]</ref> Since this verse comes immediately after a speech by Noah to his people, alternatively it could be a reference to the pre and post-flood stages of mankind's history. In keeping with the repeated creation theme of many other verses (discussed in the previous section above), it could even refer to the new creation of each person on the day of resurrection.


===Quran 6:2 - Allah decreed a term for us===
Jinn snatch items away at night as well as children:
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|54|533}}|Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Cover your utensils and tie your water skins, and close your doors and keep your children close to you at night, as the Jinns spread out at such time and snatch things away. When you go to bed, put out your lights, for the mischief-doer (i.e. the rat) may drag away the wick of the candle and burn the dwellers of the house." Ata said, "The devils." (instead of the Jinns).}}Satan, who is believed to be a jinn, causes yawning:
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|54|509}}|“Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Yawning is from Satan and if anyone of you yawns, he should check his yawning as much as possible, for if anyone of you (during the act of yawning) should say: 'Ha', Satan will laugh at him."}}
Urinates in people's ears causing oversleeping:
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|2|21|245}}|Narrated 'Abdullah : A person was mentioned before the Prophet (p.b.u.h) and he was told that he had kept on sleeping till morning and had not got up for the prayer. The Prophet said, "Satan urinated in his ears."}}
And sometimes hides in people's noses during the night, which can (seemingly) be gotten rid off by cleaning it:
{{Quote|{{Muslim|2|462}}|Abu Huraira reported: The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said. When any one of you awakes up from sleep and performs ablution, he must clean his nose three times, for the devil spends the night in the interior of his nose.}}


{{Quote|{{Quran|6|2}}|He is Who has created you from clay, then he spent a term of time (away from you), and (it is) a specific term he determined. Yet, you doubt (his ability)!}}
==External Links==


This is an outright mistranslation and Muslim apologists even insert some words of their own liking in parentheses. You can see the valid translations [http://islamawakened.com/quran/6/2/default.htm here]. A more typical and accurate translation is as follows (Sahih international):
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://muttaqun.com/jinn.html|2=2012-04-27}} Jinn: According to Quran and Sunnah]
 
{{Quote|{{Quran|6|2}}|It is He who created you from clay and then decreed a term and a specified time [known] to Him; then [still] you are in dispute.}}
 
Such language in typical of the Quran when it speaks of the time given to each person before his death or the time mankind has on Earth more generally before the last day. These are also the interpretations of this verse found in tafsirs.
 
===Quran 6:133 - Raised from the posterity of earlier people===
{{Quote|{{Quran|6|133}}|Thy Lord is self-sufficient, full of Mercy: if it were His will, He could destroy you, and in your place appoint whom He will as your successors, even as He raised you up from the posterity of other people. }}
The phrase "raised you up from the posterity of other people" has been claimed to describe the hominid ancestors of man. However, it is in keeping with several descriptions of destroyed cities elsewhere in the Qur'an, all of which are attributed to Allah (for example the people of 'Ad as successors of Thamud, or the destruction of everyone except Noah and his family by the flood). Even supposing that the verse relates modern humans to earlier hominid species, other verses discussed above nevertheless trace mankind ultimately to the creation of Adam from clay, which is not compatible with the common ancestry of all life on Earth.
 
===Quran 56:60-62 - Transformation of humans===
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|56|60|62}}|We have decreed death among you, and We are not to be outdone In that We will change your likenesses and produce you in that [form] which you do not know. And you have already known the first creation, so will you not remember?}}
 
This verse is also sometimes cited as a reference to human evolution. However, the context is clear a few verses earlier in {{Quran|56|47}} that this is in fact the Quran's answer to critics who mocked the idea of a final resurrection of the dead ("And they used to say, "When we die and become dust and bones, are we indeed to be resurrected?"). This is also the interpretation found in classical commentaries such as the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir which says that death and transformation here pertain to the Day of Judgement.<ref>[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1653&Itemid=112 Tafsir Ibn Kathir for Q. 56:47]</ref>
 
==Quranic verses purported to mention the origin of life==
===Quran 21:30 and 24:45 - All living things made from water===
{{Quote|{{Quran|21|30}}|Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe? }}
 
{{Quote|{{Quran|24|45}}|Allah has created every [living] creature from water. And of them are those that move on their bellies, and of them are those that walk on two legs, and of them are those that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.}}
 
The key to understanding the meaning of these verses is the context apparent in the first verse, 21:30, which is about the creation of the world. Academic scholar Gabriel Said Reynolds notes in his academic commentary on the Quran an earlier parallel taught by the Syriac church father Ephrem (d. 373 CE). He writes, "[...] Ephrem, who explains that God created everything through water: 'Thus, through light and water the earth brought forth everything.' Ephrem, ''Commentary on Genesis'', 1:1-10)."<ref>Gabriel Said Reynolds,  "The Quran and Bible:Text and Commentary", New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018 p. 553. This is regarding {{Quran|24|45}}, though on p. 508 Reynolds cross references the same parallel regarding the other verse, {{Quran|21|30}}, which is more clearly a statement in the context of the Genesis creation story, like Ephrem's comment.</ref>
 
Ephrem's comment is in the context of the Genesis creation story, much like the first Quranic verse quoted above, 21:30. Ephrem says that when heaven and earth were created there were no trees or vegetation as it had not yet rained, so a fountain irrigated the earth. Tafsirs say that when the heaven and earth were separated rain fell so that plants could grow. There is also a similarity with Ephrem in the other verse (24:45), which mentions creatures that move on two, four or no legs. Ephrem explains that as well as the "trees, vegetation and plants", the "Scripture wishes to indicate that all animals, reptiles, cattle and birds came into being as a result of the combining of earth and water".<ref>[https://faberinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ephrem-the-Syrian-Commentary-on-Genesis-2-3-Brock.pdf Ephrem's commentary on Genesis] - Faber Institute.com</ref> For many more parallels between the Quran and Syriac Christian literature see [[Parallelism_Between_the_Qur%27an_and_Judeo-Christian_Scriptures|this article]].
 
The tafsir notionally attributed to Ibn Abbas contains yet another interpretation, that Q. 21:30 refers to the dependence of all living things on water.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/TanwirAl-MiqbasMinTafsirIbnAbbasEng Tanwir al-Miqbas min Tafsir Ibn Abbas] p.361-362</ref> There is nothing miraculous about the claim that water is a constituent of living things or that it is important for their survival. In fact, the Greek philosopher [[w:Empedocles|Empedocles]] had already proposed that all living things are made from water among other substances, hundreds of years before the Qur'an was revealed.<ref>Frag. B17, (Simplicius, ''Physics'', 157-159)</ref>, while the ancient Greek philosopher Anaximander proposed that the first living creatures were made from evapourated water.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anaximander Anaximander] - Britannica.com</ref>
 
Scientifically, it is widely believed that life originated in water, most prominently in theories involving the heat and chemistry environment at submarine [[w:Abiogenesis#Hot_springs|hydrothermal vents]], or alternatively [[w:Abiogenesis#Hot_springs|hot springs]] on the surface of the early Earth. However, there is no standard model of the origin of life that is accepted among scientists. Some of the models without water (or having important substances other than water) are listed below.
 
The "deep-hot biosphere" model says that life first developed not on the surface of the Earth, but several kilometers below the surface. The discovery in the late 1990s of nanobes in deep rock might be seen as evidence. It is now well established that microbial life is plentiful up to 5km below the surface of the Earth.<ref name="nanobe">{{cite web | url=http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/nanobes/nanobes.html | title=Nanobes–Intro | last= | first= | work= | publisher=microscopy-uk.org | accessdate=2008-01-14 }}</ref>
 
The "Zn-World" model postulates that zinc salts have the unique ability to store radiation energy, e.g. provided by UV light which was 10 to 100 times more intense in the distant past than now and provided the ideal energy conditions for the synthesis of informational and metabolic molecules. The primordial atmosphere was rich in carbon dioxide and the chemistry of water condensates and exhalations near geothermal fields would resemble that of modern cells. Ionic composition conducive to the origin of cells is shown to be more compatible with emissions of zones that have today become inland geothermal systems than with marine settings. The precellular stages of evolution may have taken place in shallow "Darwin-ponds" lined with porous silicates, metal sulfides, zinc, potassium, and phosphorus compounds.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Mulkidjanian | first1=A. Y. | last2=Bychkov | first2=A. Y. | last3=Dibrova | first3=D. V. | last4=Galperin | first4=M. Y. | last5=Koonin | first5=E. V. | year=2012 | title=Origin of first cells at terrestrial, anoxic geothermal fields | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume=109 | pages=E821–30 | doi=10.1073/pnas.1117774109 | issue=14 | pmid=22331915 | pmc=3325685 |bibcode=2012PNAS..109E.821M }}</ref><ref>For a deeper integrative version of this hypothesis see {{cite book | last=Egel | first=R. | editor-last=Lankenau | editor-first=D.-H. | editor2-last=Mulkidjanian, | editor2-first=A. Y. | year=2011 | title=Origins of Life: The Primal Self-Organization | publisher=Springer | isbn=978-3-642-21625-1}}, in particular {{cite book| last=Lankenau | first=D.-H. | chapter=Two RNA Worlds: Toward the Origin of Replication, Genes, Recombination and Repair | title=Origins of Life: The Primal Self-Organization| publisher=Springer | publication-date=2011 | isbn=978-3-642-21625-1 | pages=225–286 }}, interconnecting the "Two RNA worlds" concept and other detailed aspects; and {{cite journal | last1=Davidovich | first1=C. | last2=Belousoff | first2=M. | last3=Bashan | first3=A. | last4=Yonath | first4=A. | year=2009 | title=The evolving ribosome: from non-coded peptide bond formation to sophisticated translation machinery | journal=Res Microbiol | volume=160 | pages=487–492 | doi=10.1016/j.resmic.2009.07.004 | issue=7 }}</ref>
 
There is also a "Primitive extraterrestrial organisms" model, which finds support in the studies of Martian meteorites found in Antarctica and in studies of some microbes' survival in outer space.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/evolution/dn2844 | title=Tough Earth bug may be from Mars | publisher=New Scientist |date=25 September 2002 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experimentDisplay.do?id=1992-049B-03 | title=Exobiology and Radiation Assembly (ERA) | year=1992 | work=[[ESA]] | publisher=NASA }}</ref><ref name="Gerda Horneck">{{cite journal | doi=10.1128/MMBR.00016-09 | title=Space Microbiology | year=2010 | last1=Horneck | first1=G. | last2=Klaus | first2=D. M. | last3=Mancinelli | first3=R. L. | journal=Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews | volume=74 | pages=121–56 | pmid=20197502 | issue=1 | pmc=2832349 }}</ref><ref name="Clancy">{{cite book | last1=Paul Clancy | title=Looking for Life, Searching the Solar System | publisher=Cambridge University Press | date=23 June 2005 }}{{page needed|date=November 2013 }}</ref><ref name="Rabbow">{{cite journal | title=EXPOSE, an Astrobiological Exposure Facility on the International Space Station – from Proposal to Flight | journal=Orig Life Evol Biosph | date=9 July 2009 | first=Elke | last=Rabbow | first2=Gerda | last2=Horneck | first3=Petra | last3=Rettberg | first4=Jobst-Ulrich | last4=Schott | first5=Corinna | last5=Panitz | first6=Andrea | last6=L'Afflitto | first7=Ralf | last7=von Heise-Rotenburg, | first8=Reiner| last8= Willnecker | first9=Pietro | last9=Baglioni | first10=Jason | last10=Hatton, | first11=Jan | last11=Dettmann | first12=René | last12=Demets | first13=Günther | last13=Reitz | doi=10.1007/s11084-009-9173-6 | volume=39 | issue=6 | pages=581–98 | pmid=19629743 | bibcode=2009OLEB...39..581R }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title=Survival of Rock-Colonizing Organisms After 1.5 Years in Outer Space | journal=Astrobiology | date=May 2012 | first=Silvano | last=Onofri | first2=Rosa | last2=de la Torre | first3=Jean-Pierre | last3=de Vera | first4=Sieglinde | last4=Ott | first5=Laura | last5=Zucconi | first6=Laura | last6=Selbmann | first7=Giuliano | last7=Scalzi | first8=Kasthuri J. | last8=Venkateswaran | first9=Elke | last9=Rabbow, | first10=Francisco J. | last10=Sánchez Iñigo | first11=Gerda | last11=Horneck | volume=12 | issue=5 | pages=508–516 | doi=10.1089/ast.2011.0736 | pmid=22680696 | bibcode=2012AsBio..12..508O }}</ref><ref name="Beer">{{cite news | last=Amos | first=Jonathan | title=Beer microbes live 553 days outside ISS | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11039206 | publisher=BBC News | work=Science and Technology | date=23 August 2010 }}</ref> Studies which apply the equivalent of Moore's Law to evolution have proposed that life began 9.7 billion years ago, billions of years before the Earth was formed. Life may have started "from systems with single heritable elements."<ref name="arXiv-20130328">{{cite journal |last1=Sharov |first1=Alexei A. |last2=Gordon|first2=Richard |title=Life Before Earth |url=http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1304/1304.3381.pdf | format=PDF |date=28 March 2013 |journal=[[arXiv]] |arxiv=1304.3381v1 }}</ref><ref name="NIH-20060612">{{cite journal |last=Sharov |first=Alexei A. |title=Genome increase as a clock for the origin and evolution of life |journal=[[Biology Direct]] |volume=1 |pages=1–17 |date=12 June 2006 |issue= |doi=10.1186/1745-6150-1-17 |pmc=1526419 }}</ref>
 
Different forms of life with variable origin processes may have appeared simultaneously in the early history of Earth.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=are-aliens-among-us&sc=SA_20071119 |title=Are Aliens Among Us?|publisher=Scientific American |last=Davies |first=P |date=19 November 2007 }}</ref>
 
Scientists have discovered petroleum-degrading bacteria that can live without water.<ref>http://www.astrobio.net/topic/origins/extreme-life/life-in-asphalt/</ref>
 
Lastly, even though water is a necessity for animals and plants to thrive, it would be a stretch of imagination to say that it is a more defining characteristic of life on Earth, than say, DNA.
 
===Quran 71:17-18 - Growth from the Earth===
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|71|17|18}}|And Allah hath caused you to grow as a growth from the earth, And afterward He maketh you return thereto, and He will bring you forth again, a (new) forthbringing. }}
 
This verse is sometimes claimed to contain an inkling of evolution from the simplest lifeforms to humans, though it remains hard to see how "a growth from the Earth" could be interpreted in an evolutionary context given that in [[w:Kingdom_(biology)#Seven_kingdoms|the tree of life]], the animal kingdom has a common ancestor with the kingdoms of plants and fungi, but does not descend from them. These verses are, however, consistent with the story of the creation of Adam from dust or clay, which is the interpretation found in classical commentaries for these verses. Even supposing it is possible to interpret them in isolation as a reference to evolution, the fact remains that some of the other verses discussed in this article explicitly trace all human descent to a single couple, and state that Adam was specially created from clay. Indeed, Q. 71:17-18 quoted here poetically mirrors the original creation of man from mud or clay with the burial of the dead back into the ground, and finally their future resurrection.
 
===Quran 4:1 - Creation from a single soul===
{{Quote|{{Quran|4|1}}|O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.}}
 
Major translators write the Arabic phrase nafsin wāḥidatin as "single being", "one soul" or "one person". Other translators use "self" or even "cell". Any claim of this verse referring to earliest unicellular lifeforms is contradictory both to the rest of the verse ("many men and women") as well as another verse, 7:189, in which this soul and its mate have sex, a pregnancy and invoke Allah about their child:
 
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|189}}|It is He who created you from one soul and created from it its mate that he might dwell in security with her. And when he covers her, she carries a light burden and continues therein. And when it becomes heavy, they both invoke Allah, their Lord, "If You should give us a good [child], we will surely be among the grateful."}}
 
If this verse is about the first unicellular organism, then the claim of it having a mate must also be true. But the earliest organisms were prokaryotes whose reproduction is overwhelmingly asexual; they do not have any mates.
 
Regarding 7:189, all the classical exegetes state that this “single soul” (نَّفْسٍ وَٰحِدَةٍ ) refers to Adam. Both classical Sunni and Shia Tafsirs confirm this.
 
{{Quote|[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/7.189&#124; Tafsir of ibn Kathir on Qur'an 7:189]|
All Mankind are the Offspring of Adam
Allah states that He has created all mankind from Adam, peace be upon him, and from Adam, He created his wife, Hawwa' and from them, people started to spread.}}
 
{{Quote|Tafsir of Tabari on Quran 7:189|
قال أبو جعفر: يقول تعالى ذكره: ﴿هو الذي خلقكم من نفس واحدة﴾ ، يعني بالنفس الواحدة: آدم
 
 
Abu Ja'afar said: "Allah the Most High mentioned it: "He who created you from one soul" meaning by means of one soul: Adam.}}
 
{{Quote|Tafsir of Razi on Quran 7:189|
المَسْألَةُ الأُولى: المَرْوِيُّ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ ﴿هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكم مِن نَفْسٍ واحِدَةٍ﴾ وهي نَفْسُ آدَمَ
 
 
The first issue: Almarwi from ibn 'Abaas: "He who created you from one soul" and this soul is the soul of Adam. }}
 
{{Quote|Tafsir of Al-Qurtubi on Quran 7:189| قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: (هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ واحِدَةٍ) قَالَ جُمْهُورُ الْمُفَسِّرِينَ: الْمُرَادُ بِالنَّفْسِ الْوَاحِدَةِ آدَمُ.
 
 
The saying of Allah the Most High: "he who created you from one soule"--the community of mufassirun has said: the intended meaning is by means of one soul, Adam.
}}
 
<br />
 
{{Quote|[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/7.189; Tafsir of Al-Jalayn on Qur'an 7:189]| He, that is, God, it is Who created you from a single soul, namely, Adam, and made, created, from him his spouse, Eve, that he might take rest in her, and become intimate with her.}}
 
See also: The Tafsirs of Qurtubi, Uthaymeen, Qummi (Shia), Tusi (Shia), Tabrisi (Shia)
 
 
==Hadiths==
{{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Creation}}
 
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|55|543}}|Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "'''Allah created Adam, making him 60 cubits tall'''. When He created him, He said to him, "Go and greet that group of angels, and listen to their reply, for it will be your greeting (salutation) and the greeting (salutations of your offspring." So, Adam said (to the angels), As-Salamu Alaikum (i.e. Peace be upon you). The angels said, "As-salamu Alaika wa Rahmatu-l-lahi" (i.e. Peace and Allah's Mercy be upon you). Thus the angels added to Adam's salutation the expression, 'Wa Rahmatu-l-lahi,' Any person who will enter Paradise will resemble Adam (in appearance and figure). '''People have been decreasing in stature since Adam's creation'''.}}
 
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|55|548}}| Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah 's Apostle said, "Treat women nicely, for '''a women is created from a rib''', and the most curved portion of the rib is its upper portion, so, if you should try to straighten it, it will break, but if you leave it as it is, it will remain crooked. So treat women nicely." }}
 
Additionally, there are even Mutawatir hadith narrations (mass transmitted reports) attributed to Muhammad which allude to the belief that Adam is theologically the first human in existence. One such narration can be found here:
{{Quote|[https://dorar.net/h/ab95e2e0848993041f5993a94df7583a&#124&#124; Al-Bidayah wan Nihayah by ibn Kathir]|أنا سيدُ ولدِ آدمَ يومَ القيامةِ ولا فخرَ
 
“I will be the master (Sayyid) of the children of Adam on the Day of Resurrection”|}}
 
Ibn Kathir classified this Hadith as Mutawatir in his book Al Bidayaah wan Niyaah.
 
==See Also==
*[[Creation of Humans from Clay]]
*[[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Creation]]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Jinn]]
[[Category:Supernatural beings]]
[[Category:Pre-Islamic Arabia]]
[[Category:Paganism]]
[[Category:Sihr (Magic)]]
[[Category:Islam and Science]]
[[Category:Islam and Science]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Criticism of Islam]]
[[Category:Sacred history]]
[[Category:Apologetics]]

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Jinn (جن‎ ǧinn, singular جني ǧinnī ; variant spelling djinn) or, as Romanized more broadly, genies[1] are said to be supernatural creatures that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. They are mentioned in the Qur'an, hadith, other Islamic texts and Arab folklore. The Jinn are believed to exist in many sub-species themselves, with some living in the air, others as humans on land, and some like "snakes and dogs".[2] Together, the various jinns, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Like human beings, the jinn can also be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent.[3]

Islamic beliefs

The jinn are mentioned frequently in the Qur'an. There is a surah titled Sūrat al-Jinn (the 72nd chapter of the Qur'an), and verse 67:5 discusses the stars from the "lowest heaven" which are used as missiles against any mischievous jinn that attempts to eavesdrop on conversations between angels.[4]

In Islamic theology jinn were created from smokeless fire by Allah as humans were made of clay.[5] According to the Qur'an, a jinn named ʾIblīs refused to bow to Adam when Allah ordered angels and jinn to do so. For disobeying Allah, he was expelled from Paradise and called "Šayṭān" (Satan). The Qur'an also mentions that Prophet Muhammad was sent as a prophet to both "humanity and the jinn," and that prophets and messengers were sent to both communities.[6][7] In Surah al-Jinn, the Qur'an describes a contingent of jinn being sent by Allah to Muhammad to hear and then convey his message to other jinns.

The Qur'an also describes Sulayman (Solomon) has having had an army of jinn that god had made subservient to him.

Jinn are usually invisible to humans, and humans do not appear clearly to them. Frequenting toilets,[8] they feed on feces and bones,[9] have the power to travel large distances at extreme speeds and are thought to live in remote areas, mountains, seas, trees, and the air. Like humans: jinn can also choose to become Muslims, will be judged on the Day of Judgment, and will accordingly be sent to Paradise or Hell.[10]

Scholars' views

While many Islamic scholars today reject the possibility of jinn possession, there is classical precedent for belief in jinn's ability to possess and interact with human beings in this and numerous other ways. Most famously, Ibn Taymiyyah was a proponent of this view in his Essay on the jinn (Ibn Taymiyyah also claimed to know and have mastered the "poetry of the jinn").

All qualities and behaviors of the jinn other than possession and interaction with humans (such as those listed above), however, are agreed upon, as they are stated in explicit terms in Islamic scriptures.

Cultural presence

In the Muslim world

Belief in jinn and some form of black magic and jinn-human communion is an inextricable part of Islamic doctrine, however the details of jinns' interaction with human beings is less explicitly formulated in Islamic scripture. Still, belief in jinns' ability to: engage in specific black magic contracts with human witches and warlocks, possess human bodies, fall in love with human beings, rape human beings, haunt houses, etc. is wide-spread in the Muslim world. Many Muslim-majority countries have laws explicitly outlawing the practice of black magic as well as black-magic squads employed by the state to hunt down alleged sorcerers. Exorcism (Ruqya as conducted by Raqis, or exorcists) as a cure for jinn-possession is also extremely commonplace in the Muslim world and in many places constitutes a multi-million dollar industry. Exorcists are infamous for abusing their patients under the guise of exorcising jinns.

In the West

In many modern cultures, a Genie is portrayed as a magical being that grants wishes. The earliest of such jinn stories in folklore originate in the book of the One Thousand and One Nights[11], but the idea of jinns granting magical acts through black magic to sorcerers was a well-established in pre-Islamic Arabia (and Islam confirmed this).

Relevant Quotations

Qur'an

The Jinn are described in the Qur'an as having been made of a smokeless flame:

And the jinn did He create of smokeless fire.
Quran 55:15

Which were created before humans:

26. We created man from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape;


27. And the Jinn race, We had created before, from the fire of a scorching wind.
Quran 15:26-27

The first part of Surah al-Jinn discusses the activities and thoughts of a group of Jinn who encountered Muhammad:

1. Say (O Muhammad): It is revealed unto me that a company of the Jinn gave ear, and they said: Lo! we have heard a marvellous Qur'an,

2. Which guideth unto righteousness, so we believe in it and we ascribe no partner unto our Lord.

3. And (we believe) that He - exalted be the glory of our Lord! - hath taken neither wife nor son,

4. And that the foolish one among us used to speak concerning Allah an atrocious lie.

5. And lo! we had supposed that humankind and jinn would not speak a lie concerning Allah -

6. And indeed (O Muhammad) individuals of humankind used to invoke the protection of individuals of the jinn, so that they increased them in revolt against Allah);

7. And indeed they supposed, even as ye suppose, that Allah would not raise anyone (from the dead)

8. And (the Jinn who had listened to the Qur'an said): We had sought the heaven but had found it filled with strong warders and meteors.

9. And we used to sit on places (high) therein to listen. But he who listeneth now findeth a flame in wait for him;

10. And we know not whether harm is boded unto all who are in the earth, or whether their Lord intendeth guidance for them.

11. And among us there are righteous folk and among us there are far from that. We are sects having different rules.

12. And we know that we cannot escape from Allah in the earth, nor can we escape by flight.

13. And when we heard the guidance, we believed therein, and whoso believeth in his Lord, he feareth neither loss nor oppression.

14. And there are among us some who have surrendered (to Allah) and there are among us some who are unjust. And whoso hath surrendered to Allah, such have taken the right path purposefully.
Quran 72:1-14

The interaction between men and jinn is further stressed here:

On the day when He shall muster them all together: 'Company of jinn, you have made much of mankind.' Then their friends among mankind will say, 'Our Lord, we have profited each of the other, and we have reached the term determined by Thee for us. He will say: 'The Fire is your lodging, therein to dwell forever' - except as God will; surely thy Lord is All-wise, All-knowing.
Quran 6:128

Prophets are sent to both humans and jinn:

'Company of jinn and mankind, did not Messengers come to you from among you, relating to you My signs and warning you of the encounter of this your day?' They shall say, 'We bear witness against ourselves.' They were deluded by the present life, and they bear witness against themselves that they were unbelievers.
Quran 6:130

Jinn are aware of at least some previous revelations given to and used by humans (mentioning Moses), and spread the word to warn other jinn:

29. And when We turned to thee a company of jinn giving ear to the Quran; and when they were in its presence they said, 'Be silent!' Then, when it was finished, they turned back to their people, warning.

30. They said, 'Our people, we have heard a Book that was sent down after Moses, confirming what was before it, guiding to the truth and to a straight path.

31. O our people, answer God's summoner, and believe in Him, and He will forgive you some of your sins, and protect you from a painful chastisement.
Quran 46:29-31


The Qur'an states that Sulayman (Solomon) had control over an army and workforce comprised of jinns and animals, among others:

And there were gathered together unto Solomon his armies of the jinn and humankind, and of the birds, and they were set in battle order;
Quran 27:17
12. And unto Solomon (We gave) the wind, whereof the morning course was a month's journey and the evening course a month's journey, and We caused the fount of copper to gush forth for him, and (We gave him) certain of the jinn who worked before him by permission of his Lord. And such of them as deviated from Our command, them We caused to taste the punishment of flaming Fire.

13. They made for him what he willed: synagogues and statues, basins like wells and boilers built into the ground. Give thanks, O House of David! Few of My bondmen are thankful.

14. And when We decreed death for him, nothing showed his death to them save a creeping creature of the earth which gnawed away his staff. And when he fell the jinn saw clearly how, if they had known the Unseen, they would not have continued in despised toil.
Quran 34:12-14

The Qur'an describes a jinn from Sulayman's forces delivering to Sulayman, in the blink of an eye, the throne of the Queen of Sheba:

38. He said: O chiefs! Which of you will bring me her [the queen of Sheba's] throne before they come unto me, surrendering?

39. A stalwart of the jinn said: I will bring it thee before thou canst rise from thy place. Lo! I verily am strong and trusty for such work.

40. One with whom was knowledge of the Scripture said: I will bring it thee before thy gaze returneth unto thee [in the "twinkling" of an eye]. And when he saw it set in his presence, (Solomon) said: This is of the bounty of my Lord, that He may try me whether I give thanks or am ungrateful. Whosoever giveth thanks he only giveth thanks for (the good of) his own soul; and whosoever is ungrateful (is ungrateful only to his own soul's hurt). For lo! my Lord is Absolute in independence, Bountiful.
Quran 27:38-40

The Qur'an describes Satan (Iblis) as having been of the Jinn:

And (remember) when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam, and they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He was of the jinn, so he rebelled against his Lord's command. Will ye choose him and his seed for your protecting friends instead of Me, when they are an enemy unto you? Calamitous is the exchange for evil-doers.
Quran 18:50

The Qur'an says that Satan has a team of invisible entities spying over mankind. In the eyes of exegetes, these are the Jinn:

O Children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you as he caused your (first) parents to go forth from the Garden and tore off from them their robe (of innocence) that he might manifest their shame to them. Lo! he seeth you, he and his tribe, from whence ye see him not. Lo! We have made the devils protecting friends for those who believe not.
Quran 7:27

While some classical Islamic scholars differentiated between the "shayateen" (plural of Satan, or Shaytan, and translatable as "demons") and the jinn, most simply understood the shayateen to be the group of jinn who committed themselves to serving Shaytan (the head evil Jinn) or who engaged in evil black magic contracts with people. The Qur'an describes such demons as having helped propagate the secrets of black magic that had been revealed to the people of Babylon by two angels:

And follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind magic and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babel, Harut and Marut. Nor did they (the two angels) teach it to anyone till they had said: We are only a temptation, therefore disbelieve not (in the guidance of Allah). And from these two (angles) people learn that by which they cause division between man and wife; but they injure thereby no-one save by Allah's leave. And they learn that which harmeth them and profiteth them not. And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew.
Quran 2:102

Hadith

Bones and animal dung are food for jinns:

Narrated Abu Huraira: That once he was in the company of the Prophet (ﷺ) carrying a water pot for his ablution and for cleaning his private parts. While he was following him carrying it (i.e. the pot), the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Who is this?" He said, "I am Abu Huraira." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Bring me stones in order to clean my private parts, and do not bring any bones or animal dung." Abu Huraira went on narrating: So I brought some stones, carrying them in the corner of my robe till I put them by his side and went away. When he finished, I walked with him and asked, "What about the bone and the animal dung?" He said, "They are of the food of Jinns. The delegate of Jinns of (the city of) Nasibin came to me--and how nice those Jinns were--and asked me for the remains of the human food. I invoked Allah for them that they would never pass by a bone or animal dung but find food on them."
Sahih Bukhari 5:58:200
Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: A deputation of the jinn came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said: O Muhammad, forbid your community to cleans themselves with a bone or dung or charcoal, for in them Allah has provided sustenance for us. So the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade them to do so.
Sunan Abu Dawud 1:39

Jinn frequently visit toilets:

Narrated Zayd ibn Arqam: The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) said: These privies are frequented by the jinns and devils. So when anyone amongst you goes there, he should say: "I seek refuge in Allah from male and female devils."
Sunan Abu Dawud 1:6


Jinn snatch items away at night as well as children:

Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Cover your utensils and tie your water skins, and close your doors and keep your children close to you at night, as the Jinns spread out at such time and snatch things away. When you go to bed, put out your lights, for the mischief-doer (i.e. the rat) may drag away the wick of the candle and burn the dwellers of the house." Ata said, "The devils." (instead of the Jinns).
Sahih Bukhari 4:54:533

Satan, who is believed to be a jinn, causes yawning:

“Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Yawning is from Satan and if anyone of you yawns, he should check his yawning as much as possible, for if anyone of you (during the act of yawning) should say: 'Ha', Satan will laugh at him."
Sahih Bukhari 4:54:509

Urinates in people's ears causing oversleeping:

Narrated 'Abdullah : A person was mentioned before the Prophet (p.b.u.h) and he was told that he had kept on sleeping till morning and had not got up for the prayer. The Prophet said, "Satan urinated in his ears."
Sahih Bukhari 2:21:245

And sometimes hides in people's noses during the night, which can (seemingly) be gotten rid off by cleaning it:

Abu Huraira reported: The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said. When any one of you awakes up from sleep and performs ablution, he must clean his nose three times, for the devil spends the night in the interior of his nose.
Sahih Muslim 2:462

External Links

References

  1. ↑ Genie - Wiktionary, accessed April 27, 2012
  2. ↑ Hughes, Thomas Patrick (1885). "Genii". Dictionary of Islam: Being a Cyclopædia of the Doctrines, Rites, Ceremonies . London, UK: W.H.Allen. pp. 134–6. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  3. ↑ El-Zein, Amira. "Jinn," 420-421, in Meri, Joseph W., Medieval Islamic Civilization - An Encyclopedia.
  4. ↑ The World of Jinn - Invitation to Islam, Issue 4, January 1998
  5. ↑ Quran 55:14-15
  6. ↑ Quran 51:56
  7. ↑ Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb al-Ṭabarī, Tuḥfat al-gharā’ib, I, p. 68; Abū al-Futūḥ Rāzī, Tafsīr-e rawḥ al-jenān va rūḥ al-janān, pp. 193, 341
  8. ↑ Sunan Abu Dawud 1:6
  9. ↑ Sahih Bukhari 5:58:200
  10. ↑ Tafsīr; Bakhsh az tafsīr-e kohan, p. 181; Loeffler, p. 46
  11. ↑ The Fisherman and the Jinni - from The Arabian Nights, translated by Sir Richard Burton in 1850
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