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Seeking the help of righteous Jinn to find out stolen things

Question

Assalam-u-Alaikum. Sheikh i want you to read and analyze this situation carefully. Two days earlier an act of theft took place at my cousins house, and as a result a huge amount of gold and money were stolen. Somebody told my cousin about a man in our surroundings, that he could help you finding out the thief with the help of jinnat. I told my cousin not to resort to such kind of things because it is haram. He disagreed. And he went to a qualified mufti for confirming that is it haram or not? The mufti said that there is no harm in it. Because it does not involve any kind of shirk. The mufti further said that i know that man personally and he is a pious person. He also told us that the jinnat you are talking about, they do Dars with me and i teach Quran and hadith to them. Long story cut short my cousin went to that man. I was with him (just for the sake to have a look). That person recited Surah Qadar, then SuraH jinn. Then he said "By the commandment of Allah, help your brother in Islam, he has been robbed, By the commandment of Allah help your brother in finding the thief. Then a mirror was brought and a child was called. The child looked at the mirror, and he told my cousin everything that happened.Even the car model and number plate in the theif got away. Now Sheiikh..According to my little knowledge these acts are Haram. (but i would need some authentic references from you if it is Haram). Apparently it seems that there was no shirk involved in it. the jinn were muslims. He claims that they do Dars with him.And most important of all. The thief has been recognized and the stolen property will be recovered soon Inshallah. So?????

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There is a difference of opinion among the scholars  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them regarding the issue of seeking the help of jinn in what is Islamically permissible and it is reported that Ibn Taymiyyah  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him permitted it in one opinion and forbade it in another.

However, the view that we consider to be the preponderant opinion is that it is forbidden, even if the help is sought from righteous jinn; this is for many reasons, among them are the following:

· Jinn belong to the realm of the unseen, so it is difficult to make sure whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims, or whether they are truth-tellers or liars, righteous or wicked. In general, the jinn are liars. Allaah Says (what means): {They pass on what is heard, and most of them are liars.} [Quran 26:223]

· Due to the spread of ignorance and the lack of religious knowledge, a Muslim may practice divination on the pretext of seeking help from the jinn in doing righteous deeds, and he may fall into their plot and deceit unknowingly. So, he will make mischief while intending to reform; indeed, it is an obligation to block the means to evil. For more benefit on the prohibition of divination, please refer to Fataawa 4987 and 7343.

· Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Ibraaheem ‘Aal Ash-Shaykh and Shaykh ‘Abdul ‘Azeez Ibn Baaz  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them are among the scholars who issued Fataawa stating that it is not permissible to seek help from the jinn in what is permissible.

All the above applies if we presume that the Shaykh whom you mentioned in the question is a righteous person, and that he seeks help from a righteous jinn only. Otherwise, the majority of those who seek help from jinn are fortune-tellers and soothsayers, and the jinn do not serve them unless they get closer to them by performing acts of Shirk and other forbidden matters.

Finally, if it is permissible to go to a person who may tell where stolen things are because of him claiming to deal with righteous jinn, then the door of evil will be opened and every fortune-teller and soothsayer would claim this, and people will become confused. Therefore, it would be the right thing to absolutely forbid going to such people.

Allaah Knows best.

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