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Refutations

The Prophet ﷺ and the Jinn at the Mosque — The Hadith of Tying the Devil Explained

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The Prophet ﷺ Wanted to Tie a Jinn to the Pillars of the Mosque — The Hadith Explained

Table of Contents

The Hadith — Text and Chain

Sahih al-Bukhari — Book of Prayer, Chapter on the Prisoner or Debtor Being Tied in the Mosque Ishaq bin Ibrahim told us, he said, Ruh and Muhammad bin Jaafar told us, on the authority of Shu’bah, on the authority of Muhammad bin Ziyad, on the authority of Abu Hurairah, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, he said:

“A demon from the jinn escaped from me last night — or something similar — to interrupt my prayer. Allah gave me power over him, so I wanted to tie him to one of the pillars of the mosque until morning and you all saw him. Then I remembered the words of my brother Solomon: ‘My Lord, grant me a kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after me.’ Ruh said: ‘So send him away, defeated.’”

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Prayer, Chapter on the Prisoner or Debtor Being Tied in the Mosque http://hadith.al-islam.com/display/display.asp?doc=0&rec=769

Foundational Belief — Jinn Possession is Real

Qur’anic Evidence

Al-Baqarah 2:275 “Those who consume interest cannot stand [on the Day of Resurrection] except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity.”
Tafsir — Imam al-Tabari When interpreting this verse, Imam al-Tabari said: “He means by that: Satan confuses him in this world, and he is the one who strangles him and makes him fall down — from possession, meaning from madness.”

Prophetic Evidence

Hadith — Sahih “Satan flows through the son of Adam as blood flows.”

The Statement of Imam Ahmad

Abdullah bin Imam Ahmad “I said to my father: Some people say that the jinn do not enter the body of the possessed. He said: O my son, they are lying. This one speaks on his tongue. This matter is well-known among the people. He sees a man possessed and the possessed person speaks in a language he does not know and is struck on his body severely, and despite this he does not feel the strike or the words that are said around him.”
Scholarly Consensus The jinn have an influence, by Allah’s permission, and they cause harm to the human body. This is confirmed by the consensus of the Imams of Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah.

Possession is madness, as the scholars of tafsir have stated.

The Jinn Take on Different Forms — Established Proofs

Form 1 — The Human Form As in Sahih al-Bukhari: the devil came to Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in the form of a poor man, and began to scoop up some of the food given in charity.
Form 2 — The Black Dog As proven in Sahih Muslim, the Prophet ﷺ said: “The black dog is a devil.”

Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The black dog is a devil, and the jinn often take on its form, as well as the form of a black cat, because blackness is more capable of gathering devilish powers than other colors, and it has the power of heat.”

Form 3 — The Snake The jinn also take on the form of snakes, which is why the Messenger ﷺ forbade killing the jinn of houses, for fear that the one killed might be a jinn who had converted to Islam.

This is illustrated by the incident of the Ansari who found a creature in his house in the form of a snake and killed it — and the man then died because of it — whereupon the Messenger ﷺ explained: “Indeed, in Madinah there are jinn who have become Muslims.”

Ruling There is nothing wrong with the devil appearing before people in the form of a human or something else, as Allah the Almighty has given the jinn the ability to take on different forms. And Allah knows best.

Manuscript Images

muhammad peace be upon him wanted to tie the devils demons and jinn to the pillars of the mosque
muhammad peace be upon him wanted to tie the devils demons and jinn to the pillars of the mosque

muhammad peace be upon him wanted to tie the devils demons and jinn to the pillars of the mosque 1
muhammad peace be upon him wanted to tie the devils demons and jinn to the pillars of the mosque 1

muhammad peace be upon him wanted to tie the devils demons and jinn to the pillars of the mosque 2
muhammad peace be upon him wanted to tie the devils demons and jinn to the pillars of the mosque 2

muhammad peace be upon him wanted to tie the devils demons and jinn to the pillars of the mosque 3
muhammad peace be upon him wanted to tie the devils demons and jinn to the pillars of the mosque 3

muhammad peace be upon him wanted to tie the devils demons and jinn to the pillars of the mosque 4
muhammad peace be upon him wanted to tie the devils demons and jinn to the pillars of the mosque 4

Scholarly Explanation of the Hadith

Ibn Battal’s Explanation — Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari 2 109

Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari by Ibn Battal (2/109) “And the devil was seen on this night and he was able to overpower him because he is embodied; because bodies can be overpowered. But he was inspired by what Solomon had given him, so he did not carry out what he was able to do of imprisoning him — out of a desire for what Solomon wanted to do alone, and out of eagerness for God to answer his call.

As for the people other than the Messenger ﷺ, this is not possible and no one sees the devil in his form except the Messenger; because God says: ‘Indeed, he and his tribe see you from where you do not see them’ [Al-A’raf: 27]. But all people see him if he takes on a form other than his own and imagines himself in a form other than his own — like the one who was stabbed by the Ansari when he found him in his house in the form of a snake, so he killed him, and the man died because of him, and the Messenger explained that in his saying: ‘Indeed, in Madinah there are jinn who have become Muslims.’

And his saying: ‘He sent him back, disgraced’ — it is said: ‘The dog was disgraced’ means he was distant, and ‘I disgraced him’ means I said to him: ‘Go away.’”

Minar al-Qari — Sharh Mukhtasar Sahih al-Bukhari 2 34-35

Minar al-Qari Sharh Mukhtasar Sahih al-Bukhari (2/34–35) “The meaning of the hadith: Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) tells us that the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘A demon from the jinn’ — means a rebellious person from the jinn. The jinn are fiery bodies that can be transformed into different shapes. They are creatures that are invisible to us and are charged with duties like us. Among them are believers, disbelievers, and sinners, and among them are the good and the bad. He is the one who spoke about him in this hadith.

‘He escaped from me last night’ — means that this rebel from the jinn came to me during prayer.

‘To interrupt my prayer’ — meaning to distract me with him, and interrupt my humility in prayer by confusing my thoughts, and come between me and my qiblah, and between me and my communion with my Lord. It does not mean that he invalidates his prayer and spoils it for him, because the mere whispering of Satan does not interrupt the prayer.

‘So Allah enabled me to overpower him’ — means that Allah enabled me to overpower that Satan, so I repelled him from myself. In Muslim’s narration: ‘So I frightened him’ — means I choked him.

‘So I wanted to tie him to one of the pillars of the mosque, until morning comes and you see him’ — tied during the day while the children of the city play with him.

‘Then I remembered the words of my brother Solomon: My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after me’ — as he asked God to single him out for possession of the jinn, so I refused him.”

Note on the Chain of Transmission

Chain of Transmission — To Be Continued The narration in this particular form is not authentic — the chain of transmission is broken.

To be continued with the rest of the response.