Hundred Questions - Jinn
Jinn
Q17 You discuss about the Jinn. Could you kindly tell us something about them, whether they have a separate world where they dwell and live as we do?
A17 There are various verses in the Qur'an regarding jinns. The jinns are mentioned in the Qur'an under these captions: jann (seven times), al-jinn (twenty-two times) and jinnah (ten times), [which reveal sufficient information about jinns]. In addition, the subject is elaborated here to some extent. The word jinn in Arabic means 'to hide' and 'to be hidden'. Thus jinn means the creature that is hidden from our sight. The jinns who live on the planet earth co-exist with human beings and do not have their own separate world. The only thing is that mostly they prefer to live in uninhabited places, such as mountains, deserts etc., for perhaps they receive their food from fresh air or ether.
They also have their own separate worlds. That is, they also live on those planets, which are free from human beings like us. When the planet earth was uninhabited by human beings, it used to abound with jinns. For it is a natural law that no vessel should remain empty. If it is empty of milk or water, air takes their place automatically. This spacious and great universe is immersed in the ocean of the Universal Soul, therefore the question does not arise where so many souls come from that all the planets and stars are full of them in one form or the other.
Jinn is also called pari and both have the same meaning. In Arabic it is called jinn and in Persian pari. In shape and form jinns are like human beings, for their essence is the same. They move on the same circle, that is, between the two worlds [the physical and the spiritual].
Among jinns there are mu'mins as well as infidels, as there are good as well as bad people among human beings. To say that jinns are created out of fire means that they are in subtle body, also called astral body.
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