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Fatwa CenterTypes of Jinn and their speed
Question
Is it correct that Jinns can cross the earth in ten minutes? What are their categories?
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.
Jinns are among the creatures of Allaah the Almighty. He created them for the wise purpose for which He created humans. Allaah the Almighty Says (what means): {And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.}[Quran 51:56]
They are originally created from fire. Allaah the Almighty Says (what means): {And He created the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire.}[Quran 55:15]
Among them are Muslims, disbelieving oppressors, the righteous and wrongdoers. Allaah the Almighty Says about them (what means):
• {And among us are Muslims [in submission to Allaah], and among us are the unjust.}[Quran 72:14]
• {And among us are the righteous, and among us are [others] not so.}[Quran 72:11]
The prominent Hanafi scholar Badr Ad-Deen Ash-Sheeli stated that Jinns come from three categories, as mentioned in a Hadeeth: One takes the form of snakes, another is like black dogs and the third category resembles a fast wind with wings. After that he mentioned a Hadeeth about the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, part of which states that Allaah the Almighty created three categories of Jinn: a category that looks like snakes, scorpions and insects; one that resembles wind and one that is liable for reckoning and punishment.
Allaah the Almighty also created three categories of humans: a category like beasts that have hearts that do not understand, eyes that do not see, and ears that do not hear, like livestock. Another category has human-like bodies but spirits like devils, and a third will be in the shade and salvation of Allaah the Almighty when there will be no shade except His. [At-Tirmithi and Ibn Abi Ad-Dunya. As-Suyooti: Dha‘eef (Weak)]
In sum, Jinns come in various shapes and levels of belief. Among them are believers and disbelievers, followers of the Sunnah and religious innovators; some of them have wings and can fly and thus they can cross the entire earth in a very short time. However, defining this time as 10 minutes or an hour needs proof, which does not exist.
And Allaah Knows best.
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