Does 'Jinn' Exist as Mentioned in the Quran?

In the holy text of Muslims, there is a chapter called Surah Al-Jinn, which discusses jinn and humans. Jinn in Arabic means concealed and hidden. Those who believe in the existence of beings like jinn alongside or beyond humans argue that jinn exist and have influences, but they are not always seen. Critics consider these beliefs to be superstitions often stemming from religion. Neither science nor any documented research has deemed the existence of such beings possible. Richard Dawkins, a behavioral scientist and evolutionary biologist, equated the probability of the existence of jinn and similar beings to that of a pink leopard in the real world. Nevertheless, belief in the existence and influence of jinn still has supporters. In this week's program 'Taboo,' we respond to many of your requests and discuss this topic. Dr. Taghi Kimiayi Asadi, a specialist in electrical diagnostic medicine and author of the book 'Creation and Evolution of the Brain and Mind,' and Ahmad Shama'zadeh, a writer and researcher in Quranic sciences, are our guests on this program. Mr. Shama'zadeh, I ask you; can we say that beings called jinn, which are also mentioned in the Quran, exist? If you support the idea that they exist, what is your reasoning for your belief? Ahmad Shama'zadeh: Yes. Besides the Quran, the Bible and Torah also acknowledge them. Christians believe in them, and they are mentioned in the Torah. During my time as a sociology student, one of our subjects was anthropology. In anthropology, I learned that anthropologists encounter beings that have remained in their works. For example, they say that the pyramids of Egypt could not have been built by humans because the technology did not exist at that time. There are many such instances. Since I have been reading the Quran regularly since my youth and am familiar with Surah Al-Jinn, I consider the Quran to be a system of existence. Everything mentioned in the Quran is necessary for humanity. I pursued this topic, and the more I researched, the more I found that scientists have also sought this being but do not call it jinn. They call it something else, for instance, gods. Like Erich von Däniken, who has written many books, all of which revolve around this jinn, but he refers to them as gods. Many books are written about beings that are not known. On the other hand, the Quran explains what this being is and who it is, dedicating an entire chapter to the name jinn. There are over 150 references to jinn scattered throughout the Quran. The Quran beautifully elaborates that thousands of years before the arrival of humans on Earth and the creation of humans, there were jinn. It also states their essence, saying that we created them before humans from heat and thermal energy; 'Min Marij Min Nar.' When the Quran was revealed, the jinn said that they could no longer eavesdrop from their listening posts in space, indicating that when the Quran was revealed, the jinn were prohibited from flying and could no longer eavesdrop. We do not know whether they had means to travel to space or if they traveled with their bodies. This remains concealed. Mr. Shama'zadeh, if I summarize your reasoning, you use religious reasoning primarily based on what is in the Quran, the holy book of Muslims. Let us now join Dr. Taghi Kimiayi Asadi from a non-religious perspective. Dr. Asadi, what interpretation can you provide regarding what you heard from Mr. Shama'zadeh and what science has to say about this? Taghi Kimiayi Asadi: First of all, from a scientific perspective, the world is absolutely physical or natural, and there is no evidence of any supernatural entity, essence, energy, or anything else in it, and none of these can be proven. All entities created by humans throughout history have not been able to prove these things, including jinn, which are more prevalent in Arabic culture than in any other culture and have entered the Quran through this route. On the other hand, we cannot really use the Quran as documentation to prove the existence of such essences because the Quran contains many historical errors, scientific errors, cosmological errors, and many creation errors that have all been definitively rejected, and jinn is most likely one of them. Furthermore, Mr. Shama'zadeh must answer several questions. One is whether jinn are natural beings or supernatural. How can a natural being that can affect us manifest from fire or smokeless fire, as it is said, and influence us? And if it is indeed a supernatural being, how does Mr. Shama'zadeh study it? With what laboratory or objective means can he prove the existence of these supernatural beings? I correct myself, Dr. Asadi, the name of our other esteemed guest in our program is Mr. Shama'zadeh... Kimiayi Asadi: I apologize. Please go ahead. Mr. Shama'zadeh, you heard Dr. Kimiayi Asadi's questions. The most significant aspect that may be a question for the listeners of this program is whether you consider the jinn you believe in to be a natural or supernatural being? Shama'zadeh: First of all, before asking questions, he questioned the beliefs of I don't know how many billion Muslims we have? He essentially accused the Quran and Muslims, which is very costly for people like me, while we see that scientists day by day... For instance, Maurice Bucaille [a French Muslim physician] says regarding genetics that he is surprised that 1400 years ago the Quran explained genes and embryos in this way. This is the Quran. Jinn is a being that is physically and even internally like humans. It speaks, has intellect, can articulate, and symbolizes. It is responsible. That is, it is not someone who just came into this world and leaves. Like humans, it is responsible. This means that in the afterlife and resurrection, it must answer for itself. It is by no means a fictional or supernatural being. It is exactly like humans. Everything about it is like humans. The difference is that since jinn were created several thousand years before humans, they have certainly not gained much experience and knowledge. In terms of intelligence and other abilities, they are superior to humans but not spiritually. Because jinn do not possess the divine spirit, they are at a lower level than humans. That is why prophets do not emerge from among them. Mr. Shama'zadeh, you described the jinn you believe in. Let us return to Dr. Kimiayi Asadi. Is there, scientifically, a being like humans, which is a complex assembly of brain, nerves, psyche, and delicate functions of different organs; is there fundamentally in the universe according to medicine, biology, or other sciences? Kimiayi Asadi: There is an impossible precondition in the nature of jinn that they are made of fire. First, we must see what fire is. Fire is the product of the combination of a combustible material with oxygen. As a result of this combination, the atomic bonds of this combustible material collapse, producing a lot of heat, which manifests as heat and light. The heat is evident, and the light is due to the returning movement of electrons that have gone from lower orbits to higher ones and return, emitting light. No being can manifest from fire or light. If it is to think like us humans, then it must contain atomic materials, protons, and neutrons to be able to think at our level. In this case, being made up of these protons and neutrons and electrons would make it visible like us, and we should be able to easily see it or discover its existence with our laboratory tools. However, no tool has shown that such beings exist except in our imaginations and beliefs, which spread like a virus among people and are entirely cultural. He mentioned that it is also in the Torah and the Bible. Such a thing is not mentioned in the Torah and the Bible. They believe in devils, which are also other imaginary preconditions, but there is no such thing as jinn, which is a product of Arab thought, and there were tribes in Arabia that considered themselves descendants of jinn [that do not exist]. There is even a narration from Imam Ja'far Sadiq that these unfortunate Kurds are considered to be of the race of jinn. These are things that are not suitable for the 20th century. First, no metaphysical being is provable, and second, no being made of fire or heat or energy can take on a body. Dr. Kimiayi Asadi, your explanations lead me to this question. Now, Mr. Shama'zadeh and the thought he represents may tell you that there have been people who have had experiences and have come forward saying they have seen a being. People who have recounted their experiences. Where does this come from? Can we provide an explanation for this? After all, some individuals have even been very frightened and worried upon seeing what they have been told is jinn in their teachings. What they saw, what was it? Can you provide an explanation for this? Kimiayi Asadi: Beliefs are always hallucinatory, and people usually experience these hallucinations when their external senses diminish, such as at night or in darkness or in old baths where people used to go at night, and it was rumored that jinn would come and bathe. People who believed in this and were deprived of external senses quickly fell into these hallucinations, hearing sounds or seeing things before their eyes without any real external existence, created at the level of delusion or imagination. You see, I am a brain specialist and have encountered many psychiatric patients both in Iran and here. Many of the patients in Iran who developed mental illness often claimed to have relations with jinn, but I have never seen a psychiatric patient in America who said they had relations with jinn. In our mistaken thinking, we derived the word 'madness' from jinn and thought that those who were mad or had gone mad were possessed by these supernatural beings, and I do not know how another natural being can possess a mental patient's body and turn it into that. I clearly remember that before good epilepsy medications came out, I saw patients in the streets of Hamadan who would fall and have seizures, and people believed that they were possessed by jinn, and in that state, they would draw a circle around them so that the jinn would not leave and enter their bodies, and they would throw money on that unfortunate epileptic patient as a form of atonement. You see, these are all beliefs, and if you believe, you can fall into these delusions. Mr. Shama'zadeh, after all, in non-religious literature and folklore, we also see the presence of jinn prominently. For example, the references they made. For instance, some diseases that were still unknown were said to be caused by jinn. This jinnology you speak of; now that, for example, the roots of epilepsy and even its control - not its cure, but its control - have been identified, what explanation does your jinnology provide against these discoveries? Shama'zadeh: I should say that I knew that the doctor and anyone who does not believe in jinn would immediately think of baths and such things whenever jinn is mentioned, but my perception of jinn is not like that. First of all, the issue that jinn is made from thermal energy. This is the exact word of the Quran. Well, someone who does not believe in the Quran does not accept anything. When we say, and everyone else accepts this, and scientists also accept that humans are made of matter, made from soil, it means that the primary material from which the first human was created was soil. Jinn is the same. The primary material of jinn is thermal energy, and now it has a body like us. Energy and matter can be converted into each other; this is a basic scientific discussion, and everyone knows this. Just as humans are made from soil, there may be 10 other beings, but the Quran and religion acknowledge two beings. It says jinn and humans... Mr. Shama'zadeh, has anyone ever seen the being called jinn you are talking about? Can you provide a description of it? Shama'zadeh: Yes. Yes, they have seen it. In America, they have seen it. Many have been abducted. By UFOs. In the same America that he mentions. Yes, if we want to see the old baths, no, but in America, UFOs have abducted many people. Just recently, a UFO came, and there is even a video of it swallowing an American listening helicopter and taking it away. You see, they have beautifully recorded it. You can no longer find jinn in the baths; you must find them in the sky. Many have been abducted and taken away and returned. Many different books have been written in America as well. Now, UFOs are no longer like they used to be that people like the doctor would say it was an optical illusion. They used to say that.