INCIDENTS OF JINN CATCHING
Abu Ad-Darda’ t said, “The Messenger of Allaah (Salla Allahu alayhi wasalaam) stood up to pray and we heard him say, ‘I seek refuge with Allaah from you.’ Then he said, ‘I curse you with the curse of Allaah.’ three times, and he stretched out his hand as if he was reaching out to take something.
When he (Salla Allahu alayhi wasalaam) finished his prayer, we said, `O Messenger of Allah, we heard you say something in your prayer which we have never heard you say before, and we saw you stretching out your hand.’ He said: ‘The enemy of Allah: Iblis came with a flame of fire to throw in my face, so I said, “I seek refuge with Allaah from you” three times, then I said, “I curse you with the complete curse of Allaah,” but he did not back off. I said it three times. Then I wanted to seize him. By Allah, if it were not for the words of our brother Sulayman u , he would have been chained up and he would have become a plaything for the children of the people of
Al-Madinah.
Abu Hurayrah t , said that the Prophet r said: “An `Ifrit from among the jinn came and bothered me last night”- or he said something similar -“Trying to stop me from praying. Allaah enabled me to overpower him, and I wanted to tie him to one of the pillars in the Masjid so that you could see him this morning. Then I remembered what my brother Sulayman said, (My Lord! Forgive me and bestow upon me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me)” He t said, “so he let him go,
humiliated.” (Sahih Bhukhaari)
Hudhaifah t reported: “When we attended a meal with the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ we would not stretch forth our hands towards the food until he ﷺ would start eating first.
Once, we were with him when a little girl rushed in as if someone was impaling her. She was about to lay her hand on the food when the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ caught her hand.
Then a bedouin came in rushing as if someone were pushing him. He ﷺ caught his hand also and said, “Shaytaan considers that food lawful for himself on which the Name of Allaah is not mentioned. He (Shaytaan) brought this girl to make the food lawful through her but I caught her hand. Then he brought the bedouin to make it lawful through him but I caught his hand too. By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, now Shaytaan’s hand is in my grasp along with their hands.” Then he mentioned the Name of Allaah and began to eat. (Abu Dawud and An-Nasa’I)
In the preceding ahaadith we see that although Nabi r had an aversion to enslaving jinn (in the manner that Sulaimaan u used to) he did “catch” mischievous or rebellious shayateen and jinn and thereafter
release them.
Narrated Abu Huraira t: “Allah’s Apostle r ordered me to guard the Zakaah revenue of Ramadan. Then somebody came to me and started stealing of the foodstuff. I caught him and said, “I will take you to Allaah’s Apostle (Salla Allahu alayhi wasalaam)!” Then Abu Huraira t described the whole narration and said: That person said (to me), “Please don’t take me to Allah’s Apostle and I will tell you a few words by which Allaah will benefit you. When you go to your bed, recite Ayaat-al-Kursi, for then there will be a guard from Allaah who will protect you all night long, and Satan will not be able to come near you till dawn.”
(When the Prophet (Salla Allahu alayhi wasalaam) heard the story) he said (to me), “He (who came to you at night) told you the truth although he is a liar; and it was Satan (Iblees).” (Sahih Bukhari 530) In the previous hadith, we see the Sahabi Abu Huraira t catching, conversing with,
and releasing a jinn.
Just as in the above incidents, in our method of jinn catching we do not keep jinn enslaved to serve us or to get information from them. We release them.