How do you approach a situation where family members attribute mental health issues to black magic and jins?
Quran
Hadith
Islamic Text
Try to increase your own and their knowledge regarding such issues.
إِنَّ كَيْدَ الشَّيْطَانِ كَانَ ضَعِيفًا
Indeed the plot of Shaytaan is weak. (An Nisa, 76).
We have to try to educate people and take them away from the kind of mindset where they attribute almost everything that goes wrong in their life to black magic (Sihr) or Jinn. We should remind them that people had difficulties in all aspects of their lives in the time of the Prophet ﷺ and they did not attribute it to Jinn or Sihr all the time. Rather it was very rare for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ or the Sahaabah to attribute something to Jinn or Sihr.
The mindset of many people contradicts the Quran and Hadith. They magnify this issue to the extent that it becomes overwhelming. Whereas the Holy Quran does the opposite, as seen in the Ayah above. The commentators of the Holy Quran explained this verse to clarify that people should not magnify the influence of Shaytaan, rather we should recognise that he can do little more than whisper.
وقوله: (إِنَّ كَيْدَ الشَّيْطَانِ كَانَ ضَعِيفًا)؛ لأنه يوسوس ويدعو فإن أطاعه -وإلا ليس له عليه سلطان سوى ذلك- فهو ضعيف؛ لأن من لا ينفذ على رعيته سوى قوله فهو ضعيف (تفسير الماتريدي)
His (Most High) saying: Indeed the plot of Shaytaan is weak. This is because he (Shaytaan) can (only) whisper and invite (people to sin) and they may (decide to) follow him (or not), otherwise he has no power over them, therefore he is weak. Since the one who has nothing but speech over his subjects is weak. (Imam al-Maturidi, Ta’weelaat Ahl al-Sunnah).
لا يملك الجبر والقهر ولا اكتساب الضرر في الأبدان والأموال، فهو ضعيف (تفسير الماتريدي)
And he (Shaytaan) has no ability to compel or coerce, nor can he cause harm to a person’s body or wealth, therefore he is weak. (Imam al-Maturidi, Ta’weelaat Ahl al-Sunnah).
We believe in Jinn and Sihr, but we do not believe that they should be overstressed or overwhelm one’s life. We do not find any Sahabi who had this mindset, nor were they preoccupied by these types of thoughts and issues all the time.
Such obsession and paranoia regarding Jinn and Sihr not only contradicts the teachings of Quran and Hadith but also mentally harms and imprisons a person.
For more on this topic, please refer to the videos suggested below.
And Allah (Most High) Knows Best.
– Answered by Shaykh Noorud-deen (25.02.2021)
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