Did the Prophet Dictate a Letter to Jinn?
Answered by Shaykh Jamir Meah
Question: Assalamu alaykum
Did the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) dictate a letter for jinn to be removed from Abu Dujana’s house?
Answer: Wa’alaykum assalam. Thank you for your question.
The narration that mentions that the Prophet dictated a letter to Sayiddna Ali for protecting Abu Dujana from jinn has two chains of transmission. One has been classified as a forgery. The other has some basis to it, but it is weak.
The Hirz of Abu Dujana
The narrations state that the Prophet dictated the following words to sayiddna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to give to Abu Dujana as protection against jinn in the latter’s home. The supplication for protection is known as the Hirz of Abu Dujana.
‘In the name of Allah the All Gracious, the All Merciful. This is a letter from Muhammad the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds to those who enter the home from the populace, the visitors and the pious, except a person who comes with good, O’ Rahman. To proceed: there is clemency for us and you in the truth. If you are loving and passionate, or sinful and invading or desiring the truth or intending evil, then this is the book of Allah which declares the truth over us and you. Indeed we desire to end what you were doing. Our angels record what you are plotting. Leave the person who has with him this letter of mine and move over to the idolaters and to those who claim that there is a deity other than Allah. There is no deity besides Him, everything besides Him shall perish. For Him alone is the divine decree and to Him alone will everything be returned. They will be overpowered. Haa Meem, they will not be helped. Haa Meem `Ain Seen Qaaf. Disperse O enemies of Allah and the proof of Allah has reached. There is no power to do good and no strength to stay away from evil except from Allah. Soon Allah will suffice them and He is the All Hearing and the All Knowledgeable.’
The Narrations and their Rulings
Ibn Jawzi mentions in his Kitab al Mawdu’at, al Dhahabi in his Tartib al Mawdu’at, and Ibn Hajr in his al Isaba, one chain narrated by a Musa al Ansary. This narration has been widely stated by the muhadithin as a fabricated narration with the additional note that the ‘sahabi’ narrating it, Musa al Ansary, is unknown.
A similar in text, but with a different chain of narration is transmitted by al Baihaqy in his Dala’il al Nubuwwa, and Ibn Arraq in his Tanzih al Shariah. These scholars classed the hadith as weak and stated that many of the hadith scholars have not commented much on this narration, nor censured it. They hold that it is permissible to act upon the hadith, i.e. use the du’a for the purpose of protection from jinn, as it is well known that acting upon a weak hadith is permissible.
And Allah knows best.
Warmest salams,
[Shaykh] Jamir Meah
Shaykh Jamir Meah grew up in Hampstead, London. In 2007, he traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he spent nine years studying the Islamic sciences on a one-to-one basis under the foremost scholars of the Ribaat, Tarim, with a main specialization and focus on Shafi’i fiqh. In early 2016, he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continues advanced studies in a range of Islamic sciences, as well as teaching. Jamir is a qualified homeopath.
