Ghosts &
Islam
Back to: Ghosts
in Religion
Can ghosts be found within Islam?
Islam, as a whole, does not teach the existence of
ghosts or reincarnation, as many Muslims believe the Quran and Hadith do
not make mention of either. The most widely accepted belief is that the
spirit of a person
remains in
the grave until the end time of judgment. Islam does however teach about
zars or spirits that typically possess women, causing sickness,
rebellion and marital dischord; and jinn, typically believed not to be
ghosts or angels, but beings that dwell in the unseen, created before mankind,
some being good, some being bad, and all created to worship God known as,
Allah. Jinni (plural) are where the term "genie
"
was
was derived from. Though many Muslims do not
believe ghosts are found within Islam, it should be noted that a sect known as
the Sufi
do believe in reincarnation,
as well as ghosts and spirits being referenced in the Quran.
Traditional
Islamists cite that the idea of ghosts came from the pre-Islam time of ignorance
and are only of superstition. When we look back at the time before the
prophet Muhammed, the Jinn were an integral part of ancient Arabian religion, as they were both good and bad, influencing
humans and in constant connection with wild animals, appearing often as the
same. Muhammed saw jinn and
mankind as separate races, both
good and bad,
and all under
Allah. Jinn, in this light, somewhat resemble Christianity's angels and
demons at play in the world, but yet, Islam teaches angels to be completely
different beings from the jinn and mankind. The ancient Greek word for
spirits that were both good and bad, called daimon, seem to be a closer
counterpart to the jinn.
Two Years In A Levantine Family,
by author Bayle St. John, tells a credible true story of a family haunted by a
ghost called an 'ifriti, which is believed to be an evil-type of
jinn. The ghost was a former owner, who was guarding his riches buried
within the home. Bayle St. John listened to the family's account for
many years, until one day he saw the ghost appear to him in the daylight.
Importantly, St. John called the ghost a shakh, and was fortunate
enough to see him two more times. Shakh, or sheik, is an honory
Arabic term for elder, lord or wise man. In older, traditional,
Arab lore, 'ifriti clearly meant ghost, and many times referenced an angry
ghost, sometimes seeking revenge for its murder.
According to
Religion and Folk Cosmology, by El-Sayed El-Aswad, some muslims believe
there are two types of jinn: one type being an evil jinn which is not of
human origin, and the second being a component of a human being and what can
sometimes be seen as the ghost of a person after death. Ghosts, then, are
often described negatively, as natural deaths are not believed to be a reason
for negative ghosts to exist. It is believed that people who are killed
(and thus their lifetime abruptly being shortened), remain as negative ghosts
with ill-intentions. It is believed the 'ifrit (or ghost) leaves
the body at death, and either remains in the cemetery after a peaceful death,
awaiting resurrection, or in the case of people who are killed (whose life ended
abruptly), wander this earth where the person formerly lived.