As it so happens, I currently live right near one of the most haunted places in the US. It's called Bachelor's Grove Cemetery, and if the weather's good I could walk there within an hour, or I could take ten minutes and drive there (but only in the daytime, there's no good place to park if it's night). Here's a site that gives you a bunch of details about haunting events that have been reported in or near it. http://www.prairieghosts.com/bachgrov.html
Now, as a Christian, I don't take this sort of thing very seriously. I don't believe in ghosts, and some of the things that happen there most commonly have perfectly reasonable explanations. It is fun though, just to see what it's like at night and to have a bit of an experience. I have some fun with it, but I don't take it seriously.
What I'd like to know is would Muslims tend to take it seriously, and to what extent could jinns be involved. Here's a bit of the general situation. The graveyard is out of the way and back in the woods, so there have been some shenanigans over the past 100 plus years. Grave robbers have dug up bodies, quite a few graves have been desecrated and even though a couple of restoration efforts have made most of it look right again, two or three of the really enormous tombstones are still on their sides. It would take some serious equipment (and permission to use it there) in order to get them back upright, these things weight a couple of tons. Additionally, there is a small but deep lake conveniently located between the graveyard and the nearest road. It is rumored that certain elements of Chicago's organized crime during Prohibition would dump some bodies there, and it also seems like a convenient place to execute someone and get away with it.
The upshot is that the combination of violent deaths, post-burial desecration, and just a bit of the Satanic element that the location has attracted (it's a solid place for occult-related rituals) has led to an exceptional situation for disturbed and tortured souls. There are also a couple of recurring stories of apparitions, and people will sometimes talk about curses or an evil presence that they picked up while there and then whatever that unseen thing is, it comes home with them and makes trouble. Then I guess they try and do something to get rid of it and restore their peace of mind.
Again, as a Christian, I don't take any of this seriously. I wonder though, how much of this sort of thing aligns with Islamic beliefs about jinns? Does some of this make you think, Yeah that makes some sense according to my understanding of jinns? Are there other parts of it that make you think, No that hasn't got anything to do with my beliefs at all?
That sounds like an interesting place that I would enjoy checking out.
Very good to know, I don't really know too much about jinns. There is a TV show that I enjoy called Supernatural, and jinns are some of the recurring characters in the show. These jinns are blue, strong fast and able to disguise themselves, clever, and never say much unless in disguise. If they make physical contact, that can cause you to hallucinate, and they use that distraction in order to capture people. Once captured, they inject you with some sort of knockout drug that places you in a dream state so you don't even realize that you're being held captive and you don't know how long it's been, and while all this is happening the jinn is slowly feeding off you by draining your life force.
But that's just a TV show that entertains me, and I'm absolutely sure that has almost nothing to do with the actual beliefs of Muslims. There's plenty in the show that has to do with Christianity too, and none of it is meant to be terribly accurate. Angels are mostly awful, demons are pure evil, and monsters come from Purgatory then go back there when they're killed. Oh, and God was absent for a long time because he stopped caring about people very much, but he pretended to be a prophet for awhile and he enjoys playing guitar. And God has a sister who was introduced in the most recent season, while Lucifer is Gabriel's evil brother. It's a highly entertaining amalgam of drastically altered lore, but it's not intended to help people be well informed on actual extant beliefs.
Now that I'm describing some of the specifics of the show, I'm realizing just how much violence it would precipitate if it were shown on TV in a Muslim-majority country. But in North America, Christians either ignore it, aren't aware of it, or enjoy it for the purpose of entertainment. And I quite enjoy it.
Sounds like your dad's a smart guy.
Yes I doubt that (interesting???) show would have anything factual about Muslim beliefs concerning Jinns. Essentially, jinns are independent beings created from smokeless fire, they are unseen to human beings and have free will just like we do, the Messengers and books were also meant to guide them so they will also be judged on the Day of Resurrection and punished/rewarded according to their deeds.
Ma'sha'Allah, my father's very smart. .
Ya Muqallib al-Quloob, Thabbit Qalbi Ala Deenik
Oh turner of the Hearts make my heart firm on Your Deen
Demons yes, ghosts no. As to my current situation however, there is a super haunted graveyard practically within walking distance of me which is very well known for ghost stories and apparitions....whereas there is no comparable situation quite near to my personal experience that has very much to do with demons.
Well, you have your answer there then. We believe essentially the same although I do not personally like the term demons, because Jinn can be both good and bad, whereas demons are evil only.
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