Book: Siyar A'lam An-Nubala by Ad-Dhahabi - سير أعلام النبلاء ـ الإمام الذهبي

The Night with the Jinn

One night, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was absent from us in Mecca. We said, 'Has he been taken by some harm, has he been spirited away, what has happened?' That night, we spent the most anxious night a people could experience. Then, at dawn—or perhaps it was at the time of the pre-dawn meal in the last third of the night—we found him coming from the direction of Hira. We said, 'O Messenger of Allah!' They mentioned the anxiety they had suffered, and he replied, "A caller from the jinn came to me, so I went to them and recited the Quran to them." He then took us and showed us their traces and the remains of their fires. This narration was reported by Muslim [1].

There is another report that contradicts this account. Abdullah bin Salih narrated to me from Lyth, who narrated from Yunus, and from Ibn Shihab. He said that Abu Othman bin Sanah Al-Khuzai from Syria reported that he heard Ibn Mas’ud say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to his companions in Mecca, "Whoever of you wishes to attend the affair of the jinn at night, let him do so." None of them attended except me. We were at the upper part of Mecca when he marked a line with his foot, instructed me to sit within it, and then proceeded until he stood up. He began to recite the Quran, and so many dark figures appeared that they stood between me and him. I could only hear his voice. They dispersed and flew away like scattered pieces of cloud, until none remained except a small group. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ completed his recitation with the dawn, then went to relieve himself. Upon returning, he said, "What did that group do?" I replied, "They are still here, O Messenger of Allah." He took some bones and dung and gave it to them as provisions, prohibiting anyone from cleaning themselves with bones or dung after answering the call of nature. This was narrated by Al-Nasa’i from the narration of Yunus.

Suleiman Al-Taimi narrated from Abu Othman Al-Nahdi that Ibn Mas'ud saw some "Zut" (an ethnic group) on a road and said: Who are these? They replied: These are the Zut. He said: I have not seen anyone resembling them except the jinn on the night of the jinn. They were clothed in garments that were tucked in between their legs. This is authentic [2].

The expression 'Istithfar' means to take the end of one's garment between the thighs and tuck it into the belt. This can also describe a dog when it tucks its tail between its legs. Similarly, for a menstruating woman it is said, "Tuck."

Uthman bin Amr bin Fares narrated from Mustamir bin Riyan, from Abu Al-Jawza, from Ibn Mas'ud, who said: I went with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the night of the jinn until we reached Al-Hajun. He marked a circle for me and proceeded towards them, whereupon they crowded around him. Their leader, named Wardan, said, "Shall I take them away from you?" He replied, "None can protect me from Allah."

And Zuhair bin Muhammad Al-Tamimi narrated from Ibn Al-Munkadir, from Jabir, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited a surah…