Interfaith Dialogue (Angels and Jinn) - Islam and Chrsitianity

Society Religion & Philosophy
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This thread is a continuation of the original “Interfaith Dialogue - Islam and Christianity”.

What we want discuss here is the concept of Angels and Jinn in both religions. Find any commonalities and differences.

To start off I’ll probably make the simple statement that Angels according to Islam are Allah SWT creation. They are made of light or noor. They worship Allah SWT and carry out his commands. Jinn is another creation of Allah SWT, which resides on earth with humans however they are part of the unseen. Jinn can be muslim or non-muslim. We believe Satan or his offpsring are actually from the race of Jinn and not angels.

As always my request to keep it clean. Everyone is welcome to particpate, just don’t overwhelm the particpants.

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Re: Interfaith Dialogue (Angels and Jinn) - Islam and Chrsitianity

I think for clarity, we should split the discussion in threads relative to the specific Angelical creatures under discussion.

Christianity agree on the creation part as well as their function, but not as how they are made. Christianity believes that these creatures were "created" out of nothing similar as the universe was created out of nothing. Being created, the creatures could not have been "made" from something.

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Re: Interfaith Dialogue (Angels and Jinn) - Islam and Chrsitianity

A major difference. The Bible doesn't mention Jinns even in the remotest. Only one race that needs to be saved on Earth as per the Bible

If they are unseen, they must be invisible - how? Do they live in a parallel universe (not being funny). How can they not be visible? Are they only spirits? For what purpose were they made?

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By offspring I must understand you mean: those that follow him not made by him? I do know that the Qur'an states how Satan went against God but does it also state why Satan's followers went with him?

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Re: Interfaith Dialogue (Angels and Jinn) - Islam and Chrsitianity

Christianity (and Judaism) teach that various Angelical creatures were created by God Almighty for various reasons. The way God created/made them is not discussed in length. God also has a hierchargy for these creatures, some has a higher authority as others. Some mentioned in the Bible are:

  1. Seraphim - Isa.6v1-7
  2. Cherubim - Gen.3v24
  3. Arch-angels or Chief Angels - Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, etc.
  4. Common angels
  5. Demons which are fallen angels (angels that choose Satan as Lord over God)
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Re: Interfaith Dialogue (Angels and Jinn) - Islam and Chrsitianity


But they would still be comprising of 'some' material/matter/light etc.... no?

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Offspring would be children.

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It’s not stated. What matterial does a spirit consist of? Is the matter called “life”?

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Like Satan’s descendants? From whom? How did Satan produce them?

How forgiving are you?
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Re: Interfaith Dialogue (Angels and Jinn) - Islam and Chrsitianity

these demons r what Quran calls Jinns…
satan according to Quran was not an angel, but a jinn…
angels r creations who have no free will and cannot disobey Allah in any matter, they do what they r told to do, and serving Allah is the only purpose of their lives…
they do not help or destroy anyone except when and as ordered by Allah…

satan was one of the jinn…
he refused to accept the superiority of Adam (as) and his race over the rest of the creations, and put on arrogance for which he was condemned…
he asked Allah to give him life till the day of judgement so he can misguide mankind and show that they r indeed not superior to others but instead r sinners…
he started his work by getting Adam (as) and Eve to eat from the forbidden tree…
and then he and his group (of jinns and even men) continue to misguide man…

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Re: Interfaith Dialogue (Angels and Jinn) - Islam and Chrsitianity

So according to Islam, Satan has free will and therefor can repent and be saved?

Jinns have free will, can therefor repent and be saved? Demons the same? Can Jinns “possess” a person? Can Jinns torture a person here and now? If they are invisible, they are not of the material world. How do they interact with the material universe?

Please elaborate on the function in life of Jinns. I read about them in discussions here to be “like children”, naughty and with little reason?

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Re: Interfaith Dialogue (Angels and Jinn) - Islam and Chrsitianity

So according to Islam, Satan has free will and therefor can repent and be saved?

satan has free will but he cannot repent now, because he is cursed by Allah till the Day of Judgement....
u can read verses chapter 15, verses 25-50, for creation of man (and also a verse among these states that jinn were created before man from fire), and then satan refusing to prostrate before Adam (as) and then him being cursed till the day of judgement as he himself asked for....

Jinns have free will, can therefor repent and be saved?
jinns r treated same as men, they r good and they r bad....
they can repent and be saved, they can sin and shall be punished....
read chapter 72 for more on jinns....

** Demons the same?**
i do ont know what exactly demons mean to u, i take it as just another name for jinn....

Can Jinns "possess" a person? Can Jinns torture a person here and now? If they are invisible, they are not of the material world. How do they interact with the material universe?
i do not believe jinn to be able to possess a person....
u might find others (muslims) who think they do....
jinn can take forms of animals, hadith mentions them coming in form of snakes, cats and dogs even....
they r created from fire....
they cud be living in a parallel world, as u can see from this verse....
Quran 7:27
O Children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you as he caused your (first) parents to go forth from the Garden and tore off from them their robe (of innocence) that he might manifest their shame to them. **Lo! he seeth you, he and his tribe, from whence ye see him not.* Lo! We have made the devils protecting friends for those who believe not.*
just like we live in a 3D world, they might be living in a 4D world or higher and hence invisible to us....

they can interact without being visible just like angels can....
angels r also not visible to us, but we know they visit our world....
angels fought in a battle against the pagans with the Prophet Muhammad (saw)....
they destroyed many nations when they disobeyed Allah....
so if angels can interact, why not jinns????

on jinns being naughty, men r also naughty, there r ppl who will trouble u for nothing, just for fun, same can be the case for jinn....
but there r good jinns who will not interfere in ur life, and might even help u if they wished....

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pain, suffering, emotions ect. all are invisible... are they not the part of material world??

Armughal I was listening this conversation on radio couple of days back and they said Jinns Are able to Control our minds when they are in the form of Jinn but when they are in the form of human being, they limitations to do anything or everything is nothing more than beyond human being's capacity; except of being extra hard work .. so the people who have jinns under control, they use them mostly for physical labour work...anyways.. if they were not able to possess or control us, then Allah wouldn't be asking us to "seek refuge from Jinn" (charoon- quul) from some creature of 4th D world (as per You). of course they are on same the earth, among us.

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Well, can you take out the emotions and put it in a bottle, even if it is invisible?

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Does christianity believe that angels are "feminine" daughters of the Almighty ?
( I seek refuge of Allah sWT - sorry but I have to say this as it is a huge blasphemy to say anything like this in islam)

Islam considers Angels as free from male / female distinction.

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Satan has been cursed and can’t repent. The other Jinns can repent and be saved. Can the Jinns following Satan also repent and be saved?

Very interesting and VERY different from Judaism and Christianity.

How much of this knowledge were known among the prophet Muhammad’s pears of his lifetime and before?

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Re: Interfaith Dialogue (Angels and Jinn) - Islam and Chrsitianity

Sure no problem.

Yes, everything was eventually created out of nothing. Quran just states that they are composed of light, what kdinf of light or how they are composed is not known to us. For instance, I do not know if the bible coincides with Quran on this point but we believe man was created from clay or dust. And of course if you look at this in retrospect then clay was part of the creation of the universe, which was created out of nothing.

According to Islam the angels existed before the creation of mankind in its human form.

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Jinn according to Islam are made of fire, to be specific smokeless flame of fire. Invisible to human sight in their original form however they are known to appear in other forms, which can be sighted by humans. I have not verified this statement though against the Quran yet though. There is a whole Surah about Jinns in the Quran, entitled Surah Jinn. They existed on earth before mankind. A lot of wonderous or extra ordinary things that humans do are said to attributed to the help of Jinn. How is the kingdom of Solomon PBUH described in the Bible because in Islam Prophet Solomon PBUH is said to have many slave Jinn in his kingdom. It would interesting to know what does the Bible tell about the kingdom of Prophet Solomon PBUH.

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No, offspring means children. Jinn is a race just like mankind. I do not recall that it states WHY Satans followers or children went with him. Jinn also have a free will and Quran states that there are muslim Jinn as well.

An ironic similarity I would state here is that Islam states that Jinn can take control of or possess human beings probably in a similar way as you state the Spirit can take control of humans. What is exorcism in Christianity?

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so Angels exist but its not defined (in Christianity) what their body is composed of, correct?