Can Djinns commit murder?

Enraged by the exorcism carried out by the Aamil to find Ahmed, the djinns exacted their revenge by killing the boy.

Faiza Iqbal October 07, 2015
Djinns are an entity that most Muslims, no matter how devout, do believe in.  They are a whole different species, which cannot be seen by the naked eye, who apparently inhabit the earth commensurately with humans. 

All kinds of theories are sprouted about djinns and their characteristics with some stating that they live in trees, therefore vegetation should not be cut and possess personality characteristics like anger, jealousy as well as love and obsession just like humans do. Whether or not you believe in the existence of djinns, they do form a potent source of horror stories for misbehaving children, as well as an explanation for why some people become mentally unstable.

However, things go slightly awry when people start believing that djinns are capable of murder, as evinced in news, which emerged this week of a four-year-old boy being murdered by this phenomenon.  A ridiculous notion in itself, but one that is believed by the boy’s parents and by the wider community in which he resided.

The story emerged of Ahmad who went with his mother to collect water from a spring and suddenly went missing. After two weeks his badly decomposed and mutilated body was found. In the two weeks he was missing, instead of contacting the police and local authorities, the parents sought help from an Aamil (an exorcist) in Rawalpindi.

The particular Aamil, Qari Mazoorul Haq, travelled all the way from Rawalpindi to Chilas to carry out the exorcism with the assistance of three individuals from the local village. The boy then appeared twice and was then ‘kidnapped’ by the djinns who, enraged by the exorcism, exacted their revenge by killing the boy. Absurdities abound, to add to the insanity of it all, the local police were reluctant to register an FIR regarding his absence.

No amount of scholarly Islamic knowledge ever supports the notion that djinns can kill a human being. Life and death are solely the prerogative of our Creator, but what shocks the system to the core is the lack of logical thought or reasoning shown by all the parties involved.

Additionally, no post-mortem was ever carried out on Ahmed’s pockmarked and mutilated body or no signs of sexual abuse were ever checked for. The height of laziness and incompetence of the police were clearly displayed when they failed to even register an FIR, allowing supernatural phenomenon take over their job requirements.

Clearly the mother should be questioned regarding her insistence upon finding an Aamil when she should have been more vigilant about her son’s whereabouts. Additionally, if the child went missing close to the spring it would make more sense to initiate investigations there.

It seems that, the more people enter remote and poverty-riddled areas, the more such ridiculous theories start to take shape. Being of Kashmiri descent, whenever I visit the remote villages in Kashmir, I would often hear of ferociously scary stories of djinns overtaking sensible women and turning them into horror figures straight out of Hollywood (the woman with hair all over her face in The Ring seems to be a popular choice of djinn-possessed women).

Somehow the absurd stories started to seep into my skin and whenever I heard even the slightest noise at night, I would immediately think of djinns when, instead, it was probably a critter foraging for food. Living in these mountainous and thickly-forested regions can take quite a toll on one’s sense of reason.

To conclude, I feel immense sadness for the fact that no one thought of Ahmad or what would have been best for him. Maybe he got lost and couldn’t find his way back and some ruthless individual took advantage of him knowing full well that he would never be held culpable for his actions. I suppose in such situations only God alone and the djinns will ever know what happened to Ahmad.
WRITTEN BY:
Faiza Iqbal A law graduate from King's College, London Nottingham Law School. Having worked at Mandviwalla & Zafar as an Associate, she now writes freelance articles and is trying to qualify as a barrister in Canada.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (23)

Supriya Arcot | 8 years ago | Reply Err.. what are you trying to say ?
Sane | 8 years ago | Reply You are obsessed by Pakistan and Muslims. Whatever, the subject is Pakistan haunts you. Pakistan shall always be on your nerves.
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