May a Human Marry a Jinni?

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

The question of whether a human may marry a jinni is a controversial one. There is no evidence from the Shari`ah that can be said to be authentic in that regard.

The majority of jurists are of the opinion that such a marriage is not lawful, but some jurists consider it to be lawful. The first opinion is the more correct to follow.

Allah Almighty says:“And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect”(Ar-Rum: 21)

He Almighty also says:”O people! be careful of (your duty to) your Lord, Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same (kind) and spread from these two, many men and women; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, by Whom you demand one of another (your rights), and (to) the ties of relationship; surely Allah ever watches over you”(An-Nisaa’: 1).

In these verses,mateandmatesrefer to spouses from the same kind, i.e., humankind.

Besides, there would be no offspring if a human and a jinni were to marry each other.

According toMughni Al-Muhtajby Al-Khateeb Asherbini, a Shafi`e scholar, there are two kinds of prohibitions to marriage: perpetual and non-perpetual. Of the perpetual prohibitions is marriage between humans and jinn; it is not lawful for a member of human kind to marry a jinni.

Allah Almighty says:”O people! be careful of (your duty to) your Lord, Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same (kind)”(An-Nisaa’: 1). He Almighty also says:“It is He Who created you from a single person, and made his mate of like nature.”(Al-A`raf: 189).

An unauthentic hadith was reported on the authority of Ibn Abi Ad-Dunya to the effect that it is forbidden to marry the jinn.

According toRad Al-Mehtar `ala Ad-Dur Al-Mukhtarby Ibn `Abdein, a Hanifi scholar, the jurists define marriage as “a contract that makes it lawful for a man to make love to a woman without there being a lawful prohibition to this marriage.” A lawful prohibition here refers to marriage to another man or to a hermaphrodite, a polytheist woman, a closely related woman, or a female jinn.

Contemplating the verses”Marry women of your choice”(An-Nisaa’: 3) and“And Allah has made wives for you from among yourselves”(An-Nahl: 72), one can realize that it is only women of human kind that are lawful for men to marry. In addition, a jinn male may take the form of a female and vise versa.

Also according toAl-Ashbah, a book on juristic rules by Ibn Nujaym, marriage between a human and a jinni is not lawful, for they are of different worlds.

It was said that Al-Hassan Al-Basri was of the opinion that such a marriage is lawful so long as there are witnesses to it. But it was also reported that he did not believe it is lawful.

Any way, the more correct opinion to follow in this regard is that it is not lawful for a human being to marry a jinni, for they are of different worlds.

InAl-Ashbah wa An-Nadha’r,Imam As-Suyuti, an eminent Shafi`i scholar, wrote: ”Answering the question ‘is it lawful for a human being to marry a jinni?’ Imad Ibn Yunus said, ‘Yes.’”

This question was also one of those that Sheikh Jamal Ad-Din Al-Esnawi posed to the supreme judge Sharaf Ad-Din Al-Barazi.

Sheikh Jamal asked the supreme judge, “Is it lawful for a man to marry a female jinn? Contemplating Allah’s Words“And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves”(Ar-Rum: 21), I find thatfrom among yourselvesrefers to that one’s mate or spouse is to be from the same kind as one, and this is a blessing from Almighty Allah. But if we supposed that this might be lawful, as Ibn Unus said inSharh Al-Wajeiz, would the man in this case have the right to oblige his jinn wife to stick to home or not? Suppose also that he would dislike to see her in a form other than the human one; would he have the right to prevent her from incarnating in other forms? Also, would the conditions required in a valid marriage contract be required in this case, also? For instance, would the jinn’s guardian’s approval be required? Would their marriage be acceptable according to the jinn laws? Suppose that once, he did not recognize her, for she was incarnating in a form different from that he usually sees her in, but she told him it was she. Would he believe her and thus could he make love to her? Would he also be required to provide her with food that the jinn eat, such as bones and the like?”

The supreme judge Sharaf Ad-Din Al-Barazi answered:

It is not lawful that members of human kind marry members of jinn kind. This is inferred from the following verses:‘And Allah has made wives for you from among yourselves’(An-Nahl: 72) and‘And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves’(Ar-Rum: 21).
The exegetes say about these verses that the wordsfrom among yourselvesin both verses refer to human kind; they may be paraphrasedfrom your own kindorfrom your own nature.

These verses are analogous to the verse“Now hath come unto you a Messenger from amongst yourselves”(At-Tawbah: 128), forfrom amongst yourselveshere refers also to human kind.

Besides, Allah Almighty refers in His Book to the women who are lawful for men to marry:“O Prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers; and those whom thy right hand possesses out of the prisoners of war whom Allah has assigned to thee; and daughters of thy paternal uncles and aunts, and daughters of thy maternal uncles and aunts”(Al-Ahzab: 50). [What was applied to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) according to this verse is also applied to Muslim men in general.] Mind that it is juristically known that this verse also indicates that single women who are not related to one may also be marriageable to one.

Allah Almighty also refers in His Book to the women who are prohibited in marriage to one. Notice all this is about marriage to women of human nature. This is because there is no marriage between human beings and jinn. (The words of Sharaf Ad-Din Al-Barazi end here.)

[Still according to As-Suyuti,] Sheikh Jamal Ad-Din Al-Esnawi commented:

This is Al-Barazi’s answer. If I was asked for my opinion in this, I would say that marriage between human beings and jinn is unlawful for many reasons.

First, Al-Kermani reported in hisMasa’ilthat there was a hadith reported to the effect that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade marriage from the jinn.

Though this hadith is not authentically reported, yet its truthfulness is supported by the opinions of the scholars in that respect. For example, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Qatadah, Al-Hakam ibn Uyaynah, Ishaq ibn Rahawei, and `Uqbah Al-Assam were of the opinion that this marriage is not lawful. Also, Al-Jamal As-Sajstani, a Hanifi scholar, said in his book,Minyat Al-Mufti `an Al-Fatawa As-Sirajjiyyah: “Marriage between human kind and jinn is not lawful, for they are of different worlds.”

Second, the aims of marriage are to find tranquility, peace, and compassion with a partner close to one. All this would be lacking with jinn partners, for hatred for human kind is innate in their nature.

Third, there is nothing in the Shari`ah to the effect that it is permitted to marry members of the jinn. Allah Almighty says:“Marry women of your choice”(An-Nisaa’: 3). It is known thatwomenrefers to female members of human kind. This indicates that it is unlawful to marry other than women.

Fourth, it is not principally permitted for a free man to marry a slave woman, in order that they not may bring forth a slave child, which is not in the interest of the child. By comparison, marrying a female jinn may result in bringing forth a child having jinn characteristics, which is far worse than slavery. Hence, so long as it is not permitted for a free man to marry a slave woman, though both belong to the same kind (human kind), it is with greater reason not to permit marriage to jinn, for they are of different nature.

By analogy, we also find that it is prohibited to cross donkeys and horses, for this results in a hybrid different from horses, and this may, in turn, lead to the rarity of horses. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commented on those who do so by saying, “Those who do so are ignorant.” If so is the case with animals, it is with greater reason that it also be the case with marriage between humans and jinns.

However, Abu `Uthman Sa`id ibn Al-`Abass Ar-Razi said in his bookAl-Ilham wa Al-Waswasahthat it was reported that some Yemeni people wrote to Imam Malik: “A male jinni has come to us and proposed to marry a young (human) woman saying, ‘I seek to stick to the right path by this proposal.’” Imam Malik answered, “I see that there is nothing wrong in doing so, but I dislike to expose this woman to a situation where she might be asked about her husband and she would answer, ‘It is a male jinni.’ This may lead to corruption among Muslims.”

In his bookAkam Al-Murjan, Ash-Shabli, a Hanifi scholar, stated: Scholars are of two opinions regarding marriage between humans and jinn. One says it is unlawful and the other says it is lawful. The first view was adopted by a group of Hanbali scholars and was also reported inAs-Seraji Fatwas. They cited as evidence in this respect Almighty Allah’s words“And Allah has made wives for you from among yourselves”(An-Nahl: 72) and“And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect”(Ar-Rum: 21). They also cited as evidence in this regard a hadith to the effect that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited marriage to jinns. The second point of view in this regard was reported to have been adopted by Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Qatadah, and others.