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What is the ruling on seeking the help of jinn to uncover crimes or spy on enemies, and are those who deal with jinn considered soothsayers?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The use of jinn by humans involves precautions and harms, because jinn are characterized by lying, deception, and treachery, and they are not to be trusted. Among them are believers, disbelievers, and transgressors, and their circumstances are unknown. Scholars of old have forbidden communication with jinn. Some have likened consulting jinn to consulting the absent, such as the dead, which carries a whiff of shirk (polytheism). Sheikh Ibn Baz said that resorting to jinn is not permissible, because it is a means to worshipping them and believing them, and because Allah condemned the polytheists by saying: "And indeed, there were men among mankind who took refuge in men among the jinn, so they increased them in burden" (Quran 72:6). This is a means to believing in them and committing shirk.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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