Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamu alai kum,

If jinns are unseen to us, where do they dwell?Do they reside in the same world as we do or they are the dwellers of different world, if not where is the presence of jinns in this world? 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Where Jinns Live

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Dear and Beloved Brother, the ‘Jinns’ are amongst the ‘unseen’, and whatever is amongst the ‘unseen’, its exact nature is known to none save Allah Subhanah, the Creator of everything in existence. The only knowledge one has of the ‘unseen’ in Truth can only be what has been made known to man by their Lord through His Message and His Messenger (saws); and everything other than these two Divine Sources of Knowledge has to be nothing but guess-works and conjecture.

Allah and His Messenger (saws) have made it known that the Jinns, like everything else in creation, are a creation of Allah Subhanah, they were created from a flame of smokeless fire, and like the human beings are bestowed with limited intelligence and a ‘free will’ and thus involved in a test of one short life to choose between obedience or disobedience, righteousness or evil, belief or disbelief. They too, like the humans, will be resurrected again after their death and called to account in the Presence of the Majestic Creator on the Inevitable Day of Judgment, and the righteous amongst them will be rewarded with Eternal Mercy and Paradise and the evil amongst them will earn the Everlasting Wrath and Anger of the Lord and thus the Fire of Hell. These are amongst the things our Lord and His Messenger (saws) have made it known to the believers of the creation of the Jinns, and in Allah and His Messenger (saws) the believers do believe.

The information regarding where exactly the Jinns live and reside, what is the exact nature of their life, what exactly is permissible and impermissible for them to eat or drink, what is their exact system of family and governance, what is the exact nature of their appearance, etc. has not been provided or made known to the humans, nor did the All-Wise, All-Knowing Lord Determine such information was necessary for the guidance of mankind. For had this information been necessary for the guidance of mankind, the Lord would definitely have made it known to us!

Your Question: If jinns are unseen to us, where do they dwell?Do they reside in the same world as we do or they are the dwellers of different world, if not where is the presence of jinns in this world? 

Where exactly the Jinns dwell, whether they reside in the same world as humans do or they have access to any other expanse in the creation of the Lord, and where exactly is the presence of the Jinns is known to none save Allah Subhanah, the Knower of the seen and the unseen. The All-Knowing, All-Wise Lord did not Will to make this information known to man, thus it is safe to assume that this information was neither beneficial nor useful for the guidance of mankind.

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of being led astray.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan