SUFI STORIES #25 ENCOUNTERS WITH JINNS (Part 2)

In the previous post, I shared about my encounters with Jinns during my younger days when I was naïve about spirituality and dealing with spirits. In this post I will share stories from the time of my transition from being ignorant and scared of jinns to having a better understanding of their nature and then engaging with them directly.

I had mentioned that Malaya (Malay Peninsula or now West Malaysia) is known for the widespread practice of black magic. The Carribeans and Africa are also famous for that, with their witchdoctors, voodoo, zombies and other practices. Each culture has its own unique beliefs, practices, and it would seem, ghost species too (at least that’s what the locals believe).

I had a friend who learned voodoo during his stay in South America (he was a diplomatic staff!). The ritual included digging the grave of a child who died in infancy. Before he came back, he gave up the association, but the spirit he had befriended protested and bit him on the head. He still carries the scar till today.

It is amazing that in this day and age, these things are still rampant in our society. If the response to the Harry Porter books and movies is any indication, the level of fascination is very high.

Like many older Malaysians (I am over 65), I grew up being exposed to many instances of people being possessed, and to the spiritual healers that helped them. The pious healers I knew also had psychic power and clairvoyance.

THE JAVANESE PRINCESS

Once I was asked to go to a neighbour’s house to help the wife. The lady was being possessed by a horrible-looking jinn that had not only disturbed her often, but was now refusing to leave her body, and causing much distress to the family.

As I was only starting on my spiritual path then, I really did not know what to do. So we called Pak Cik Yusuf, a seasoned ghostbuster who was a retired policeman, and among the most gentle and patient gentlemen I have ever met.

Pak Cik Yusuf took charge of the situation and was clearly in control, and coolly warned the jinn to leave with threats of severe punishment. After some rude words, it decided to leave. I guess it knew Pak Cik Yusuf’s spiritual power and did not want to take the risk of fighting him.

What happened next was more intriguing. After the malevolent jinn left, another entity entered the lady and her facial expressions changed to that of the most pleasant woman.

It was barely minutes ago that we all cringed at the terrible look on her face when the devilish jinn co-habited her body. This pleasant jinn introduced herself as a warrior princess from Java (Indonesia) and that she was the guardian for the victim. Her mannerisms were indeed dignified, elegant and refined, and she was obviously concerned about her looks.

I was sitting right in front of her and was thinking to myself where was she when the bad jinn was causing havoc, when suddenly, to the amazement of everyone present (except Pak Cik Yusuf), both she and I slowly stood up and started to dance!

It was as if we had rehearsed for months, as our moves were perfectly executed and in perfect synchrony. It was a beautiful ancient Javanese dance.

After about 10 minutes of dancing, we ended by simultaneously paying respect to Pak Cik Yusuf. After that, she left the body, and my neighbour was herself again and did not have a clue as to what had happened.

I, however, was fully conscious throughout the experience, except that the dancing was totally spontaneous. I definitely had not learned that dance before, and certainly not with this thousand-year old princess from a far-away land. It is a pity that it was not videotaped otherwise then I can enjoy watching the superb performance that the others present were privileged to witness. This happened before the era of smartphones (1989).

According to Pak Cik Yusuf, on that night the princess, together with her horse-riding warriors, visited him in his home to pay their respects. Of course he was the only one who could see the entourage.

The next day, the treatment at my neighbour’s house continued, but I was unable to attend due to work commitments. Apparently, the princess came again and asked for her dancing partner! I have not met her since then, but to this day that episode remains one of the most vivid believe-it-or-not experiences that I have gone through.

BONDA (HALF-JINN HALF-HUMAN)

I have related several unusual stories so far, but nothing beats this one.

In 2000, during the Hari Raya (Eid al-Fitri) holidays, my late sister invited me to visit a strange woman whom everyone called “Bonda” (mother). She lived just outside our home town Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

You have to read this story slowly if you do not want to get confused.

Bonda was a big, broad-shouldered, fair woman with short hair and a coarse voice. There were many visitors crowding around her. Many were aspiring bomohs with their swords, kris and other paraphernalia. Some had the typical long hair, dark spectacles and huge rosary beads. They had apparently come to get some healing or magical powers from her.

Bonda looked like she was in her 50s, but I was shocked when she claimed to be over a hundred years old. Incredibly, this was confirmed by her 80-year old adopted daughter (who looked her age). All of us kept getting confused as to who was the mother, and who was the daughter. This adopted daughter in turn had a 45-year old son who just recently got married to his adoptive grandmother (and that’s Bonda)!

Bonda claimed that she was a member of the Kelantan palace staff at the time that she adopted her daughter, who was a baby then (around 1920). Among the strange stories she told us was that she used to live among the tigers in the jungle; and that she once lost a leg but she grew it back!!! She even showed us where the new leg grew from the old stump. She had also been a member of the Patani Sultanate palace staff before coming to Kelantan. She showed us some coins from that Sultanate as proof (the Sultanate of Patani existed from 1457 to 1902. It was conquered by Siam in 1785, and annexed in 1902).

There were other mind-boggling things she told that I dare not repeat here in case readers think that I am going nuts.

When I told her I am a Sufi, she was not happy about it, but we continued chatting, and I was certainly amazed (and feeling somewhat incredulous) with her stories. However, since I had personally interviewed Bonda’s 80-year old adopted daughter, I could not just disbelieve this confusing reality.

My late sister didn’t believe any of this, but I kept an open mind and decided to ask Atta, my Qadiri Sufi Master about Bonda. After doing a short prayer, Atta told me that what Bonda had said was true. He told me that if I wanted to know more about her, I must study the life of the Queen of Sheba (who became the consort of King Solomon, according to Jewish, Christian and Islamic teachings). Within one week I chanced upon a small booklet about the Queen of Sheba (Queen Bilqis of Saba' in Arabic, Puteri Balqis in Malay) at a pasar-malam (night market) stall and what I read was really intriguing.

Queen Bilqis’s father was a powerful human king who married a beautiful female jinn because no woman in his kingdom was beautiful enough for him. So, like Queen Bilqis, Bonda was half-human and half-jinn. That explains her living over a hundred years but looking only 50. She did have special powers but these had waned when I met her as she was already getting old for her species!

One year after our encounter, Bonda and her husband (who was also her adoptive grandson) came all the way to my home in KL. She offered her magical sword to me in exchange for something she wanted from me, but I declined. Several months later she died. Readers, it is up to you – believe it or not!

THE CHINESE JINN

This story happened after I had already entered the spiritual path and was used to meeting jinns (and fighting some of them).

One day a lady came to see me at the clinic as a patient. But she told me she did not have any health problems. Instead she needed my help to deal with her jinn.

Her story is very interesting. She was a Malay who looked Chinese, and she liked everything Chinese ever since she was small. She befriended many Chinese boys, and eventually married a Chinese man who happened to look 100% Malay! So everyone thought that she was a Chinese woman married to a Malay man.

She told me that for many years she had been healing people through the assistance of a jinn that she had befriended. This jinn is worshipped by some Chinese as a deity. Some Chinese worship various types of spirits and deities, including Malay/Muslim deities at their tokong (small shrines). For the full story of how the Chinese came to worship Malay deities, read https://www.therakyatpost.com/.../datuk-kong-datuk.../

How she healed people was by asking the jinn to transfer their illnesses to her, one at a time. She would feel the physical pain of the disease without the disease damaging her organs. She had to wait until the pain of an illness went off before she took over the next illness.

The problem was that the jinn did not wait for her instructions anymore. It would just transfer the illness of anyone who came to see her for help without her having the chance to evaluate the situation first.

This (that the jinn becomes the master in the end) is a common occurrence among those who depend on jinns and demons to assist them, except those who have Divine permission to command these spirits.

So I told her that (1) she should break her relationship with the jinn; (2) if she wanted to continue healing people, she should learn other healing arts; or (3) ask God to grant her the gift of healing without having to depend on jinns.

The moment I finished saying this, the jinn took over her body and shouted loudly at me:”NO!”

My staff ran helter skelter.

I promptly told the jinn to shut up and get lost as I was in discussion with the lady. The jinn left.

With jinns and the evil spirits, we have to firmly establish who is the superior being. For the Muslims, we are reminded by the Qur’an that we are the best of God’s creations. So we should not surrender our superiority to them. The Qur’an (17:65) says that the devils and jinns (descendants of Satan) will have no authority over the true servants of God. So if you allow them to have authority over you, then your faith in God is weak.

I again reminded her about what she needed to do. She said she would think about it and revert to me. But she never came back.

Here I relate about a “Chinese” jinn. Interestingly, several of my Indian Hindu friends told me that in Tamil Nadu (a state in southern India from where the ancestors of many Malaysian Indians originated), it is common for the Hindu families to seek the help of Muslim Imams should they be troubled by jinns and demons, instead of going to their own holy men.

HEALING THE SOUL

After entering the Sufi Path, my encounters with the spirit world became more frequent, and I was often called to help those under attack. However, I prefer to refer them to the seasoned ghostbusters, while my duty is to bring them to the realization of GOD, by healing their souls of the “sickness” that made them vulnerable to the bad spirits and jinns.

In this work, my knowledge of the nature of these beings, the power of Qur’anic verses, and my understanding of energy (I also happen to be a Qigong master) have all become useful.

I work under GOD’s Guidance and Permission.

Some of you may have your own “spiritual” stories to share. The spirits are among us, and it is expected that you will stumble upon them. But be careful of who you associate with:

“Spirits are like soldiers, they will join those that are similar to them in rank”. (Attributed to Sayyidina Umar, the second Caliph, may GOD be pleased with him). The meaning is that good spirits will be attracted to those who are spiritually good, and the bad ones to the bad or weak persons.

Salam/Peace. Stay tuned. There are many more interesting stories of jinns and spirits to be told. See you at my next SUFI STORIES post!