SUFI STORIES #27. MORE JINN STORIES
This is the fourth and last post on jinns. Today’s stories also include several told to me by my friends since I started sharing my jinn stories. I have their permission to share these here (with their real names). One of them has written a book compiling his and other jinn stories (see below).
THE JINNMASTERS
One evening I was invited to visit a “spiritual” group somewhere near Kajang, about an hour’s drive from KL. I didn’t know what to expect.
When I arrived at the house, there were about 20 young Malay men and women, many in their twenties, seated in rows on the floor of the covered driveway. All were wearing the traditional Malay male head gears (destar) of different colours. I was told that each colour denoted the different categories or ranks of the jinns serving each one of them.
They were all chanting “Wujud! Wujud! Wujud! (Appear!)…..” incessantly, commanding their respective jinns to appear before them.
I was shocked to discover those young Malays/Muslims meddling with the jinns. What was more shocking was when I was introduced to their leader or Grandmaster, who was the GM of a large government-owned corporation. He was about 50.
The person who invited me explained that the jinns would do errands for them, and could bring them to far-away places. Once his jinn offered to bring him to Makkah, and to entice him, the jinn brought a lump of soil from Makkah and put it on his bed.
The Grandmaster asked me what my wish was, and whether I wanted to join the group. I politely told him that I only came to observe as I was curious when invited by that acquiantance.
I have not heard of this group since then, but I hope those young men and women did not get to learn the hard way not to associate with jinns.
HANTU SUSU
Once I had an antenatal patient who told me that she would lose her baby to a “hantu susu” (the milk ghost). I told her not to say such things. Her pregnancy was progressing well and both mother and baby were healthy.
She went into labour at the expected time, and it went on smoothly until her waterbag broke. At that time I checked her and everything was fine. Just about half an hour later, the nurse frantically called me to inform that the patient had collapsed. The medical officer on standby had quickly attended to her, but failed to revive her. She died. By the time I got to her, the baby had also died. As the specialist in charge I was responsible for her case, and had to face the family members who were very upset at the turn of events.
I stayed calm and tried to explain to the family members that although rare, sudden deaths do occur during labour. But family members usually find it hard to accept when a woman dies in labour or after delivery if she was well during the entire pregnancy. But any pregnancy can result in unexpected emergencies and catastrophes, especially during labour and delivery.
Medically, such a sudden collapse or death could only be due to an amniotic fluid embolism or a heart attack. Amniotic fluid embolism happens when some of the amniotic fluid leaks into the mother’s blood circulation and causes havoc. It usually happens soon after the waterbag breaks (rupture of the membranes), which looked likely in this case. But since the family refused a post-mortem, the actual cause was not determined. This was well before post-mortems were made compulsory for all cases of maternal death.
What surprised me was that the deceased’s father then came and told the family members not to disturb me. He then told me not to be upset because he already knew this was going to happen, and that his daughter also knew about it. Apparently they had said their goodbyes before she got admitted to the ward.
The father also told me that his late wife had died after giving birth to the deceased.
A week later the nurses from the nearby government maternity clinic visited me to find out more about the case. The deceased had attended regular antenatal checks at their clinic before coming to me and had also told them that hantu susu was going to take her baby.
Ghost stories are popular among the Malays. A different ghost would be the talk of the town at different times. Just before this incident happened, there was much talk about hantu susu in the popular media. Among the popular beliefs was that hantu susu was notorious for sucking out the soul of its victim for its own longevity, leaving the zombie behaving like a child who thrives on milk. The legend of hantu susu became so popular that at least two full-length movies were made on the subject - Hantu Susu (2011) and Hantu Susu Kembali (2017).
WHERE’S MY BABY GONE?
On another occasion, Pak Engku Karim (see Sufi Stories #2) brought a lady for examination at my clinic. She had sought his advice as she alleged that her baby was “stolen” by a spirit being – an Orang Bunian lady. Her story is really puzzling.
Apparently she was pregnant at term (about to deliver) when BOTH she and her husband had dreams that their baby would be taken by an Orang Bunian (see explanation below). The wife’s dream included being attended at delivery by a lady, and that she had delivered a healthy baby.
When she woke up in the morning, the baby was gone from her womb. Her tummy had flattened but she did not have the bleeding associated with giving birth. Because she did not come to me immediately after the incident, I could not ascertain if her uterine size was consistent with a post-partum uterus.
She had been for regular checks at the government clinic and the records were shown to me. It showed progressive enlargement of her womb, consistent with the stages of pregnancy, and the nurse had recorded the position of the foetal head and that the foetal heart beats were heard. Thus it looked like she was indeed pregnant.
Unfortunately, she did not have any ultrasound scan done. This would have been the definitive proof if she was ever pregnant.
Conclusion – I was not able to determine if her story was genuine, or if it was actually a case of pseudocyesis.
PSEUDOCYESIS (PHANTOM PREGNANCY)
Pseudocyesis (false pregnancy) is a known medical condition that is associated with objective signs and symptoms of pregnancy, which may include amenorrhea (no periods), abdominal enlargement, sensation of foetal movement, nausea, breast engorgement and secretions, and even labour pains at the expected date of delivery. There are also cases of delusional pseudocyesis where the women believe and behave as if they are pregnant, but without the above symptoms and signs.
THE COUVADE SYNDROME (SYMPATHETIC PREGNANCY)
Even more enigmatic is when the symptoms and signs of pregnancy occur in a man!
Couvade Syndrome is the manifestation of pregnancy in men with a partner who is expecting a baby.
The pregnancy symptoms include lethargy, morning sickness (nausea and vomiting), food cravings and aversions, mood swings, depression, anxiety, poor concentration, memory loss, a growing abdomen and even breast enlargement.
The prevalence varies from one country to another. Studies have shown that up to 60% of male partners in Thailand experience some mild symptoms, although the full-blown Couvade Syndrome cases are rare.
A small study showed that the hormones prolactin (milk hormone) and estrogen (female sex hormone) are raised while testosterone (male sex hormone) and cortisol (chronic stress hormone) are lower in the affected men.
ORANG BUNIAN
The following is a description of Orang Bunian from Wikipedia:
In Malaysian, Bruneian and Indonesian folklore, Orang Bunian are supernatural beings said to be invisible to most humans, except those with "spiritual sight". While the term is often translated as "elves", it literally translates to "hidden people" or "whistling people". Orang Bunian are described as beautiful, dressed in ancient Southeast Asian style, and nearly identical to humans in appearance. Some mythological accounts describe the lack of a philtrum. Modern depictions of Orang Bunian deviate from the traditional folklore by including elf-like features, pointed ears, high fantasy-influenced attire, or modern Minangkabau long coat clothing.
Orang Bunian are said to inhabit the deep forests or high mountains, far from human contact, as well as near human communities, and are even said to share the same houses as human families. According to legend, their social structure is similar to that of humans in the ancient Malay Peninsula with families, clans, and royalty. As with other mythical beings in Indonesian folklore, Orang Bunian often have supernatural powers, and must be appeased with certain rituals and customs before humans are allowed to trespass areas which they inhabit.
Orang Bunian are generally regarded as benevolent, befriending and assisting humans, particularly magicians (dukun or bomoh) and shamans (pawang). They are said to be able to intermarry with humans and bear invisible children. According to some tales, men had married Orang Bunian women but later decided to leave the Bunian community and return to the families they had left behind. However, after returning to human society, they found that many years had passed and everyone they once knew had died.
STORIES FROM MY FRIENDS.
RETURN OF THE TERRACOTTA WARRIORS
This story is one of many experienced by my friend, Qigong Master Khadijah Sha’ari:
“My health went haywire from October 2004 after my father died. I was very ill, but medical checks could not confirm what was wrong with me. So family members and friends took me to meet healers of all genres and religious persuasions, until the mystery of my health issue was finally solved many years later. As a result I have a lot of anecdotes to share following those encounters. Here's one of them.
“One of the healers I met was a Malay professor who taught engineering at a local university. He was introduced by a friend who had earlier sought his help. I decided to ask him to help me with my problem, so my husband and I went to see the professor at his house. Almost the first thing that the professor said to us was ‘There are 19 guys who accompanied you here. They are Chinese warriors dressed in battle gear. They look rather unhappy though’ According to the professor, the warriors had been tasked to provide protection for Johan (my husband, a Chinese Muslim revert), but since their ward no longer subscribed to the belief of his forefathers, they were no longer happy to provide protection. However as they were duty-bound to protect their ward, they had no choice but to remain in service. Hence they became restless and were generally making a nuisance of themselves. In order to resolve the issue, the professor advised Johan to dismiss them.
“I witnessed Johan speaking to his protectors in Cantonese, thanking each one and sending them on their way. I saw 19 Chinese warriors in full military regalia, bidding their goodbyes to him as they graciously took their leave.
“Johan was intrigued when he realised what that was all about. He said that every year before the Chinese New Year his mother would go to the temple to pray, taking a set of new clothes for each of her children to be blessed by the gods. This was the custom with many Chinese families. In Johan's case his mother stopped this routine at 19. What he found intriguing was that apparently with each set of duly- blessed new clothes comes a warrior who was hand-picked to protect the ward for life. Hence the 19 warriors in his case. However his warriors were not happy to continue with their end of the bargain as Johan was deemed to have betrayed them when he fell in love with and married a ‘foreigner’.
“Question: I saw all 19 warriors parading before us in all their finery and I saw them disappearing into the horizon one by one as Johan bid them farewell. Did I really see them? How was that possible?”
(However, only she saw the 19 warriors. Johan did not).
SCARY STORIES FROM TROPICAL MALAYSIA
My friend Dr Ahmad Badrie, author of Scary Stories from Tropical Malaysia shared this story:
“My first encounter with a Jinn was when I was little, back in the 50’s. One night I was sleeping on the floor of my grandma’s house in Kulim, Kedah and suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and saw this face, just the face, smiling at me. He was an adult, reddish in colour and bald headed. I was at the extreme end of the kelambu (mosquito net), no way anyone could be there. Since I was a small kid, it didn’t bother me and I went back to sleep. In the morning after I told my story, everyone was getting worried and one of my aunts wanted to hit me for bringing that ‘thing’ to the house. My grandma saved me, and she chanted a few verses and that was it.”
For more scary stories you can read his book, which can be purchased from amazon.com:
(Book Description - This is a compilation of twelve short scary stories, many of them partly based on real events dealing with the supernatural, the magical, and mystical works of sharmans, black magic, the devil, and the unknown invisible residents of homes and the tropical jungle. In the mystical world, there are lives of the dead lingering around restlessly for reasons unknown, and some seeking justice to those causing their deaths, and these scary stories deal with the unbelievable, but truly happening).
JUNGLE JINNS
This story is taken from a video sent to me by a friend. It is about the exploits of a platoon of our soldiers camped in the jungle near the Ahning Lake close to the Kedah-Thai border.
When this platoon arrived to take over from the previous platoon, they were told that the soldiers had been frequently disturbed by invisible beings (“makhluk halus”). Some of the soldiers had been slapped, or thrown off their beds. Many had terrible, scary dreams.
This new platoon members were mostly Muslims. They had built a surau (prayer hut) near the camp to perform their daily prayers. On several occasions, the small group realized that there were many jinns praying behind them. They could hear the jinns walking on the bamboo floor of the surau before the prayers started, and they could hear the “Aameen” (Amen) coming from behind them each time after the imam recited the Al-Fatihah during the congregational prayers.
One day the leader of the jinns requested to meet Mejar Fitri, the platoon leader who related this story. The dialogue between the two happened not far from the camp. Mejar Fitri must have been a very daring man as the dialogue was held with him only able to hear the jinn, without being able to see him.
You can listen to the whole fascinating story in this video (in Malay): Kisah Tentera & Jin Islam https://youtu.be/Pqd2xP9eP7k
BLAMING THE JINNS FOR EVERYTHING
In some countries (including Malaysia, but more so in the Arab world) the belief in jinns is so embedded in the culture such that people are willing to accept when some dishonest people blame the jinns for their problems and misadventures, no matter how ridiculous the claims are.
For example, many people are not able to admit their sexual impotence. Thus, if someone faces such a problem, blaming the jinns for putting a spell on them will be a good excuse for having the problem and avoid society’s blame and harassments.
Sometime ago, a woman in Dubai restrained herself from sleeping with her groom (it was a forced marriage). This matter went to court, and she was able to convince the judge to grant her a divorce from him due to the reason that the jinn prevented her from having sex.
In another case, a girl said that a jinn had raped her and that was how she lost her virginity. By blaming the jinn, she would be safe from blame and punishment and get sympathy instead, because the jinn was beyond anyone’s control.
Finally, a man in Egypt killed his mother and claimed that a jinn had ordered him to kill her. Later the court found out that the real reason was that he wanted her property.
Pity the jinns!
I hope through these true stories you have understood more about the world of jinns, devils, demons and whatever they are called. It is obvious that they are not just one species, but many.
Salam/Peace. See you at my next SUFI STORIES post!
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