At times, each serves the purposes of the other: a jinn brings a human what he wants—an image, wealth, or the killing of his enemy—and the human obeys the jinn. Sometimes he prostrates to him; sometimes he prostrates to whatever the jinn commands him to prostrate to; and sometimes he gives the jinn access to his body, allowing him to commit an indecent sexual act with him. Likewise, some female jinn desire from the humans they serve what human women desire from men. This is common among male and female jinn. Many male jinn obtain from human women what human men obtain from them, and they may also do this with males.
Jinn possess humans for three reasons:
Sometimes a jinn loves the person he possesses and possesses him to enjoy him. This kind of possession is gentler and less severe than others. Sometimes the human has harmed them by urinating on them, pouring hot water on them, killing some of them, or causing some other kind of harm. This is the most severe kind of possession, and they often kill the possessed person. Sometimes they do it merely to torment him, just as foolish humans torment wayfarers.
One way humans benefit from jinn is by employing them to report hidden matters, just as soothsayers receive such reports. Some humans seek this because of the authority, wealth, and other benefits it brings. If the people are disbelievers, as the Arabs were, they do not mind his being called a soothsayer, just as some Arabs were soothsayers. When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, arrived in Medina, there were soothsayers there, and the hypocrites sought to have their disputes adjudicated by