anything from the People of the Book.

This is distinct from the People of the Book bearing witness to him personally on the basis of the description of him they find in their scriptures, as in Allah Most High’s words:

“Is it not a sign to them that the scholars of the Children of Israel know it?”

And His words:

“Those to whom We have given the Scripture know that it has been sent down from your Lord in truth.”

There are other similar passages. This differs from reports established through mass transmission among specialist scholars, such as the hadiths concerning seeing Allah, punishment and questioning in the grave, intercession, the bridge over Hell, and the Cistern. Some ignorant and misguided people who are unfamiliar with these reports may deny them. Thus, some of the Muʿtazilah, such as al-Jubbāʾī, Abū Bakr, and others, denied that a jinn enters the body of a person suffering seizures, but did not deny the existence of the jinn. The former was not as clearly attested in reports transmitted from the Messenger as the latter, although they were mistaken in this denial.

For this reason, al-Ashʿarī mentioned, in his account of the doctrines of the people of the Sunnah and the community, that they hold that a jinn enters the body of a person suffering seizures, as Allah Most High says:

“Those who consume usury cannot stand except as one driven to madness by Satan’s touch.”

ʿAbdullāh ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “I said to my father, ‘Some people claim that a jinn does not enter a human body.’ He replied, ‘My son, they are lying! He actually speaks through the person’s tongue.’”

This is discussed at length in its proper place.