may Allah bless him and grant him peace, neither saw the jinn nor addressed them, but was informed that they had heard the Quran.” Ibn ‘Abbās knew what the Quran indicated concerning this, but he did not know what Ibn Mas‘ūd, Abū Hurayrah and others knew about the jinn coming to him and his addressing them. Allah informed him of this in the Quran and commanded him to convey it. This occurred at the outset, when heaven was guarded, the jinn were prevented from obtaining news from heaven, and it was filled with mighty guards. This contained signs of prophethood that offer a lesson for reflection, as has been explained at length elsewhere.

After this, they came to him, and he recited the Quran to them. It is reported that he recited Sūrat al-Rahmān to them, and whenever he said:

“Which, then, of your Lord’s favors will you both deny?”

they replied: “We deny none of Your favors, our Lord; all praise belongs to You.”

Allah’s addresses to both humankind and jinn in the Quran clarify this principle, as in His words, Exalted is He:

“O company of jinn and mankind, did there not come to you messengers from among you, relating My verses to you and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours? They will say, ‘We testify against ourselves.’”

Allah also tells us that the jinn said:

“Among us are the righteous, and among us are those otherwise; we have followed diverse paths.”

That is, they follow various ways: Muslims and disbelievers, adherents of the Sunnah and adherents of religious innovation. They also said:

“Among us are those who submit to Allah, and among us are the unjust. Whoever submits to Allah—it is they who have sought right guidance.”

“But as for the unjust, they will be firewood for Hell.”

The word qāsit means one who acts unjustly: qasata means to act unjustly, whereas aqsata means to act justly. The scholars unanimously agree that the disbelievers among them will be punished in the Hereafter. As for their believers, the majority of