Surah 46. Al-Ahqaf

33The traditions that have been related from Hadrat `Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Hadrat Zubair, Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas, Hasan Basri, Said bin Jubair, Zarr bin Hubaish, Mujahid, 'ikrimah and others in connection with the commentary of this verse concur that this incident of the first visit of the jinns, which has been mentioned in this verse, had occurred in the valley of Nakhlah. And according to Ibn Ishaq, Abu Nu`aim Isfahaini and Waqidi, this incident occurred during the Holy Prophet's return journey from Ta'if to Makkah. On the way, when he halted at Nakhlah, and was reciting the Qur'an in the 'Isha' or the Fajr or the Tahajjud Prayer, a group of the jinns happened to pass by and stopped to listen to him. In this connection, all the traditions agree that on this occasion the jinns did not appear before the Holy Prophet, nor did he feel their presence, but Allah informed him afterwards by revelation that they had come and listened to the Qur'anic recitation.

The place where this incident took place was either Az-Zaimah or AsSayl-ul-Kabir, for both these places are situated in the valley of Nakhlah and at both water is available and are green; if the travelers from Ta'if have to halt in this valley, they can halt at either of the places. Please see the map for the location of these places.

34This shows that these jinns had already had faith in the Prophet Moses and in the Divine Books. After hearing the Qur'an they felt that it gave the same teachings as the former Prophets had been preaching. Therefore, they believed in this Book forthwith and also in the Holy prophet who had brought it.

35Authentic traditions show that after this several deputations of the jinns visited the Holy Prophet, one after the other, and met him face to face. When all the traditions related in the collections of Hadith on this subject are read together, it appears that at least six deputations had visited him in Makkah before the Hijrah.

About one of these deputations Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud relates: 'One day the Holy Prophet remained missing from Makkah for the whole night. We could not know his whereabouts and feared he might have been attacked by somebody. Early in the morning we saw him coming from the direction of Hira'. On inquiring he said that a jinn had come to invite him and he had accompanied him and recited the Qur'an to a gathering of them there." (Muslim, Musnad Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Da'ud).

Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud has related another tradition, saying: "Once the Holy Prophet asked his Companions in Makkah as to which of them would accompany him that night to meet the jinns. I became ready to go with him. At a place in the upper quarters of Makkah the Holy Prophet drew a line and told me not to cross it. Then he went forward and stood and began to recite the Qur'an. I saw that a number of the people had gathered around him and they stood between me and him."' (Ibn Jarir, Baihaqi: Dala`il an-Nubuwwat, Abu Nu`aim Isfahani: Dale Il an-Nubuwuat).

On another occasion also during the night Hadrat `Abdullah bin Mas'ud was with the Holy Prophet and he decided a case of the jinns at Hajun in Makkah. Many years later Ibn Mas'ud saw a group of the villagers at Kufa and said that the group of the jinns he had seen at Hajun closely resembled those people. (Ibn Jarir).

36This sentence might also be a part of the saying of the jinns, or it might be an addition by Allah to their saying. In view of the context the second view seems to be more reasonable.