The delegation of the jinn to the Prophet

People Ideas

وفد الجن على النبي

A delegation of jinn came to the Prophet ﷺ in Medina by night, heard him recite the Qur'an and asked what sustains them; he told them their provision is the leaves of sweet-smelling trees and the water of rivers, that their deeds are presented to them, and ordered them to warn their people; some believed and some disbelieved, and when they asked about his wife Khadija he told them she had died and wept 1. It matches surah al-Jinn, where jinn hear the Qur'an, some believe, and call their people to Islam al-Jinn 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Arabia

ProphetsCreed

The story

Sahih Muslim relates that a delegation of jinn came to the Prophet in Medina by night, sat listening to his recitation of the Qur'an and his questions, and asked him what sustains them 1.

What passed between them

The Prophet told them their provision is the leaves of sweet-smelling trees and the water of rivers, that their deeds are presented to them, that among them are believers and disbelievers, and ordered them to warn their people; when they asked about his wife Khadija he told them she had died and wept 1.

In the Qur'an

It matches surah al-Jinn: 'Say: it has been revealed to me that a party of the jinn listened' al-Jinn 1, which tells of some jinn believing and calling their people to Islam al-Jinn 13.

Notes

This meeting is the most famous reported contact between jinn and humans, and the source of later lore about the jinn delegation in the books of seerah and lore 2.

Connections

Explore the connections

Related to
Muhammad· The jinn· A company of jinn hear the Qur'an at Wadi Nakhla

People and things also explored

The Friday hour: every creature prostrates save jinn and humans· An ifrit of the jinn seeks the Prophet on the Night Journey· The lone rider is a shaytan, two riders two shaytans, three a riding party· A woman touched by jinn healed by ruqya· Every son of Adam's jinn companion· Whoever turns from remembrance is assigned a shaytan as qareen· The snake of Medina: the Ansari youth who killed it· No jinn, no human and nothing hears the muezzin to its extent but it testifies for him on the Day of Resurrection

Sources

  1. Sahih Muslim
  2. al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham
  • Tanzil Project, Qur'an text v1.1
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The delegation of the jinn to the Prophet”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/jinn-delegation/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-10.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story.
Related

The Friday hour: every creature prostrates save jinn and humans

Abu Hurayra went out to Mount Tur and met Ka b al-Ahbar; Ka b told him of the Torah and he told him of the Prophet: the best day on which the sun rose is Friday — Adam was created on it, sent down from Paradise, repented and died on it; the Hour rises on it; every creature prostrates on Friday in awe of the Hour save the jinn and humans; and it holds an hour in which a Muslim servant praying asks God for anything and is given it. Ka b said: that is one day every year; Abu Hurayra said: rather every Friday — and Ka b read the Torah and confirmed it; then Abdullah ibn Salam told him that hour is the last hour of Friday Muwatta 291.