Bismillahi rahmani aheem, Assalamu alaikum

Most of us know that knowledge gained from a book alone always falls short of knowledge with experience, knowledge with apprenticeship. Or that Picture is worth thousand words but a thousand words will not paint a picture.

This is the difference between Jinn and man, the knowledge of Jinn is like the knowledge written in a book without experience because they are missing a perspective on life, and that what life is like on earth, its physicality, they only have experience with life from its spirituality.

So they are like a “know it all” who has read a thousand things but never experienced a single one, except Jinn can never experience physicality on earth they can only approach it by degrees.

Some educated among you may say Jinn in the time of Sulayman did great works and had much experience, what you should understand is that even though that is still true of them today, they did those works from their perspective and will always be missing the physicality of that work in their experience with it.

They will always be missing something in themselves that humans will always have, the gravity of a situation.

Because they can not feel the full weight of their actions their Mizan, balance in judgment, is always extreme, their judgment is always unbalanced, their words always incomplete. This is why Allah wanted them to live alongside man so man can complete their picture of things as they watch him, it is the reason Allah asked the Angels to prostrate to Adam while Iblis the was with them:

“And surely, We created you (your father Adam) and then gave you shape, then We told the angels, “Prostrate to Adam”, and they prostrated, except Iblis (Satan), he refused to be of those who prostrate.” (7:11)

The reason Allah starts the verse by mentioning the body of Adam then the prostration is because the superiority of His body, his physicality, is the reason way Allah asked Angels and Jinn to prostrate, it is for the reasons we are outlining here.

But because of Iblis, Jinn want to instead dominate man and rule him, this is like a first year apprentice forcing the master craftsman to work under him.

They will never lead man because they can never keep up, new things always arise they need to learn and eventually because Jinn do not have breadth of character, perception and understanding like man they give up and become twisted creatures envious of man.

Without man it would take Jinn years to change a single thing in themselves, this is why it is much better for them to change with man when change occurs, otherwise they will be left behind and today many of them are people seeing hem as alien or less than human.

Consider how hard it is for someone with only book knowledge to get the picture right and keep up with people with “in the field” experience, that is how hard it is for Jinn to keep up with man when they are not following his lead and gaining from his worldly (physical) experience.

They can only imagine the nature and outcome of their knowledge in the world until they see it occurring with man who is living it, so they wonder from person to person making so many mistakes they begin to refuse to acknowledge their is even consequences to their actions because they can not deal with it.

The people who end following them eventually see the world in the same way as having no consequence, while science teaches the exact opposite for every action their is an equal and opposite reaction, this the meaning behind the verse an eye for an eye.

“Whoever, forsaking Allah, takes Satan (Jinn) for a friend, hath of a surety suffered a loss that is manifest (in the world). Satan makes them promises, and creates in them false desires; but Satan’s promises are nothing but deception (delusion, incomplete, manipulation)”. (4:117–20)

Shaykh Rami Al Rifai.