Burning sage or "smudging"

[DanyalSAC]

Asalaamu alaikum -

I have had some "paranormal activity" in my house pretty much since I moved in back in 2008. Little disturbances like things thumping the walls, the sensation of someone bumping into our beds (both mine & my roommate's across the hall). The previous roommate who moved out about 3 months ago would often fall asleep on the sofa while watching TV & would wake to the sound of the slider door opening & closing. My parrot Pooka will sometimes start saying "Peek a boo!" at something only he can see - bear in mind he does this whenever someone goes in and out of his view. Last night while coming up from sujood in salaat I felt the unmistakable feeling of a soft sleeve brushing against my cheek, it felt like the same material my thobes are made of. Last week we had a power outage and my alarm clock radio - which was just as powerless as the rest of the house - suddenly started to play static with what sounded like a barely received station in the background. TOTALLY without power or batteries.

At any rate, I mentioned this to my mother who is Native American and she suggested I "smudge" the place. What this entails is taking a thick braid of sage and light it at the end. Blow out the flame and the chunk continues to smolder & send up smoke. What mom's folk would do is take an eagle feather and use this to fan the smoke throughout the house, while leaving a window open for the spirits to evacuate (my mom's friends actually have stories of windows being shattered outward by spirits fleeing the smoke).

I told mom that I appreciated the suggestion but I didn't think smudging was lawful in my religion. But then lo and behold a sister from my masjid told me her husband suggested I did the same thing - use sage to drive the jinn out!

Am I wrong or is this kinda...not right? I am not at all afraid of whatever it is that is also living in my house, it seems to be quite respectful just a bit noisy (alhamdulillah!).

 

[OsMaN_93]

Salam alikom,

We, as Muslims, do not seek help from a plant, an animal or people, we seek help from Allah alone, anything else is considered shirk.

An extract from http://islamqa.com/en/ref/42073/jinn in house

...The Muslim must, above all else, arm himself with the weapon of faith and righteous deeds, for these are the best provision he may have and the best means of foiling the plots of the devils among mankind and the jinn.

You have to strengthen your relationship with Allaah, for He is the One on Whom you should depend. Remember Allaah a great deal in all situations, and strive to keep your tongue busy constantly with dhikr (remembrance of Allaah). No one can find any better protection against the Shaytaan than the remembrance of Allaah. It was narrated in a saheeh report from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) that Allaah enjoined five things upon Yahya ibn Zakariya, which he was to do and to command the Children of Israel to do, one of which was: “I command you to remember Allaah, for the likeness of that is that of a man whose enemy comes after him, until he comes to a strong fortress where he protects himself from him. Similarly, a person cannot protect himself against the Shaytaan except by remembering Allaah.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.

Constantly recite the dhikrs narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), such as the dhikr when entering the toilet, when having intercourse, when hearing the braying of a donkey, when entering the house, in the morning and the evening, when going to sleep, and in other circumstances and at other times for which a specific dhikr has been narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

...

...You should also read a lot of Qur’aan in the house, especially Soorat al-Baqarah. Ahmad (7762) and Muslim (780) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Do not make your houses (like) graveyards, for the Shaytaan flees from a house in which Soorat al-Baqarah is read.”

You should also purify your house of everything in which there is disobedience towards Allaah, such as keeping images and dogs. Abu Talhah (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or an image.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3322; Muslim, 2106.

If there are no angels in the house, it will become a dwelling for the devils.

With regard to reading Soorat al-Muzzammil and al-Mulk when going to sleep, there are reports that indicate that it is mustahabb (prefered) to recite Soorat al-Mulk before sleeping. Al-Tirmidhi (2892) narrated from Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used not to sleep until he has recited Alif-Laam-Meem Tanzeel (al-Sajdah) and Tabaarak alladhi bi yadihi’l-mulk (Soorat al-Mulk). Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.

Jinns are known to hurt people, so be careful. May Allah protect you and your relatives.
wa salam alikom

 

[DanyalSAC]

Surat Al Baqarah is the one I am practicing my Qur'anic Arabic with. I will read it before bed aloud though my Arabic is stammering and stuttering, I am doing it correctly (according to my teacher).

 

[OsMaN_93]

salam alikom,

You might as well play the Surah aloud using some electronic device, and follow along with your voice if you're struggling with it. I'm not sure about this piece of advice but you can try it if you want, after reading the surah tell them to go away and not to bother you anymore. I say this because I was once told that we can speak to pests and warn them to go away, and if they do not, then we have the right to kill them. May Allah forgive me if this information is wrong, please just take it with a grain of salt.

Please, do get back in touch with us on the forum and tell us if you notice any improvements in the next few days. By the way, just for your information, a jinn can be Muslim, however I'm not sure they would be running around scaring people...

wa salam alikom.

 

[alf2]

I think the bigger question is, do you believe the smudging will work?

Personally, even if someone does smudge their house or something...It has no scientific proof, it is not something rooted in Islam therefore I dont think it will even work. Kind of like spells and what not. I dont believe any of that will work.

 

[saifkhan]

as-salam 'alaykum warahamtu-llah

do ruqya yourself, as per the scholars say:

you can read surah al-ikhlas, surah nas, surah falaq: chapter 112, 113, 114 and blow it into glass of water and drink it.

before gong to bed, just cup you hand , read the surahs mentioned three times and in series and rub your face, body. this is from authentic sunnah

read surah bakarah , alhamdu li Allah u said, you read it.
also read ayatul kursi, when you feel something weird you mentioned along with the three surah.

may Allah protect you my brother.

I'm personally interested in Jinn, so I've read and listened a lot lecture, but i didn't get anything like u mentioned. but it is to be sure that anything weird can happen, and of course, you are sane enough, alhamdu li Allah, that there is nothing to avoid what you encountered.

may Allah azza wa jal protect you.

there are one kind of Jinn, who loves to make fun of the believers, to make them afraid, to play with their emotions.

Jazakum Allahu khair

ask your sheikh also, he can help you the most, because he must be knowledgeable enough to handle and closer to you than us.


wa 'alaykum salam

 

[aisha16]

Asalaamu alaikum -

I have had some "paranormal activity" in my house pretty much since I moved in back in 2008. Little disturbances like things thumping the walls, the sensation of someone bumping into our beds (both mine & my roommate's across the hall). The previous roommate who moved out about 3 months ago would often fall asleep on the sofa while watching TV & would wake to the sound of the slider door opening & closing. My parrot Pooka will sometimes start saying "Peek a boo!" at something only he can see - bear in mind he does this whenever someone goes in and out of his view. Last night while coming up from sujood in salaat I felt the unmistakable feeling of a soft sleeve brushing against my cheek, it felt like the same material my thobes are made of. Last week we had a power outage and my alarm clock radio - which was just as powerless as the rest of the house - suddenly started to play static with what sounded like a barely received station in the background. TOTALLY without power or batteries.

At any rate, I mentioned this to my mother who is Native American and she suggested I "smudge" the place. What this entails is taking a thick braid of sage and light it at the end. Blow out the flame and the chunk continues to smolder & send up smoke. What mom's folk would do is take an eagle feather and use this to fan the smoke throughout the house, while leaving a window open for the spirits to evacuate (my mom's friends actually have stories of windows being shattered outward by spirits fleeing the smoke).

I told mom that I appreciated the suggestion but I didn't think smudging was lawful in my religion. But then lo and behold a sister from my masjid told me her husband suggested I did the same thing - use sage to drive the jinn out!

Am I wrong or is this kinda...not right? I am not at all afraid of whatever it is that is also living in my house, it seems to be quite respectful just a bit noisy (alhamdulillah!).

Paranormal activity is fascinating! Whenever I hear a weird noise or voices in my house I always jump to say it's jinn and everybody things I'm a weirdey. But seriously it's most likely so.. I experienced the same thing at my old apartments...voices when praying, bed making-springing noises when nobody but I was home, seeing a man lurking over my parents room, black mice dissapearing and re-appearing..and lots of other weird stuff..

And for the thing your mom advised all due respect it doesn't seem halal. Like if someone puts black magic on your cousin you don't use good magic or something to fight that thing off or visit a shaman or vodoo lady....that's how i see it.. but u should have a quran reading at your home.

 

[JenGiove]

:salam2: Brother,

I saw your post several days ago and decided to wait to respond. As you may know, I am also Native American and so smudging is something I'm well aware of. To understand why Native American's believe in smudging, you have to realize one simple thing. Native American's are "visual" pray-ers.

Here is a culture and religious belief system that stems from a people who lived off the land. The Bedouins odf North America you might say. They followed the migration of animals for food and clothing and learned which wild growing plants healed, which ones hurt and which ones were used for food. This is a culture and people that have passed down their teachings and traditions through storytelling since the dawn of mankind. Since not everyone can be a storytteller, the stories are uncorrupted and are passed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, alot of the stories have been lost because of the arrival of the White Man and their Christian missionaries. The people were forced onto reservations, forbidden to practice their life, children stolen from their parents and thrown into state-run schools where their hair was cut off and were beaten simple for speaking their own language.

It is believed that the scent of the burning Sage is so foul to the Jinn that the Jinn run away from it. By leaving the window open, it provides a way for the Jinn to escape because they see that the smoke is leaving. That is how an indigenous, "off-the-grid" people explained the workings of the unseen. Here's the reality..

Its not the sage that is doing anything. It is the prayer. Everything in the Native world is done with prayer. We thank Creator for the littlest thing..from the ant who models for us the lesson of patience, the snake who models the lesson of flexibility, the fox for the lesson of cunning, the skunk for the lesson in defense, the possum for hiding, the coyote for the lesson in trickery, the spider for the lesson in interconnectedness. I could go on and on but I hope you get the idea. Everything comes from the Creator and it is deeply rooted in the Native heart that nothing is possible without the Creator willing it or allowing it. Behind everything we do, there is prayer. To smudge means to cleanse away with smoke.

You are a Muslim. Pray as Muslims pray and wash as Muslims wash. Mixing the two does no one any service. Alf2 asked a fantastic question. "Do you believe it would work"? No, of course you don't. Intent comes from the heart and if you are just "going through the motions", there is no heart. Follow the advice of your brother's and sisters and pray the Surrah's as you were instructed. All things are possible with prayer.....all things might not happen, but all things are possible and only Creator truly knows what needs to be done.

Be well and send your mother my Aho's..

p.s........sweetgrass is braided, not sage..