Saba 13 September 2009 Mind Like Water 4 Comments Print This Post  Email This Post

Image by Mukumbura/Flickr

I’m quite OK with someone calling me a jinn. I can laugh it off because it’s funny and sometimes has a ring of truth to it. What I find odd and a bit vexing is when someone claims I am possessed by a jinn.

I went through this interesting dilemma…twice. I had a mania episode and the witnesses claimed a jinn was making me behave in this extraordinary way.

Well, it seems I’m not the only one to get the jinn label. As I connect with more sisters and talk candidly about mental illness, I realize how common the jinn label is. During states of ignorance, people put the expert cap on and make odd claims.

Thus, when a person behaves ‘abnormaly’, the finger is pointed at the jinns. Poor them! I’m sure if I had tea with a jinn, it would tell me about all the sad tales and unjust accusations of posession it went through.

But the real culprit is mental illness because a spell of ignorance is more dangerous than being controlled by any supernatural force. Here’s a quick checklist to help you distinguish between a mania episode and a jinn possession.

Symptoms of Mania Episode

1. Elevated mood with euphoria and hyperactivity
2. Reckless driving, spending and impaired judgement
3. Delusions, grandiosity and increased irritability and anger
4. Decreased sleep, appetite and increased libido
5. Excessive talk and preoccupation with religion

Symptoms of Jinn Possession

1. Delay/Negligence of religious obligations
2. Abhorrent reactions to Quran/Adhan
3. Detesting of “religious” people
4. A decrease in cleanliness
5. Change in social attitude, often towards solitude

Scanning the above sympotms, the difference between Bipolar mania and jinn possession is clear as mud.

If your neighbour blames your illness on jinns and tells you to rub one pound of beef liver on your arms for 30 days as a remedy (true ’advice’ I got from someone, I kid you not!), take solace in knowing that others go through the same.

A plague of ignorance causes wierd claims and actions. Dispel ignorance, jinn labels and these odd remedies by educating yourself, and loved ones about Bipolar. It’s the best ammunition against ignorance. Start by emailing or Facebooking this article. Show Allah, yourself and others you can succeed despite the illness you’re challenged with 24/7. You leading an extra-ordinary life is the coolest stigma-buster.

Bipolar aside, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us many ways to protect ourselves from the jinn’s harm by seeking refuge of Allah from the accursed shaytan, reciting surat Al-Falaq and surat An-Nas.

Symptoms of jinn possession provided by Skaykh Navaid Aziz.