These last couple of weeks were quite a momentous event for human space travel. On July 11th, 2021 Richard Branson, along with five other crew members, traveled approximately 53.2 miles on his Virgin Galactic air-launched rocket-powered space-plane. Then on July 20th, 2021, Jeff Bezos flew slightly higher on the Blue Origin vertical rocket to an altitude of just over 66.52 miles.
While both these flights are amazing in their own right, they really don’t hold a candle to the roughly 240,000 miles that Apollo 11 traveled to reach the moon back in 1969. But to emphasize just how much of an achievement that was, they did so using the most advanced technology of that time period which had as much computing power as an average smartphone of today.
But even reaching the moon is a small step compared to the ~9 billion miles it would take to reach the edge of our solar system, or the 50,000 light-years to traverse the Milky Way Galaxy, or the 46.5 billion light-years to reach the edge of the observable universe. Bound by the limitations of physical properties of matter it is impossible to think that humans will ever be able to reach such destinations. The Earth has only been around some four billion years and even if one could travel at the speed of light it would still take them billions of years to reach the edge of the observable universe, but what does the Quran suggest regarding this matter?
While human beings have these limitations due to the laws of physics that we are bound by, there are other entities that the Quran informs us about that are not limited by these constraints. The Quran informs us that in this universe in addition to human beings there is another entity known as jinns.
Jinns not being limited to the physical limitations of our three-dimensional space can operate in a manner that for us seems impossible. An example of their abilities is demonstrated in the history of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. When Solomon asked the jinns…
He said, “O you elders, which of you can bring me her mansion, before they arrive here as submitters?” One afrit from the jinns said, “I can bring it to you before you stand up. I am powerful enough to do this.” The one who possessed knowledge from the book said, “ I can bring it to you in the blink of your eye.” When he saw it settled in front of him, he said, “This is a blessing from my Lord, whereby He tests me, to show whether I am appreciative or unappreciative. Whoever is appreciative is appreciative for his own good, and if one turns unappreciative, then my Lord is in no need for him, Most Honorable.”
While the translation states that “I can bring it to you in the blink of your eye.” the Arabic states…
This implies that the process was faster than the speed of light, but how could this be possible.
Imagine a two-dimensional world. This world would look like a piece of paper with only an x-axis and y-axis but no z-axis (depth). An entity in this two-dimensional world would be represented as simply a dot. Now imagine that on this piece of paper we draw a circle and inside the circle draw a square. Then we ask this two-dimensional entity to touch the square without breaking the circle. The task would appear impossible for such an entity, but for us in the third dimension, we could not only touch the square we can even pick it up, move it, and manipulate it in an instance.
So jinns are not limited to the physical properties of our material world. We see further evidence of this in the following verses:
72:8 “‘We touched the heaven and found it filled with formidable guards and projectiles (وَشُهُبًا). 72:9 “‘We used to sit there in order to spy. Anyone who listens is pursued by a powerful projectile (شِهَابًا).
21:30 Do the unbelievers not realize that the heaven and the earth used to be one solid mass that we exploded into existence? And from water we made all living things. Would they believe?
According to the Quran there are seven universes, and they are described that they are in layers with our universe being the innermost layer. In addition, the Quran informs us that the jinns attempt to approach the outermost edge of our universe, but each time they do they are deterred by what the Quran describes as mighty projectiles.
67:3 He created seven universes in layers ( طِبَاقًا = one above the other). You do not see any imperfection in the creation by the Most Gracious. Keep looking; do you see any flaw? 67:4 Look again and again; your eyes will come back stumped and conquered. 67:5 We adorned the lowest universe with lamps, and guarded its borders with projectiles (رُجُومًا) against the devils; we prepared for them a retribution in Hell.
15:16 We placed galaxies in the sky, and adorned it for the beholders. 15:17 And we guarded it against every rejected devil. 15:18 If any of them sneaks around to listen, a mighty projectile (شِهَابٌ) will chase him back.
37:5 The Lord of the heavens and the earth, and everything between them, and Lord of the easts. 37:6 We have adorned the lowest heaven with adorning planets. 37:7 We guarded it from every evil devil. 37:8 They cannot spy on the High Society; they get bombarded from every side. 37:9 They have been condemned; they have incurred an eternal retribution. 37:10 If any of them ventures to charge the outer limits, he gets struck with a fierce projectile (شِهَابٌ).
So from these verses, we see that the Jinns do attempt to venture to the edge of the universe, but what is interesting is that the following verse challenges both the humans and jinns to attempt to try to do so?
55:33 O you jinns and humans, if you can penetrate the outer limits of the heavens and the earth, go ahead and penetrate. You cannot penetrate without authorization. 55:34 Which of your Lord’s marvels can you deny? 55:35 You get bombarded with projectiles (شُوَاظٌ) of fire and metal, and you cannot win.
If the furthest a human has ever been able to travel in all of human history was only ~240,000 miles that seems like quite a ways off from ever getting close to approaching the outer limits of our universe. Even if we consider that back in 1977 we launched Voyager 1 from Earth and is currently 14 billion miles away making it the farthest man-made object to date, we are still a long ways off from reaching the edge of the universe so how could humans ever be applicable in such a challenge?
Each human being consists of two parts a human soul and a jinn companion. The Quran describes jinns that are attached to humans using the Arabic word “قَرِينًا” which is typically translated as companion, but the word means something that is joined or bound, like by shackles.
As long as the human is alive the jinn companion is attached to this physical body. But once the soul is put to death the jinn companion is no longer bound by this physical body and not even by the same laws of physics as the human being. This makes the jinn a kind of anti-soul to the human soul. This also informs us that the jinns continue living long after the human being dies. So somewhere out there are the previous jinn companions of our ancestors.
Despite jinns having to be attached to the human soul while the human is alive, there is a caveat to this. According to the Quran there are two kinds of death. The first kind of death is what most people think of when they think of death this is the eternal death of the body where the soul is permanently removed from the body and will not be reunited with it until the Day of Judgement.
23:99 When death comes to one of them, he says, “My Lord, send me back.
23:100 I will then work righteousness in everything I left. Not true. This is a false claim that he makes. A barrier will separate his soul from this world until resurrection.
The other kind of death is when the soul is not connected to the body, but the soul has not transitioned to the afterlife. We see this example with the example of the man who traveled to the ghost town:
2:259 Consider the one who passed by a ghost town and wondered, “How can GOD revive this after it had died?” GOD then put him to death for a hundred years, then resurrected him. He said, “How long have you stayed here?” He said, “I have been here a day, or part of the day.” He said, “No! You have been here a hundred years. Yet, look at your food and drink; they did not spoil. Look at your donkey—we thus render you a lesson for the people. Now, note how we construct the bones, then cover them with flesh.” When he realized what had happened, he said, “Now I know that GOD is Omnipotent.”
18:10 When the youths took refuge in the cave, they said, “Our Lord, shower us with Your mercy, and bless our affairs with Your guidance.” 18:11 We then sealed their ears in the cave for a predetermined number of years. 18:12 Then we resurrected them to see which of the two parties could count the duration of their stay therein.
And there is one other time that we all experience this other kind of death that is explained in the Quran…
6:60 He is the One who puts you to death during the night, and knows even the smallest of your actions during the day. He resurrects you every morning, until your life span is fulfilled, then to Him is your ultimate return. He will then inform you of everything you had done.
39:42 GOD puts the souls to death when the end of their life comes, and also at the time of sleep. Thus, He takes some back during their sleep, while others are allowed to continue living until the end of their predetermined interim. This should provide lessons for people who reflect.
So theoretically it is possible that a human’s jinn companion could transcend the body while the human body is asleep. In Quantum Physics there is a concept of entanglement. Entanglement is when two subatomic particles are forever entangled such as the spin of one particle will instantly affect the spin of the other particle irrespective of distance. Meaning two particles could be billions of light-years apart yet somehow the spin of one particle will instantly alter the spin of the other particle. Einstein called this phenomenon “spooky action at a distance.”
That said could our jinn companion which is joined to our human soul be able to transport themself billions of light-years away yet relay information back to our physical brains while in a state of unconsciousness? I personally do think that as more of the science catches up with the wealth of information locked in the Quran that we will be seeing this kind of discoveries provided to mankind.
That said, for as long as humans have been on this planet they have attempted to abuse God’s system and find sinful shortcuts to this embedded information.
Sura 72, informs us that…
72:6 “‘Human beings used to seek power through jinn beings, but they only afflicted them with a lot of adversity.
The clearest example of this in the Quran is in the following verse…
2:102 They pursued what the devils taught concerning Solomon’s kingdom. Solomon, however, was not a disbeliever, but the devils were disbelievers. They taught the people sorcery, and that which was sent down through the two angels of Babel, Haroot and Maroot. These two did not divulge such knowledge without pointing out: “This is a test. You shall not abuse such knowledge.” But the people used it in such evil schemes as the breaking up of marriages. They can never harm anyone against the will of GOD. They thus learn what hurts them, not what benefits them, and they know full well that whoever practices witchcraft will have no share in the Hereafter. Miserable indeed is what they sell their souls for, if they only knew.
One of the big trends at the moment is the fascination that people have with psychedelics. These days it is almost impossible not to listen to long-form podcast interviews without the topic of psychedelics coming up. On a recent episode of The Jordan Peterson Podcast, there was an interview with Prof. Carl Ruck who studies psychedelics and the experiences that people have with such substances.
During the discussion, Prof. Ruck describes a common experience that many of the people who have had what he described as a certain mix of a concocted potion, and the similarities between that in the verses of the Quran are quite stark.
Prof. Carl Ruck: Every year a large group of pople on cue had a vision after they drank a portion whose ingredients are known.
JP: Do you have some sense of the contents of the vision?
CR: Yeah
JP: Can you outline that?
CR: I can quote… because of course to say what it is openly was prohibited under the pain of death but in a play of Euripides “The Ion” the coral says: “when you pass through the gates of the hall of initiation you will see the stars dance and with them dance the moon but I have to remind you the the hall of initiation has a solid roof. You cannot see the sky the only way you can see the stars dance and with them dance the moon is if you have transcended the physical pas to the edge of the cosmos…which is what is described in the ancient poems of the shamanic journey…to the edge of the cosmos and are there dancing amongst the celestial bodies the planets and the stars…
JP: Okay let me ask you..
CR: Of course that is impossible
JP: Yeah well who knows what’s impossible precisely.
CR: it’s what was described over and over again though it’s what Plato describes in the feeders it’s what Parmenides describes in his poem…
JP: in the shamanic tradition the practitioner would die and be reduced to a skeleton. That’s one way to think of the experience. And sometimes have his body organs replaced or sometimes have them replaced by something that represented a crystalline structure that was more pure, but would anyways would reliably commune with the ancestors who would leave the cosmos as we know it traveling up and down in something like layers.
There is no question that utilizing the free-floating jinns to do our bidding or the consumption of intoxicants like psychedelics are prohibited (2:102, 72:6, 2:219, 5:90-91). But is there a lawful way to be able to benefit from this knowledge without resorting to these prohibited methods. It ends up that there is also a lot of research being done on how our bodies can naturally produce naturally occurring psychedelic compounds through meditation. The Quran happens to not only encourage meditation, but also the practice of doing it at night as being more effective.
73:2 Meditate during the night, except rarely. 73:3 Half of it, or a little less. 73:4 Or a little more. And read the Quran from cover to cover. 73:5 We will give you a heavy message. 73:6 The meditation at night is more effective, and more righteous.
Now here is one other strange thing to consider, if one can travel faster than the speed of light and had a powerful enough lens to stare back at the planet then technically they could see a satellite view of any event that ever took place on Earth, including the formation of the Earth itself. That said, that despite the immense abilities of jinns that while they may be able to look back at the history of Earth they are incapable of looking into the future.
72:10 “‘We have no idea if something bad is intended for the inhabitants of Earth, or if their Lord wills to redeem them. 72:11 “‘Some of us are righteous, and some are less than righteous; we follow various paths. 72:12 “‘We knew full well that we can never run away from GOD on earth; we can never run away and escape. 72:13 “‘When we heard the guidance, we believed therein. Anyone who believes in his Lord will never fear any injustice, nor any affliction. 72:14 “‘Among us are the submitters, and among us are the compromisers.'” As for those who submitted, they are on the right path. 72:15 As for the compromisers, they will be fuel for Gehenna.
One last thing about Jinns is that the apparently love water.
72:16 If they remain on the right path, we will bless them with abundant water.