Title: Soothsaying Question: Could you please explain Surah Al-Jinn verse 9, 10 and other related verses present in various places in the Qur'an? Does these verses mean that the Jinns can know the future events that will occur in the Universe? I also came across a Hadith which says that Jinns catch a hearing (about future) and inform some men on earth. Does Quran/Hadith acknowledge the existence of soothsaying? Thanks. Anonymous Answer: The referred verses of Surah Al-Jinn is a part of a conversation between Jinn, reported by the Qur'an. In this conversation, these Jinn have mentioned the extra-ordinary security in the paths of the skies during the time of the revelation of the Qur'an. During the course of this conversation, these Jinn mention that even though under normal circumstances, they would sit in these paths to eavesdrop on the information that was brought down by the angels, but during the days of the revelation of the Qur'an, if they try to sit in these paths, they are severely bombarded from the stars. One can, indeed, derive from this reported conversation of the Jinn that under normal circumstances, Jinn do overhear and, thereby, get parts of the information brought down by the angels. The narrative ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh), which you have referred in your question, is reported by Bukhariy and Muslim . In this narrative, the Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have been asked by some people about soothsaying. The Prophet (pbuh) replied by saying that it is of no significance. The companions asked that if that is so, then how do the soothsayers sometimes provide information about the future, which turns out to be correct. The Prophet (pbuh) responded by saying: "This information is provided by Jinn, which it overhears from the angels, then the soothsayers add a large number of lies to it, of their own accord and tell it to people." (as reported in Muslim , Kitaab al-Salaam , Narrative No. 4135). Keeping the foregoing information in perspective, it would not be very accurate to say that the Qur'an and Hadith acknowledge the existence of 'soothsaying'. On the contrary, the most that can be said on the basis of the information provided in these two sources is that Jinn can overhear parts of information from angels and then provide such information to their masters. Soothsayers use this information and add a number of lies to it, on their own. An ordinary man, who neither has access to this information and nor is in a position to distinguish the accurate from the inaccurate, should, as the Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said, not pay much attention to this information, which can sometimes include some accurate information about the future. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad December 7, 2001