I’ve spent much of my life surrounded by post-modern, materialistic thinking. If my stomach is upset, I take some medicine. If I have an odd dream, I chalk it up to my evening snack. If something goes abnormally wrong in my life, I generally assume “that’s life,” and try to think about the logical reasons behind what happened.
But six years ago, I stepped into a world that thinks very differently. Not all Muslims think a lot about jinn (demons) or the spirit world, but for most it is an essential part of their worldview. In certain places in the Arab World, what is considered “Folk Islam” is prevalent. But even among conservative orthodox Muslims, the assumption is that the spirit world is very much involved in their lives. My friend Hanan was one of the first people to talk to me about her encounters with the spiritual realm. Our conversations were a good reminder that we are in a spiritual battle.
I want to share translated bits of a recording Hanan made for me as we discussed. Firey, fun, and articulate, she and I had a strong connection from the first day we met. Not long into our friendship, she came to one of our meetings with an idea. “How about we talk about dreams and visions?” she said. I was excited for her initiative. We had talked a little bit about spiritual things, but not deeply.
A note on the translation: I am doing my best to describe in English what my friend told me in Arabic. There are many things that cannot be literally translated between the two languages, so please read with that awareness.
As you read her words below, keep in mind our Scriptural “true north” for spiritual warfare: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12).
I started the recorder, and she began her monologue. She introduced the subject saying she was going to tell me about “visions, dreams, and jathuum.” She talked a bit about the first two then began to address the third:
A jathuum is something that happens to people… well, I don’t know if… I guess it happens mostly to Muslims.It’s when a jinn comes to a person and tries to choke him and leave him paralyzed. Not everyone knows about this – only the people that have read about it. I read about it once. The jathuum is really scary. Why does it happen? Well, for example, I might have fallen asleep laying on my left side and thinking negative thoughts. They really have two causes: a reaction to a medication, or that devils or jinn are actually oppressing them. Bi’ism Allah irrahman irrahim [in the name of Allah the gracious, the merciful].
It happens when a person is asleep but just between consciousness and unconsciousness. Have you ever seen a demon in a picture? That’s the form that it comes onto the person – right over your chest or stomach. And it says… well, when it came to me, it was saying beautiful things, but in an ugly voice. It was saying to me things like, “I’m not going to leave you, I’m going to stay around you, you’re going to stay in my life,” and of course I was afraid.
What I’ve read is that after it comes and talks to you, some people can’t move – they’re paralyzed in their beds. They feel like they’re going to choke or die, and they can’t get up unless someone comes to wake them up. What happened to me was like that. I was asleep, between consciousness and unconsciousness, and I opened my eyes. I was in my same room with the same furniture and everything, and my sisters were in their beds, but when I opened my eyes, I saw the demon. It had horns and it was red-orange, and it was almost like it was coming out of me. I could see smoke or vapor around it. It was saying all those things, “I’m not going to leave you, you’re going to stay near me” and I was very scared and shocked, but at the same time I was reciting the Qur’an and I wasn’t paralyzed.
As soon as I started reciting, I woke up and saw the room as normal. In the end I thought, “Ok, it’s done, it’s fine, God wrote [predestined] for it to happen to me.” I’ve seen a lot of visions and dreams, and some of them came true and some didn’t. The important thing is that when you have a dream like this, you recite the Qur’an and try not to think about it too much.
Listening to the recording today, I am reminded that we are in a spiritual battle. We have no need to be afraid, but we do need to be serious. I wonder how many of my friends have had experiences similar to Hanan’s. When I look out of my window to the apartment buildings in front of me, I wonder how many of them fall asleep oppressed by spiritual forces.
I wonder, too, how many of them might have a vision of a Savior tonight as they sleep. What a contrast it would be for my friend Hanan to see Jesus and hear Him say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” And so today, I pray for my friends to have these sorts of spiritual encounters. As they thirst for a real spiritual experience, I pray that they will find the Savior of their souls.