and after it swore to never do it again, he let it free. He
came to the blessed Prophet a who said, “What became of
your captive?”
He replied, “It swore to never return again.”
The blessed Prophet a said, “It lies and is a compulsive
liar.”
Abu Ayyub g caught it the second time and again it
swore that it would never return and he let it free. He
came to the blessed Prophet a who repeated, “It lies
and is a compulsive liar.” The third time he grabbed
it and said I will not release you until I take you to the
Prophet a.” It said, “I will tell you something, read the
Ayat al-Kursi. Recite it in your house and Shaytan and
the likes will not come near your home.” He came to the
blessed Prophet a who asked, “What happened with your
captive?” Abu Ayyub g informed him of what it said. The
blessed Prophet a said, “It spoke the truth, though it is an
obsessive liar” (Tirmidhi; 5/158).
One can hear the English version of the Arabic ghul in
the last few weeks of October as Halloween season sets in.
Ever heard the word ghoul?
LEARN ARABIC
The Demon
of the Desert
gh | wa | la
Ghala is the simplest verb form for the above root, which
means ‘to take away something unexpectedly’ or ‘to cause
something to perish’ (E.W. Lanes). In modern Arabic,
ightala, from the same root, means ‘to assassinate’ or
‘to murder’ and taghawwala means to ‘vary in form or
appearance.’
Ghñl is the Arabic for a desert-borne, form-changing
demon that inflicts many forms of harm on humans. It is
defined as “Any type of jinn that apprehended the travelers
and changed its form and clothes at will. They are both
male and female” (al-Hayawan; al-Ghul wa al-Sa‘lat). Over
time, the superstitious nature of Arab culture came to
associate calamitious events and pitfalls to the ghul. The
blessed Prophet a denounced such superstitions and said,
“There is no such thing as a ghul” (Muslim; La ‘Adwa wa
la Tiyara), meaning that the ghul cannot inflict harm on
anyone without the permission of Allah.
In a hadith of Tirmidhi, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari g was once
visited by a ghul. He says, “I had a niche in the house where
I kept dates. A ghul would come in the night and steal
the dates.” He complained about the ghul to the blessed
Prophet a who said, “Go and say to it, ‘bismillah, respond
to the Prophet (a)!’” The next day He grabbed the ghul
28 January - February 2020 | AL-MADINAH