Why do I get sleep paralysis and is astral projection allowed?
Q0026: Assalamu alaikum, Im 18, and of course have a lot to learn, but I have a question which I still haven't found any convincing answer up to now. Im not really active on forums, but since this is the largest islamic forum, I thought I might give it a try.
Its been about 3 years now that I experience sleep paralysis, which some say is only scientific whereas others say it has something to do with jinn or something. Im actually quite used to it now after having had it 100+ times this might sound weird but whilst in it, I feel I can either stop it, by struggling to remain conscious or if I let go and de-contract my body, some sort of pressure in me increases and a few other symptoms occur. I researched on the symptoms and found out they were close to something called Astral Projection. Of course upon reading about A.P on the net, it makes me curious and want to try it. However, despite quite some research, I still haven't found out any convincing answer relating it to Islam and whether it is forbidden or not. I still reject claims that it has something to do with me interacting with Jinns because I consider myself more of a practising muslim, if I am allowed to do so of course and do not engage myself in witchcraft or such activities and it comes to me naturally.
If someone does have real knowledge about this subject, or a muslim who has had an astral projection, please reply and share your knowledge. For now, whenever I have Sleep Paralysis, I usually force myself out of it and not 'let go', not because i'm afraid of whats going to happen, but because i'm afraid of whether it has something to do with the jinn world and I don't want to do shirk or anything i'm not supposed to.
thank you.
Its been about 3 years now that I experience sleep paralysis, which some say is only scientific whereas others say it has something to do with jinn or something. Im actually quite used to it now after having had it 100+ times this might sound weird but whilst in it, I feel I can either stop it, by struggling to remain conscious or if I let go and de-contract my body, some sort of pressure in me increases and a few other symptoms occur. I researched on the symptoms and found out they were close to something called Astral Projection. Of course upon reading about A.P on the net, it makes me curious and want to try it. However, despite quite some research, I still haven't found out any convincing answer relating it to Islam and whether it is forbidden or not. I still reject claims that it has something to do with me interacting with Jinns because I consider myself more of a practising muslim, if I am allowed to do so of course and do not engage myself in witchcraft or such activities and it comes to me naturally.
If someone does have real knowledge about this subject, or a muslim who has had an astral projection, please reply and share your knowledge. For now, whenever I have Sleep Paralysis, I usually force myself out of it and not 'let go', not because i'm afraid of whats going to happen, but because i'm afraid of whether it has something to do with the jinn world and I don't want to do shirk or anything i'm not supposed to.
thank you.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Wa alaykum as saalam. Jazak Allah khair for your question.
Hope you're well. Sleep paralysis can have a medical cause or a spiritual cause. Medically speaking I'm sure you're aware that it has something to do with imbalance in brain activity. Spiritually speaking it can be caused by the an external jinn- meaning a jinn that is not inside the body but outside of the body.
The only way to know which one it is (other than seeking medical treatment- which will no doubt take a long time) is to eliminate the spiritual aspect of it. And if tackling this issue from a spiritual angle resolves the problem then Alhamdulliah All praises and thanks are for Allah.
If not then at least you know you're not going down the medical route in vain. Hope this makes sense.
It's important to clarify that if jinns/ shaytan interact with you with bad intention then you are not accountable or sinful for that- they are. So if you are being bothered by a jinn it doesn't mean you are in any shape or form a bad person or involved with magic or shirk etc.
The problem occurs when you deliberately try to contact the jinns for no beneficial reason other than curiosity or much worse. With that point out the way let's continue insha Allah.
The jinn that is inside the body and the one inside both can't physically control you as such but to gain influence over your conscious self they attack you psychologically or in some cases physically (sleep paralysis) while you are in a subconscious state.
The two most important times when a Muslim is most exposed to shaytan is as he is falling asleep and as he is waking up because these a transitional phases between consciousness and subconsciousness.
That is why many of the protective duas the prophet (salallah hu ala hi wa sallam) taught us are to do with protecting oneself from shaytan. And no just at anytime of the day but often key times when we are in these moments where we are not in our fully conscious state.
For example
"In the Name of Allah. O Allah, keep the shaytaan away from us and keep the shaytaan away from what You have blessed us with"
And there are many such examples in the sunnah. In fact almost all of the duas the prophet taught us about protection are to protect us from shaytan at various stages where he can attack us.
The shaytan cannot possess a person who is conscious of Allah (swt) and therefore when possession occurs it is more often then not when a person has weak eman, involved in sin, heedlessness, intoxicated, buzzing on drugs, extreme fear, anger, lust or other emotions.
The subconscious state is a very, very important part of the human being because it is this element that if corrupted affects the conscious mind. So for example if your subconscious mind associates the kitchen with food, if you happen to go to the kitchen to wash your hands, a thought distracts you and you might find yourself looking for chocolate or other foods to eat even though you are not hungry and that was not even the reason you went to the kitchen in the first place.
Advertisement works in very much the say way in that they bombard with you with slogans such as "Thirsty? Drink Coca Cola", "Hungry? Have a Subway" etc so that when you feel hungry your subconscious mind prompts you to look for a Subway, McDonald's etc
Back to our original point, falling asleep and waking up are crucial moments when we slip into the subconscious state where we are neither conscious or unconscious but are somewhere between these two states.
Astral projection focuses on trying to train the mind to recognize that it is in the subconscious state so in doing so gain consciousness in the subconscious state. Then the person tries to make the soul "leave" the body like it does when a person is sleep and dreaming.
Hypnosis relies on the same technique where the person is relaxed to the point where the host gains access to the victims subconscious state and in doing so can cause the person to act in ways they would not or remove phobias or things they would otherwise fear.
Nightmares are similar in that the soul experiences bad things in the subconscious state- the real you is exposed. For example if people see you praying fajr in the masjid they might think that you have firm eman but in reality your mind is here there and everywhere and you have no humility or focus on your salah then it will be exposed in the dream world or subconscious mind.
So when the shaytan comes to you in your dreams, if you really are weak in your eman you will see bad things happening to you. While if your eman is truly firm then you will see yourself not frightened of the things you see in your nightmares but possibly even fighting them.
The subconscious state is a dangerous place to be especially if you are deliberately causing it through Astral Projection etc. It might sound lovely to be able to control your dreams but in reality it is a state where you are presenting your conscious self in the subconscious state in the physical world and therefore exposing yourself to being possessed easily.
Astral projection and lucid dreaming are both dangerous because the person if deliberately causing the mind to go into the subconscious state and it opens the gates for jinn possession. Allah Knows Best.
The first time I experienced sleep paralysis was many years ago when my eman was really weak and I didn't do any of my protection duas so that night when I went to sleep I saw that I was downstairs and I was holding this door closed.
It was the door to the conservatory and had two large glass panels. Through the blurry glass I can see dark smoke swirling. I was trying my best to hold onto it but then I let go and opened the door.
The smoke became a Somali lady with bright red lip stick. She came to me with lustful intentions and just as she was about to kiss me i felt a kick (in real life- by by son who was sleeping next to me in bed) and I realized I was waking up. I was moving through a pitch black corridor slowly waking up and laughing to myself thinking that I was kicked just in time to stop me from doing bad., but then suddenly I heard a growling sound inside my head. I was awake but I couldn't open my eyes.
The I became aware of my physical body, both my hands were being my head. I started to panic and then I heard the growling sound right next to my right ear and I got worried for my son what if he is going through the same thing as me?
I tried my best to say Ayat Al Kursi but I couldn't not even Allah hu Akbar... i was just mumbling croaking as though my voice as nearly going.
I said astaghfirullah and then suddenly it went away. I looked around and couldn't see anything. My son was ok too still asleep.
I got up made wudu and made taubah to Allah since then I have never had an experience like that alhamdulliah.
Since then I've entered the world of ruqya and began understanding how- if it is a spiritual cause- it happens and how to prevent it from happening in the future.
My younger brother also had the a similar issue where he would have sleep paralysis and something blowing air painfully in his ear. In this state he is unable to move or speak but he is fully aware of what is happening to him. His solution was he used to just ignore it and after a few minutes it would stop.
Bu since implementing the protective duas from hadith he has had no problems except on those odd occasions when he has not read them.
As I mentioned earlier, my advice would be to eliminate the spiritual factor first and if that doesn't resolve the problem (and I am very confident that it will with the Help of Allah) then you can explore medical causes.
To find out how to remove and keep an external jinn from your house please see the answer below.
How do I protect my house from jinns?
http://www.ruqyaqa.com/0018-how-do-i-protect-my-home-from-jinns.html
I hope the answer was useful and beneficial. I would be really interested in know if these sleep paralysis stop for you inshaAllah.
Share your experiences on YOUR STORY or comment below.
Hope you're well. Sleep paralysis can have a medical cause or a spiritual cause. Medically speaking I'm sure you're aware that it has something to do with imbalance in brain activity. Spiritually speaking it can be caused by the an external jinn- meaning a jinn that is not inside the body but outside of the body.
The only way to know which one it is (other than seeking medical treatment- which will no doubt take a long time) is to eliminate the spiritual aspect of it. And if tackling this issue from a spiritual angle resolves the problem then Alhamdulliah All praises and thanks are for Allah.
If not then at least you know you're not going down the medical route in vain. Hope this makes sense.
It's important to clarify that if jinns/ shaytan interact with you with bad intention then you are not accountable or sinful for that- they are. So if you are being bothered by a jinn it doesn't mean you are in any shape or form a bad person or involved with magic or shirk etc.
The problem occurs when you deliberately try to contact the jinns for no beneficial reason other than curiosity or much worse. With that point out the way let's continue insha Allah.
The jinn that is inside the body and the one inside both can't physically control you as such but to gain influence over your conscious self they attack you psychologically or in some cases physically (sleep paralysis) while you are in a subconscious state.
The two most important times when a Muslim is most exposed to shaytan is as he is falling asleep and as he is waking up because these a transitional phases between consciousness and subconsciousness.
That is why many of the protective duas the prophet (salallah hu ala hi wa sallam) taught us are to do with protecting oneself from shaytan. And no just at anytime of the day but often key times when we are in these moments where we are not in our fully conscious state.
For example
- When we are very angry we should refuge in Allah.
- When one is intending to be intimate with his wife he should read the dua
"In the Name of Allah. O Allah, keep the shaytaan away from us and keep the shaytaan away from what You have blessed us with"
And there are many such examples in the sunnah. In fact almost all of the duas the prophet taught us about protection are to protect us from shaytan at various stages where he can attack us.
The shaytan cannot possess a person who is conscious of Allah (swt) and therefore when possession occurs it is more often then not when a person has weak eman, involved in sin, heedlessness, intoxicated, buzzing on drugs, extreme fear, anger, lust or other emotions.
The subconscious state is a very, very important part of the human being because it is this element that if corrupted affects the conscious mind. So for example if your subconscious mind associates the kitchen with food, if you happen to go to the kitchen to wash your hands, a thought distracts you and you might find yourself looking for chocolate or other foods to eat even though you are not hungry and that was not even the reason you went to the kitchen in the first place.
Advertisement works in very much the say way in that they bombard with you with slogans such as "Thirsty? Drink Coca Cola", "Hungry? Have a Subway" etc so that when you feel hungry your subconscious mind prompts you to look for a Subway, McDonald's etc
Back to our original point, falling asleep and waking up are crucial moments when we slip into the subconscious state where we are neither conscious or unconscious but are somewhere between these two states.
Astral projection focuses on trying to train the mind to recognize that it is in the subconscious state so in doing so gain consciousness in the subconscious state. Then the person tries to make the soul "leave" the body like it does when a person is sleep and dreaming.
Hypnosis relies on the same technique where the person is relaxed to the point where the host gains access to the victims subconscious state and in doing so can cause the person to act in ways they would not or remove phobias or things they would otherwise fear.
Nightmares are similar in that the soul experiences bad things in the subconscious state- the real you is exposed. For example if people see you praying fajr in the masjid they might think that you have firm eman but in reality your mind is here there and everywhere and you have no humility or focus on your salah then it will be exposed in the dream world or subconscious mind.
So when the shaytan comes to you in your dreams, if you really are weak in your eman you will see bad things happening to you. While if your eman is truly firm then you will see yourself not frightened of the things you see in your nightmares but possibly even fighting them.
The subconscious state is a dangerous place to be especially if you are deliberately causing it through Astral Projection etc. It might sound lovely to be able to control your dreams but in reality it is a state where you are presenting your conscious self in the subconscious state in the physical world and therefore exposing yourself to being possessed easily.
Astral projection and lucid dreaming are both dangerous because the person if deliberately causing the mind to go into the subconscious state and it opens the gates for jinn possession. Allah Knows Best.
The first time I experienced sleep paralysis was many years ago when my eman was really weak and I didn't do any of my protection duas so that night when I went to sleep I saw that I was downstairs and I was holding this door closed.
It was the door to the conservatory and had two large glass panels. Through the blurry glass I can see dark smoke swirling. I was trying my best to hold onto it but then I let go and opened the door.
The smoke became a Somali lady with bright red lip stick. She came to me with lustful intentions and just as she was about to kiss me i felt a kick (in real life- by by son who was sleeping next to me in bed) and I realized I was waking up. I was moving through a pitch black corridor slowly waking up and laughing to myself thinking that I was kicked just in time to stop me from doing bad., but then suddenly I heard a growling sound inside my head. I was awake but I couldn't open my eyes.
The I became aware of my physical body, both my hands were being my head. I started to panic and then I heard the growling sound right next to my right ear and I got worried for my son what if he is going through the same thing as me?
I tried my best to say Ayat Al Kursi but I couldn't not even Allah hu Akbar... i was just mumbling croaking as though my voice as nearly going.
I said astaghfirullah and then suddenly it went away. I looked around and couldn't see anything. My son was ok too still asleep.
I got up made wudu and made taubah to Allah since then I have never had an experience like that alhamdulliah.
Since then I've entered the world of ruqya and began understanding how- if it is a spiritual cause- it happens and how to prevent it from happening in the future.
My younger brother also had the a similar issue where he would have sleep paralysis and something blowing air painfully in his ear. In this state he is unable to move or speak but he is fully aware of what is happening to him. His solution was he used to just ignore it and after a few minutes it would stop.
Bu since implementing the protective duas from hadith he has had no problems except on those odd occasions when he has not read them.
As I mentioned earlier, my advice would be to eliminate the spiritual factor first and if that doesn't resolve the problem (and I am very confident that it will with the Help of Allah) then you can explore medical causes.
To find out how to remove and keep an external jinn from your house please see the answer below.
How do I protect my house from jinns?
http://www.ruqyaqa.com/0018-how-do-i-protect-my-home-from-jinns.html
I hope the answer was useful and beneficial. I would be really interested in know if these sleep paralysis stop for you inshaAllah.
Share your experiences on YOUR STORY or comment below.
Peace and blessings be upon the final messenger Muhammed (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) his family, companions and everyone who follow him in righteousness.
Kamal
Former Raqi
Kamal
Former Raqi