Al-Qarin

Al-Qarin ('the companion') designates, in its best-known sense, the jinn assigned to every human being to try to lead them astray through whisperings. The Quran evokes it, and a hadith (Muslim) reveals that even the Prophet ﷺ had one — but God helped him, and this qarin embraced Islam and only commanded him toward good. According to another hadith, each person in fact has TWO companions: a jinn (toward evil) and an angel (toward good).

TWO MEANINGS IN THE QURAN — The word 'qarin' (companion) appears in the Quran with two different realities: The companion-DEMON: 'For whoever turns away from the remembrance of the Most Merciful, We appoint for him a devil as a constant companion' (43:36). On the Day of Judgement, the misled man will disown this companion: 'Would that between me and you there was the distance of the two Easts' (43:38). The demon, for his part, will deflect blame: 'Our Lord! I did not mislead him, but he was far astray himself' (50:27). The companion-ANGEL: in another passage, 'his companion (qarin)' designates the angel who presents the record of deeds: 'Here is what I have carefully recorded' (50:23).

THE JINN QARIN — In its most widespread sense, the qarin is the jinn attributed to each human from birth, who accompanies them throughout life and incites them to evil through whisperings (waswas). The Quran: 'We had assigned them companions who made their deeds seem fair to them' (41:25).

EVEN THE PROPHET ﷺ — A remarkable hadith (Muslim) reports the Prophet's ﷺ words: 'There is not one of you to whom a companion (qarin) from among the jinn has not been assigned.' The Companions asked: 'Even you, O Messenger of Allah?' He replied: 'Even me, except that Allah helped me against him, and he submitted [to Islam], so he commands me only toward good.'

THE TWO COMPANIONS — A hadith from Ibn Mas'ud (Muslim) specifies that each person in reality has two companions: 'There is not one of you who does not have with him a companion from among the jinn AND a companion from among the angels.' The jinn pushes toward evil, the angel toward good.

The word 'qarin' is Quranic (43:36, 50:23, 41:25, 4:38). ATTENTION to the double meaning: depending on the context, the 'qarin' is either the tempting demon (43:36) or the recording angel (50:23) — exegetes distinguish the two. The hadith 'even me, but he submitted' is authentic (Muslim no. 2814). NB: al-Qadi 'Iyad signals two readings of the verb: 'fa-aslama' (the qarin became Muslim) or 'fa-aslimu' (I was preserved from his evil); al-Khattabi preferred the second. The site retains the most widespread version while signalling the nuance.

The qarin recalls a reality of the human condition: we are crossed by contrary inclinations — a call downward (the jinn) and a call upward (the angel). But the hadith carries an immense hope: even the companion-demon can be vanquished, like that of the Prophet ﷺ who submitted. Through obedience to God and taking refuge in Him, the believer weakens his tempter. We are not the passive playthings of these whisperings: responsibility, and therefore possible victory, remain ours.

À celui qui se détourne de la révélation du Tout Miséricordieux, Nous suscitons un compagnon inséparable, un démon

43:36

Son compagnon dira : « Voici ses œuvres que j'ai soigneusement consignées. »

50:23