Bismillāh
وَإِذْ صَرَفْنَآ إِلَيْكَ نَفَرًا مِّنَ ٱلْجِنِّ يَسْتَمِعُونَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ فَلَمَّا حَضَرُوهُ قَالُوٓا۟ أَنصِتُوا۟ ۖ فَلَمَّا قُضِىَ وَلَّوْا۟ إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِم مُّنذِرِينَ
When We dispatched toward you a team of jinn listening to the Qur’ān, when they were in its presence, they said, ‘Be silent!’ When it was finished, they went back to their people as warners.
Sūrat al-Ahqāf, No. 46, Āyat 29
There are various conflicting narrations that recount an incident of how a group of jinn listened to the Qur’ān. For example, in one of the oldest and most important Shī‘ah hadīth-based books of tafsīr named Tafsīr al-Qummī, it says the following regarding the above verse and the verses after it:
The reason for the revelation of these verses is that the Messenger of Allah sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa ālihi went out from Makkah to the market of ‘Ukāz [near the city of Tā’if], accompanied by Zayd ibn Hārithah, calling the people to Islam. But no one responded to him, and he did not find anyone who would accept it from him. Then he returned to Makkah.
When he reached a place called Wādī Majannah, he recited the Qur’ān in the depths of the night. A group of jinn passed by him, and when they heard the recitation of the Messenger of Allah (s), they listened to him … Then they came to the Messenger of Allah (s), accepted Islam, and believed, and the Messenger of Allah (s) taught them the laws of Islam. (al-Majlisī, Bihār al-Anwār, v. 60, p. 81.)
A similar account is also found in Sūrat al-Jinn, although ‘Allāmah Tabātabā’ī notes that the stories in these two sūrah seem to be referring to two different groups of jinn. Those described in Sūrat al-Ahqāf are mentioned as being believers of Prophet Mūsā ‘alayhis salām while those mentioned in Sūrat al-Jinn were polytheists who did not believe in any prophethood.
This story of the jinn is mentioned in narrations and books of history as having occurred during the return journey from a trip the Prophet had made to the fertile town of Tā’if, located less than 100 km southeast of Makkah.
This incident occurred about ten years after the onset of revelation, following the death of both Lady Khadījah and Abū Tālib. With the loss of these two individuals, the Prophet’s situation had grown dire. With Abū Tālib’s demise he had lost the significant tribal shield that had protected him in Makkah. Seeking a new base of support and a community willing to hear the message, the Prophet (s) went to Tā’if, and invited the chiefs of its leading clan, the Thaqīf, to Islam.
The response was brutal. The chiefs of Tā’if not only refused him but they mocked him, and the town’s youths pelted him with stones as he left, striking him until his blessed feet bled while his companion Zayd ibn Harithah tried desperately to shield him. After this, the Prophet (s) took refuge in an orchard outside Tā’if, and despite being bloodied and exhausted, he recited the following words of supplication to Allah:
O Allah, to You I complain of my weakness, my lack of resourcefulness, and my insignificance before people. O Most Merciful of the merciful! You are the Lord of the oppressed, and You are my Lord. To whom will You entrust me? To a distant one who frowns at me? Or to an enemy to whom You have given power over my affairs? If You are not angry with me, then I care not … I seek Your pleasure until You are satisfied, and there is no power and no strength except through You. (Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah, v. 1, p. 420)
The sequence of these incidents provides an interesting contrast worthy of reflection: just as the Prophet (s) had been driven out and stoned by human beings who should have been receptive to him, a different creation of Allah received his message with wholehearted belief. Let us take a lesson from this and realize that that an initial setback does not mean failure. Like the Prophet (s), let us put our reliance in Allah ‘azza wa jall, struggle to perform our duty and ask Allah to accept it regardless of the apparent results.
Sources: ‘Allāmah Muhammad Husayn Tabātabā’ī, Tafsīr al-Mīzān.