With regard to the causes of spirit-possession, Ibn al-Qayyim said, "Evil spirits mostly gain control of those having little religious inclination and those whose hearts and tongues faith has deserted; those whose souls are desolate of the remembrance of Allaah and of the formulas for strengthening the faith. When evil spirits meet a man who is isolated, weaponless and naked, they are easily able to attack him and overcome him."[5]/nIbn Taymeeyah suggested the following three circumstances to be the main reason why jinn may possess humans:/n1. "The occasional possession of man by the jinn may be due to sensual desires on the part of the jinn…or even love, just as it may be among humans."[6]/n2. "Demonic possession sometimes also occurs as a result of horseplay, jest or plain evil on the part of the jinn, just as evil and mischief occurs among the humans for similar reasons."[7]/n3. "However, possession is most often a result of the jinn being angry because some wrong has been done to them. Thus, the jinn punish those who wronged them. For example, when humans accidentally harm them or hurt them by urinating on them, by pouring hot water on them, or by killing some of them, the jinn think that they have been intentionally harmed. Although humans may not realize what they have done, the jinn are by nature very ignorant, harsh and volatile in their behavior, so they may vengefully punish humans much more severely than they deserve."[8]/nThus, in the view of Ibn Taymeeyah, possession may occur with relative frequency to practicing Muslims as well as to weak and non-practicing Muslims.

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