Assalaam alaykum. On what basis or why was the the Jewish race elevated by Allaah above other races? Why were they considered better or superior? Also, does Surah 49 verse 13 apply to the jinn and human alike, and therefore the jinn species and the human species are equal? Please respond with evidence from the Qur'an and Sunnah. May Allaah reward you for this service, and I thank you in advance. Assalaamu alaykum.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger. 

We have previously highlighted the reason why Allaah favored Bani Israel over other nations at their time in fatwa 17708, please refer to it.

The term “Al-Naas,” meaning people or mankind, does not include the jinn. Ibn Al-Qayyim said in his book Badaa'i' Al-Fawaa'id:

“The Arabic word 'an-naas' can never be used to refer to the jinn from any respect; not as an origin or a derivative or even according to the common usage in the Arabic language, and neither does the etymology (of the two Arabic terms for jinn and mankind) allow that. The jinn were given that name as a derivative from the term 'ijtinaan', which means concealment, since they are concealed from the eyes of humans, and this is why they are named jinn. Likewise, the embryo or fetus is called 'janeen' because it is concealed in its mother's womb; Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {He was most knowing of you when He produced you from the earth and when you were fetuses in the wombs of your mothers...} [Quran 53:32] The Arabic term ‘mijann’ (shield) is called thus because it conceals the warrior from his enemy. ‘Jannah’ (Paradise) is derived from the same root because its inside is concealed by trees. The word ‘junnah’ refers to what protects the person from the strikes of weapons and arrows. ‘Al-Majnoon’, meaning an insane person, is derived from the same root because his mind is covered, and such is the meaning of all other derivations from this root.The Arabic words 'an-naas' (people), 'ins' (mankind) and 'insan' (man or human being) are related in etymology and meaning. They are all derived from 'eenaas', which means “seeing or sensing”. In Soorah Al-Qasas: 29, the word 'aanasa' was used to mean 'he saw', i.e. 'Prophet Moosa (Moses) saw a fire in the direction of Mount Toor;' Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {...he saw from the direction of the mount a fire...} [Quran 28:29]. In Soorah An-Nisaa' (Quran: Chapter 4), the word 'aanastum' was used to mean perceive or see or sense (that the orphans have acquired sound judgment); Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {...Then if you perceive in them sound judgment, release their property to them...} [Quran 4:6] Hence, the Arabic term 'insaan' (human being) is named thus because he can be seen, perceived, and sensed.

As for the word 'an-naas', linguists held two different views: Firstly, it is said that the word 'naas' is altered from 'anas' after the reversal of letters (in what is called in English metathesis or transposition of sounds in a word like saying 'brid' or 'frist' intead of 'bird' or 'first'), which is far unlikely. The second view, which is the correct view, suggests that the word 'naas' is derived from 'naws', which denotes successive movement. Hence, the word 'naas' is used to refer to people or mankind given their outward and inward movement. The Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said in an authentic hadeeth that the most truthful names are Al-Haarith (the one who harvests) and Hammaam (the one who intends and plans) since every human being intends and plans on the inside and harvests the results on the outside, so they describe the inner and outer movement of every human being. Both terms reflect the essence of the word 'naws' (movement). These were the two famous views about the etymology of the Arabic word 'naas'. Therefore, 'naas' cannot apply to jinn lexically, and the correct meaning of verse (114:5) is: 'From the evil of the whisperer who whispers evil into the hearts of men, whether he be from among the jinn or from the men themselves.' Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {Who whispers (evil) into the breasts of mankind.} [Quran 114:5] In other words, whispering of evil is done by devils from among jinn as well as by devils from among men and the prayer in this Soorah has been taught to seek refuge from the evil of both. This meaning is supported by the Quran as well as by the hadeeth. The point is that the word 'an-naas' is used to refer to human beings and does not refer to the jinn; it is incorrect to interpret the word 'mankind' in the verse that reads (what means): {Who whispers (evil) into the breasts of mankind} [Quran 114:5] as to refer to both people and jinn, which is clearly established.

It may be said that there is no problem in using the term 'an-naas' to refer to the jinn since Allaah used the word 'rijaal' (men) to refer to the Jinn in the verse that reads (what means): {And there were men from mankind who sought refuge in men from the jinn, so they (only) increased them in burden} [Quran 72:6]. Allaah used the word men to refer to the jinn and therefore it may be argued that the word 'naas' can be used to refer to the jinn as well. In refutation to this argument, it can fairly be said that this was the very reason why those who adopted the view suggesting that the word 'naas' is used to refer to both mankind and jinn were misled; in fact, the Arabic word 'rijaal' (men) used in the previous verse to refer to the jinn is merely for the sake of parallelism; it is a confined reference in parallel with the reference to 'men form mankind'. This does not mean that the words 'rijaal' and 'naas' are generally used to refer to the jinn as a general rule. If it is said, 'a man made of stone or wood' or the like, then this does not mean that any given stone or wood can be referred to with the word 'rajul' (man) or 'insaan' (human being). Similarly, even if the term ‘man’ may be used to refer to the jinn, this does not mean that the term jinn can be used to refer to people as a general rule. This is because the terms 'naas' and 'jinn' are used as antonyms in the Quran. For instance, Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {O company of jinn and mankind...} [Quran 55:33] There are many similar examples in the Quran as well; Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {From among the jinn and mankind.} [Quran 114:6] This entails that the two terms are of an antonymous nature; it cannot be said ‘the jinn and men’ as an equivalent to ‘jinn and naas.’ Hence, the verse is the clearest supportive evidence for their argument that the term 'naas' cannot be used to refer to the jinn because they were used as antonyms, and thus it is known that neither of the terms can be used to refer to the other.” [End of quote]

Allaah knows best.