•DMT in light of the Qurān & Sunnah•

DMT is a psychedelic drug, said to induce the most power experience a human being can have. It is also found endogenously within most lifeforms on earth, from humans to blades of grass.

Let's see how this odd topic links to Islām!

Let's first understand what DMT really is. N, N-Dimethyltryptamine is a chemical substance found within many plants and animals; it is also a psychoactive drug which is responsible for producing out-of-body experiences. It is a schedule 1/ Class A drug, illegal in most countries.

It has been dubbed the 'Spirit Molecule' by Dr. Rick Strassman, who conducted experiments on DMT during the 1900s, and published a book on this peculiar Molecule.

This drug is far from recreational; it is by nature anti-addictive. It is know to produce life-chaning experiences.

Many explore the drug for spiritual reasons, or out of curiosity due to the to bizzare effects it has on consciousness. Ingesting the drug creates powerful visual & auditory hallucinations which overlay 'base' reality. Taking a large enough dose can temporarily incapacitate one.

DMT can be synthesised in a lab & it can also be extracted from plant material. Many smoke the drug, and other drink it in a brew.

Historically, it has been used (in a brew form called Ayahuasca) by shamans in the amazon to communicate with 'the spirits.'

Almost everyone who takes the drug relates the following experiences:
•It felt more real than 'reality'
•My 'soul' travelled through a 4 dimensional tunnel until I ended up in 'another world'
•My perception of time slowed down to almost a halt
•I met otherworldly entities

•I felt like I 'died'
•These entities were showing me things that are 'impossible'
•It's one of the most 'life-changing' experience I've had
•It was the 'scariest' experience I've ever had
•I now think that 'death isn't the end of consciousness'
•What really is 'the soul'?

Reading these consistent themes in peoples trip-reports is chilling. Namely, the idea that the soul leaves the body, & travels to another world inhabited by other 'entities'. When I first heard this, I began reading up on different DMT research papers- the results were shocking.

Dr Strassman was struck with disbelief when he heard the participants giving their extraterrestrial accounts. They all formed a support group to prevent themselves from losing their minds (due to how impossible their experiences were). Read the below extract for greater context.

Another interesting thing to note- everyone who takes DMT reports the sensation of "dying". And a study conducted at Imperial College London showed that individuals who have had Near Death Experiences were able to identify DMT as the 'trigger for what they know to be death.'

Dr Strassman theorised that DMT is naturally produced in high quantities by the brain at two occasions- during sleep & at death.

As a Muslim, this was very interesting because of the following:

•"Sleep is the brother of death." {al-Mu’jam al-Awsaṭ 938- Grade Sahīh}

•He is the One Who calls back your souls by night and knows what you do by day, then revives you daily to complete your appointed term. To Him is your ˹ultimate˺ return, then He will inform you of what you used to do. {6:60}

•“It is Allah Who takes away the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep. He keeps those (souls) for which He has ordained death and sends the rest for a term appointed. Verily, in this are signs for a people who think deeply” {39:42}

We know in Islām that the soul leaves the body at death and during sleep.

DMT is so interesting from an Islamic p.o.v. because there is a link between it and the authentic traditions. The question is, what is the DMT experience then?

Before I proceed, I'll start by mentioning that this is a matter of Al-Ghayb, the unseen world.

They ask you ˹O Prophet˺ about the soul. Say, “Its nature is known only to my Lord, and you ˹O humanity˺ have been given but little knowledge.” {17:85}

We have almost no knowledge.

Anything anyone says other than what Allāh has taught us is therefore speculation.

The research on DMT, at this point in time, seems to suggest that the pineal gland in the brain releases DMT during death and REM sleep. These are the moments the soul leaves the body...

Therefore, DMT has a proportional relationship with the soul. However, both of these events are natural; Allāh takes the souls during sleep and at death. So what are people experiencing when they smoke or ingest large amounts of DMT?

My conclusion is: it is Sīhr, or magic.

Magic is when a human interacts with Shayatīn (devils) from the Jinn species. They do so with the intention of performing 'super-human' feats. The Shaytan will use the magician, and in turn, it will perform a favour for the magician; this is how magic is traditionally seen.

There are many disgusting methods involved in contacting Jinn (sīhr). Each is very different. I believe that the entities that people meet on their journeys with DMT are nothing less than Jinns: by taking the drug, you are forcing your consciousness into their realm.

The 'DMT world' is just the Jinn-realm. This seems to be the most rational conclusion. Wallāhu A'lam.

I am no scholar or student of knowledge, but the following is clear to me.

DMT is haram as: it is an intoxicating drug, and it is also very likely to be a form of magic.

The question stands, is DMT kufr? Magic is a nullifier of Islām where there is some dispute on, and I cannot therefore answer definitively.

Here, the scholars split magic into two types: one done through ruqa'a, and the other through herbs (ayahuasca fits the latter definition).

If you would like to learn more about the scientific links between DMT & the Qurān, then check out this amazing thread by my dear brother Omar @MidbellSoul, who is far more knowledge than me on the science of it all! https://twitter.com/MidbellSoul/status/1144021240203501568?s=19

I hope you have learned something from this. Anything correct I have said is from Allāh, and anything incorrect is from myself and shaytān.

Ultimately, I stress that only Allāh know the unseen, and we can only guess and speculate.

Jazakallāhu Khairan for reading!