What does it mean to ‘drive out the jinn’?

During a Friday sermon, Hazrat Amirul Momineen^aa said:

“The Holy Prophet^sa gave a stick to Hazrat Qatadah^ra bin al-Nu‘man and said, ‘Use this stick to beat and drive out the jinn from your house.’”

Huzoor^aa was requested for further elaboration on this incident. Huzoor^aa, in his letter dated 29 August 2019, further elucidated the matter and gave the following reply:

“This particular hadith of the Holy Prophet^sa and other such ahadith, in which incidents are mentioned where light became visible to the Holy Prophet^sa or his Companions, are in fact part of the miracles of the Holy Prophet^sa. Allah the Exalted has shown similar miracles in every era to prove the truthfulness of His prophets. We find such incidents in the lives of the prophets before the Holy Prophet^sa and Allah the Exalted has also manifested several such incidents to prove the truthfulness of the Promised Messiah^as, the most ardent servant of the Holy Prophet^sa.

“As for the beating of jinns or Satan with a stick mentioned in this hadith, it would be utterly absurd to infer from this that jinns can enter the physical human body and that they can be exorcised from it by beating them in that manner.

“In this hadith, jinn refers to a thief or a harmful animal that had sneaked into the house of Hazrat Qatadah^ra bin al-Nu‘man by taking advantage of the darkness of night. As it is the practice of Allah the Exalted that He grants His prophets the knowledge of the unknown in an extraordinary manner, on that occasion, Allah the Exalted had also informed the Holy Prophet^sa beforehand that a thief or a harmful animal had been hiding in Qatadah^ra bin al-Nu‘man’s house. Therefore, the Holy Prophet^sa informed him about the threat and instructed him to beat and drive away the thief or the animal with his stick once he arrives at his house.

“Similarly, other books elaborate on this incident that, when Hazrat Qatadah^ra bin al-Nu‘man arrived at his house, his family members were all asleep and a hedgehog was hiding in a corner of the house, which he hit with his stick to chase away.”