Jinn: Difference between revisions

Jinn (جن‎ ǧinn, singular جني ǧinnī ; variant spelling djinn) or, as Romanized more broadly, genies^[1] are said to be supernatural creatures that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Belief in jinn was common in pre-Islamic Arabia, where they were thought to inspire poets and soothsayers.^[2] Their existence is confirmed in Islam as they are mentioned in the Qur'an, hadith, other Islamic texts and Arab folklore. The Jinn are believed to exist in many sub-species themselves, with some living in the air, others as humans on land, and some like "snakes and dogs".^[3] Together, the various jinns, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Like human beings, the jinn can also be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent.^[4]

Islamic beliefs

The jinn are mentioned frequently in the Qur'an. There is a surah titled Sūrat al-Jinn (the 72^nd chapter of the Qur'an), and verse 67:5 discusses the stars from the "lowest heaven" which are used as missiles against any mischievous jinn that attempts to eavesdrop on conversations between angels.^[5]

In Islamic theology jinn were created from smokeless fire by Allah as humans were made of clay.^[6] According to the Qur'an, a jinn named ʾIblīs refused to bow to Adam when Allah ordered angels and jinn to do so. For disobeying Allah, he was expelled from Paradise and called "Šayṭān" (Satan). The Qur'an also mentions that Prophet Muhammad was sent as a prophet to both "humanity and the jinn," and that prophets and messengers were sent to both communities.^[7][8] In Surah al-Jinn, the Qur'an describes a contingent of jinn being sent by Allah to Muhammad to hear and then convey his message to other jinns.

The Qur'an also describes Sulayman (Solomon) has having had an army of jinn that god had made subservient to him.

Jinn are usually invisible to humans, and humans do not appear clearly to them. Frequenting toilets,^[9] they feed on faeces and bones,^[10] have the power to travel large distances at extreme speeds and are thought to live in remote areas, mountains, seas, trees, and the air. Like humans: jinn can also choose to become Muslims, will be judged on the Day of Judgment, and will accordingly be sent to Paradise or Hell.^[11]

Scholars' views

While many Islamic scholars today reject the possibility of jinn possession, there is classical precedent for belief in jinn's ability to possess and interact with human beings in this and numerous other ways. Most famously, Ibn Taymiyyah (a famous 'proto-Salafist' movement scholar who taught other influential figures including Ibn Kathir) was a proponent of this view in his Essay on the jinn (Ibn Taymiyyah also claimed to know and to have mastered the "poetry of the jinn").

All qualities and behaviours of the jinn other than possession and certain types of interactions with humans, however, are agreed upon (such as those stated above), as they are stated in explicit terms in Islamic scriptures.

Cultural presence

In the Muslim world

Belief in jinn and some form of black magic and jinn-human communion is an inextricable part of Islamic doctrine, however the details of jinns' interaction with human beings is less explicitly formulated in Islamic scripture. Still, belief in jinns' ability to: engage in specific black magic contracts with human witches and warlocks, possess human bodies, fall in love with human beings, rape human beings, haunt houses, etc. is wide-spread in the Muslim world. Many Muslim-majority countries have laws explicitly outlawing the practice of black magic as well as black-magic squads employed by the state to hunt down alleged sorcerers. Exorcism (Ruqya as conducted by Raqis, or exorcists) as a cure for jinn-possession is also extremely commonplace in the Muslim world and in many places constitutes a multi-million dollar industry. Exorcists are infamous for abusing their patients under the guise of exorcising jinns.

In the West

In many modern cultures, a Genie is portrayed as a magical being that grants wishes. The earliest of such jinn stories in folklore originate in the book of the One Thousand and One Nights^[12], but the idea of jinns granting magical acts through black magic to sorcerers was a well-established in pre-Islamic Arabia (and Islam confirmed this).

Supposed jinn possessions and exorcisms have been recorded in the UK in the 21st century^[13] as have services to remove jinn (among other Islamic superstitions such as Evil Eye affliction, Envy, and Black Magic).^[14]

Relevant Quotations

Qur'an

Creation

The Jinn are described in the Qur'an as having been made of a smokeless flame:

Which were created before humans:

And are made up of communities/nations like humans:

Dr Amira El-Zein discusses some classical Islamic views on these nations:

The Jinn interacting with humans

The first part of Surah al-Jinn discusses the activities and thoughts of a group of Jinn who encountered Muhammad:

(Interestingly verse 8 onwards uncharacteristically seems to swap to the jinn's perspective without explanation,^[15] contradicting the idea that the Quran is solely the word of God; the section in brackets on verse 8 below is added entirely by the translator Pickthall, which is why most official translations do not have this - as you can see following the link to quranx).

The interaction between men and jinn is further stressed here:

Both jinn and mankind can be lead astray:

Prophets are sent to both humans and jinn:

Jinn are aware of at least some previous revelations given to and used by humans (mentioning Moses), and spread the word to warn other jinn:

Ibn Taymiyyah believes this confirms that Muhammad and the Quran is for both mankind and jinn^[16]:

And some scholars believe like Muslim jinn today there have been Jewish jinn in the past:

It is unclear how rules around e.g. circumcision and eating halal/kosher are followed or if they are at all relevant.

The jinn can create buildings/structures and transport people to far locations instantly:

The Qur'an states that Sulayman (Solomon) had control over an army and workforce comprised of jinns and animals, among others:

The Qur'an describes a jinn from Sulayman's forces delivering to Sulayman, in the blink of an eye, the throne of the Queen of Sheba:

Romantic and sexual relations

The verses describing the virgin women of heaven claim they will not be touched by either humans or jinn:

With the implication being according to many scholars that it is possible for them to have intercourse with humans, such as in classical tasfirs, and rulings from shaykhs. And many ruling that jinn can technically perform marriages with humans, but it is not lawful.^{[17] [18] [19]}

Wriggling

Moses's staff is said to wriggle like a jinn (tahtazzu ka-annahā jānnun) during a miraculous transformation, which as Nicolai Sinai notes, may point to an affinity between the jinn and snakes (as found with shaytan and in the hadith), or due to jinn's particular rapidity and suddenness of movement.^[20]

Satan

The Qur'an describes Satan (Iblis) as having been of the Jinn:

The Qur'an says that Satan has a team of invisible entities spying over mankind. In the eyes of exegetes, these are the Jinn:

While some classical Islamic scholars differentiated between the "shayateen" (plural of Satan, or Shaytan, and translatable as "demons") and the jinn, most simply understood the shayateen to be the group of jinn who committed themselves to serving Shaytan (the head evil Jinn) or who engaged in evil black magic contracts with people. The Qur'an describes such demons as having helped propagate the secrets of black magic that had been revealed to the people of Babylon by two angels:

Blocked from reaching upper skies/heavens by stars/meteors

The rebellious jinn, referred to as satans, are blocked from reaching the 'Exalted Assembly' (listed in secondary Islamic literature as a group of angels with special knowledge) who they would steal information from. Stars with clear flames are thrown at them by the guardian angels, with the author seemingly conflating stars and meteors (see: Scientific Errors in the Quran#Meteors as stars fired at devils):

Madness and Possession

Pre-Islamic Arab beliefs supported the claim of jinn possession:

The devil's (a jinn) touch making one mad has been interpreted by many classical commentators to confirm jinn possession as a cause or the cause of madness:

A much longer list of scholars citing the Islamic evidence for jinn possession, including the hadith, can be found via this Salafi website (Salafi Research Institute) webpage - Evidences for Jinn Possession.

Tampers with revelations

This possession may be related to how Satan interjects into revelations as mentioned in the Qur'an. These verses have traditionally been linked to the famous Satanic verses by classical Qur'anic commentators.^[21]

Making people forgetful

Satan causes Moses to forget something.

Hadith

Bones and animal dung are food for jinn's:

Jinn frequently visit toilets:

Jinn snatch items away at night as well as children:

Jinns listen to the Qur'an - though this is bizarrely told to the prophet by a tree:

Satan, who is believed to be a jinn, causes yawning:

Urinates in people's ears causing oversleeping:

And sometimes hides in people's noses during the night, which can (seemingly) be gotten rid off by cleaning it:

Shapeshifts into black dogs:

This lead to Muhammad even supposedly ordering the killing of black dogs for this reason:

Jinn's take the form of snakes, so give them three days warning in case they are devils who will not heed it:

Satan can appear with fire to burn you, but are repelled by certain prayers:

God also gave power to Muhammad to seize jinn, who originally intended to tie one to a mosque pillar, but thought otherwise after thinking of Suliman (Solomon):

We are given confirmation of the jinn from listening to 'the exalted assembly' of angels and stealing information, getting attacked with shooting stars, and often embellishing it with lies before passing the information on:

And in:

External Links

• Jinn & Mental Health - YouTube Video

References