Jinn

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. They are mentioned in the Qur'an, hadith, other Islamic texts and Arab folklore. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Like human beings, the Jinn can also be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent.^[2]

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.^[3]

In Islamic theology jinn were created from smokeless fire by Allah as humans were made of clay.^[4] 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.^[5][6] 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

Jinn are usually invisible to humans, and humans do not appear clearly to them. Frequenting toilets,^[7] they feed on feces and bones,^[8] 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.^[9]

Cultural presence

In the Muslim world

Belief in Jinn and some form of black magic 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 detailed 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.

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 numerous other ways. Most famously, Ibn Taymiyya was a proponent of this view in his Essay on the Jinn (Ibn Taymiyyah also claimed to know and have mastered the "poetry of the Jinn").

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^[10], 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).

Relevant Quotations

See Also

• Genies - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Genies

External Links

• Jinn: According to Quran and Sunnah - Muslim website

References