Jinn

Lore & Background

The exact origins of belief in jinn are not entirely clear. Belief in jinn in pre-Islamic Arab religion is attested not only by the Quran, but also by pre-Islamic Arabic poetry. Some scholars of the Middle East hold that they originated as malevolent spirits residing in deserts and unclean places, who often took the forms of animals; others hold that they were originally pagan nature deities who gradually became marginalized as other deities took greater importance. Many ancient deities may have developed from jinn, while others represent degraded gods. Joseph Chelhod connects the jinn to ancient Middle Eastern dualistic beliefs, according to which heaven and earth represent the polar opposites of order and chaos respectively. The high god El (or Allah) represents the source of the holy celestial abode, while the jinn are the chthonic powers of the lower world. The jinn continuously rise to the sky in an attempt to obtain divinity. The belief that angels are daughters born from a union between Allah and jinn would derive from the assumption of a union between the heavenly and earthly forces, which are then represented in the intermediate world in the form of stars.

In Their Own Story

Jinn were already worshipped by many Arabs in pre-Islamic Arabia. Julius Wellhausen observed that jinn were often thought to 'inhabit or haunt desolate, dark and dingy places in the desert.' For that reason, they were held responsible for various diseases and mental illnesses. Emilie Savage-Smith asserts that malicious jinn and good gods were distinct in pre-Islamic Arabia, but admits that such distinction is not absolute. In the regions north to the Hejaz, Palmyra and Baalbek, the terms jinni and ilah (deity) were often used interchangeably. Muqatil ibn Sulayman attributes the origin of the practice of jinn-veneration to the Banu Hanifa. When travelling through the wilderness and the sun sets, they sought refuge among the spirits of the place: 'The first who sought refuge among the jinn were people from Yemen, from the Banu Hanifa tribe. Afterwards, this [practice] spread to the rest of the Arabs. When a man during the era of Jahiliyyah traveled the lands and realized the evening sets over the desert, he would say, "I seek refuge in the master of this valley from the impudent ones," so he would spend the night safely in their vicinity until morning.'

Reader's Guide

While they are naturally invisible, jinn are supposed to be composed of thin and subtle bodies (أَجْسَام, ajsām) and are capable of shapeshifting, usually choosing to appear as snakes, but also as scorpions, lizards, or humans. A jinni's interaction with a human may be negative, positive, or neutral, and can range from casual to highly intimate, even involving sexual activity and the production of hybrid offspring. However, they rarely meddle in human affairs, preferring instead to live among their own in a societal arrangement similar to that of the Arabian tribes. Upon being disturbed or harmed by humans, they usually retaliate in kind, with the most drastic interactions leading them to possess the assailant's body, thus requiring exorcism. Individual jinn appear on charms and talismans. They are called upon for protection or magical aid, often under the leadership of a king. Many people who believe in jinn wear amulets to protect themselves against their assaults, as they may be called upon by sorcerers and witches to cause harm. A commonly held belief is that jinn cannot hurt someone who wears something with a name of God written on it.

Did You Know?

• The word jinn derives from the Semitic root jnn, whose primary meaning is 'to hide' or 'to adapt'.
• The anglicized form 'genie' is a borrowing of the French génie, from the Latin genius, first appearing in 18th century translations of the Thousand and One Nights.
• The Arabian poet al-A'sha (d. after 3/625) claimed his inspiration came from a befriended jinni named Misḥal, whom he called his 'jinni-brother'.
• According to common Arabian belief, pre-Islamic soothsayers, philosophers, and poets were inspired by the jinn.
• The Quran condemns the pre-Islamic Arabian practice of worshipping or seeking protection from jinn.