View source for Religion:Jinn

{{Short description|Invisible beings in Arabic culture}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name             = Jinn
|AKA              = 
|image            = Shah Namah, the Persian Epic of the Kings Wellcome L0035191.jpg
|image_size       = <!-- Image size in pixels; do not use with image_upright -->
|image_upright    = <!-- Image size scale factor; do not use with image_size -->
|caption          = Jinn gather to do battle with the hero Faramarz. Illustration in an [[Engineering:Illuminated manuscript|illuminated manuscript]] of the Iranian epic Shahnameh
|Folklore         = Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia, Islamic folklore
|Grouping         = [[Social:Legendary creature|Mythical creature]]
|Sub_Grouping     = 
|Family           = <!-- Attested family members, if applicable -->
|Country          = 
|Region           = <!-- Region of origin -->
|Details          = <!-- Any additional details -->
|First_Attested   = <!-- First attestation (in other words, source) -->
|Similar_entities = <!-- Entities described as similar -->
}}

'''Jinn''' ({{lang-ar|{{Script|Arab|جِنّ}}}}, ''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|jinn}}'') – also [[Social:Romanization of Arabic|romanized]] as '''djinn''' or [[Social:Anglicisation (linguistics)|anglicized]] as '''genies''' – are [[Physics:Invisibility|invisible]] creatures in early religion in pre-Islamic Arabia and later in Islamic culture and beliefs.<ref name=asSamarqandi-on-alFiqh>{{cite book
 |first=Abu l-Lait |last=as-Samarqandi
 |section=Abu l-Lait as-Samarqandi's commentary on Abu Hanifa al-Fiqh al-absat: Introduction, text, and commentary
 |title=Islamic Concept of Belief in the 4th/10th Century
 |journal=Studia Culturae Islamicae
 |issn=1340-5306
 |editor= Hans Daiber
 |page=243
}}
</ref>
Like humans, they are accountable for their deeds and can be either believers ([[Religion:Muslims|Muslims]]) or disbelievers (''[[Religion:Kafir|kafir]]''), depending on whether they accept [[Religion:God in Islam|God]]'s guidance. Since jinn are neither innately evil nor innately good, Islam acknowledged spirits from other religions and was able to adapt them during its expansion. Jinn are not a strictly Islamic concept; they may represent several pagan beliefs integrated into Islam.<ref name=McAuliffe-2005-EncQrn/>{{efn|
''From'' T. Nünlist (2015) ''Dämonenglaube im Islam''<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|p=2}}<br />
'''{{sc|Translation:}}''' {{in lang|en}}<br />
"M. Dols points out that jinn-belief is not a strictly Islamic concept. It rather includes countless elements of idol-worship, as Muhammad's enemies practised in Mecca during ''jahilliya''. According to F. Meier early Islam integrated many pagan deities into its system by degrading them to spirits. 1. In Islam, the existence of spirits that are neither angels nor necessarily devils is acknowledged. 2. Thereby Islam is able to incorporate non-biblical[,] non-Quranic ideas about mythic images, that means: a. degrading deities to spirits and therefore taking into the spiritual world. b. taking daemons, not mentioned in the sacred traditions of Islam, of uncertain origin. c. consideration of spirits to tolerate or advising to regulate them."<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=2}}
<br />
'''{{sc|Original:}}''' {{in lang|de}}<br />
"M. Dols macht darauf aufmerksam, dass der Ginn-Glaube kein strikt islamisches Konzept ist. Er beinhaltet vielmehr zahllose Elemente einer Götzenverehrung, wie sie Muhammads Gegner zur Zeit der ''gahiliyya'' in Mekka praktizierten. Gemäß F. Meier integrierte der junge Islam bei seiner raschen Expansion viele heidnische Gottheiten in sein System, indem er sie zu Dämonen degradierte. 1. Im Islam wird die Existenz von Geistern, die weder Engel noch unbedingt Teufel sein müssen, anerkannt. 2. Damit besitzt der Islam die Möglichkeit, nicht-biblische[,] nicht koranische Vorstellungen von mythischen Vorstellungen sich einzuverleiben, d.h.: a. Götter zu Geistern zu erniedrigen und so ins islamische Geisterreich aufzunehmen. b. in der heiligen Überlieferung des Islams nicht eigens genannte Dämonen beliebiger Herkunft zu übernehmen. c. eine Berücksichtigung der Geister zu dulden oder gar zu empfehlen und sie zu regeln."<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=2}}<ref name=McAuliffe-2005-EncQrn/>
}} To assert a strict [[Philosophy:Monotheism|monotheism]] and the Islamic concept of ''[[Religion:Tawhid|tawhid]]'' (oneness of God), Islam denies all affinities between the jinn and God, thus placing the jinn parallel to humans, also subject to God's judgment and afterlife. The Quran condemns the pre-Islamic Arabian practice of worshipping or seeking protection from them.<ref>South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia. (2020). Vereinigtes Königreich: Taylor & Francis. p.</ref>

Although generally invisible, jinn are supposed to be composed of thin and subtle bodies ({{lang-ar|أَجْسَام|translit=ʾajsām}}), and can [[Unsolved:Shapeshifting|change]] at will. They favour a [[Biology:Snake|snake]] form, but can also choose to appear as scorpions, [[Biology:Lizard|lizard]]s, or as humans. They may even engage in sexual affairs with humans and produce offspring. If they are injured by someone, they usually seek revenge or possess the assailant's body, refusing to leave it until forced to do so by [[Unsolved:Exorcism|exorcism]]. Jinn do not usually meddle in human affairs, preferring to live with their own kind in tribes similar to those of pre-Islamic Arabia.

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 the assaults of jinn, sent out by sorcerers and witches. A commonly-held belief maintains that jinn cannot hurt someone who wears something with the name of [[Religion:God in Islam|God]] written upon it. While some Muslim scholars in the past had ambivalent attitudes towards jinn, contemporary Muslim scholarship increasingly associate jinn with idolatry.

==Etymology and translation==
[[Image:Blessing genie Dur Sharrukin.jpg|thumb|upright|The winged genie in the [[Religion:Bucket and cone|bucket and cone]] motif, depicting a demi-divine entity,<ref name=Fee-Webb-2016>
{{cite book
 |last2=Webb |first2=Jeffrey B.
 |date=29 August 2016
 |title=American Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales: An encyclopedia of American folklore
 |publisher=ABC-CLIO
 |isbn=978-1-610-69568-8
 |page=527
}}
</ref> probably a forerunner of the pre-Islamic tutelary deities, who became the jinn in Islam. Relief from the north wall of the Palace of king Sargon II at Dur Sharrukin, 713–716&nbsp;BCE.]]
''Jinn'' is an Arabic collective noun deriving from the Semitic root {{sc|jnn}} ({{lang-ar|جَنّ / جُنّ}}, ''jann''), whose primary meaning is 'to hide' or 'to adapt'. Some authors interpret the word to mean, literally, 'beings that are concealed from the senses'.<ref>{{cite web |title=An Arabic-English Lexicon |author=Lane, Edward William |url=http://www.tyndalearchive.com/tabs/lane/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408021742/http://www.tyndalearchive.com/tabs/lane/ |archive-date= 8 April 2015 }}. p. 462.</ref> Cognates include the Arabic ''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|majnūn}}'' ({{lang|ar|مَجْنُون}}, 'possessed' or, generally, 'insane'), ''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|[[Religion:Jannah|jannah]]}}'' ({{lang|ar|جَنَّة}}, 'garden', 'eden' or 'heaven'), and ''{{transliteration|ar|ALA|janīn}}'' ({{lang|ar|جَنِين}}, 'embryo').<ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic |last=Wehr |first=Hans |year=1994 |edition=4 |publisher=Spoken Language Services |location=Urbana, Illinois |isbn=978-0-87950-003-0 |page=164|title-link=Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic }}</ref> ''Jinn'' is properly treated as a plural (however in [[Social:Classical Arabic|Classical Arabic]], may also appear as ''jānn'', {{lang-ar|جَانّ|label=none}}), with the singular being ''jinnī'' ({{lang-ar|جِنِّيّ|label=none}}).{{Efn|sometimes Arabs use Jānn ({{lang-ar|جان}}) term for singular, jānn also referred to jinn world – another plural, snakes / serpents and [[Religion:Jann (legendary creature)|another type of jinn]]}}

The origin of the word ''jinn'' remains uncertain.<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=22}} Some scholars relate the Arabic term ''jinn'' to the [[Social:Latin|Latin]] ''genius'' – a guardian spirit of people and places in Roman religion – as a result of syncretism during the reign of the Roman empire under Tiberius and Augustus;<ref name=elZein-2009/>{{rp|style=ama|p=38}} however, this derivation is also disputed.<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=25}} Supporters argue that both Roman genii as well as Arabian jinn are considered to be lesser deities inhabiting local sanctuaries, trees or springs, and persons or families.<ref name="Abu-Hamdiyyah, Muhammad 2020">Abu-Hamdiyyah, Muhammad. The Qur'an: an introduction. Routledge, 2020.</ref> Aramaic ''ginnaya'' ({{lang-syc|ܓܢܝܐ}}) with the meaning of 'tutelary deity'<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=24}} or 'guardian' are attributed to similar functions and are another possible origin of the term ''jinn''.

Another suggestion holds that the word is of [[Social:Persian language|Persian]] origin and appeared in the form of the Avestic ''Jaini'', a wicked (female) spirit. Jaini were among various creatures in the possibly even pre-Zoroastrian mythology of peoples of Iran.<ref>Tisdall, W. St. Clair. The Original Sources of the Qur'an, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, 1905</ref><ref>The Religion of the Crescent or Islam: Its Strength, Its Weakness, Its Origin, Its Influence, William St. Clair Tisdall, 1895</ref> Wensick advocates a purely Arabic origin of the term, asserting that according to the common Semitic view psychic and bodily affections are caused by spirits. An object reacting upon such an affect would be an incarnation of said spirit. Since these spirits are covered from the sight of humans, they would have been called jinn.<ref name="MagicAndDivination-2021"/>{{rp|p=45}}

The anglicized form ''genie'' is a borrowing of the French ''{{lang|fr|génie}}'', also from the Latin ''genius''. It first appeared<ref name=oed>{{cite encyclopedia |dictionary=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=3rd |title="genie, ''n''." |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=Oxford, UK |year=2014}}</ref> in 18th-century translations of the ''Thousand and One Nights'' from the French,<ref>{{cite book |year=1706 |title=Arabian Nights' entertainments |volume=I |page=14}}</ref> where it had been used owing to its rough similarity in sound and sense and further applies to benevolent intermediary spirits, in contrast to the malevolent spirits called '[[Unsolved:Demon|demon]]' and 'heavenly angels', in literature.<ref>John L. Mckenzie (1995) ''The Dictionary Of The Bible'' Simon and Schuster {{ISBN|978-0-684-81913-6}} p. 192</ref> In Assyrian art, creatures [[Philosophy:Ontology|ontologically]] between humans and divinities are also called ''genie''.<ref>Mehmet-Ali Ataç (2010) ''The Mythology of Kingship in Neo-Assyrian Art'' Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|978-0-521-51790-4}} p. 36</ref>

Though not a precise fit, descriptive analogies that have been used for these beings in Western thought include ''demon'', ''spirit'' and ''fairy'', depending on source.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 |title=jinn – definition of ''jinn'' in English
 |dictionary=Oxford Dictionaries
 |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/jinn
 |access-date=27 August 2017
 |archive-date=3 April 2019
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403193038/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/jinn
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref><ref name="Nünlist-2015">
{{cite book
 |last=Nünlist |first=Tobias
 |year=2015
 |title=Dämonenglaube im Islam
 |trans-title=Demonic Belief in Islam
 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
 |isbn=978-3-110-33168-4
 |language=de
}}
</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=22}} In turn, the Arabic translation for the Greek [[Unsolved:Nymph|Nymph]] ('''arūsa'') is also used for jinn by Middle Eastern sources.<ref name="MagicAndDivination-2021"/>{{rp|p=43}} Although the term ''spirit'' is frequently used, it has been criticised for not capturing the corporeal nature of the jinn, and that the term ''genie'' should be used instead.<ref>Haring, Lee. "Africa and the Disciplines: The Contributions of Research in Africa to the Social Sciences and Humanities." (1995): 122-124.</ref>

== Pre-Islamic era ==
[[File:Sinai Desert Cobra.jpg|thumb|A [[Biology:Walterinnesia aegyptia|Sinai desert cobra]]. Snakes are the animals most frequently associated with jinn. Black snakes are commonly believed to be evil jinn, whereas white snakes are held to be benign (Muslim) jinn.<ref>Amira El Zein: The Evolution of the Concept of Jinn from Pre-Islam to Islam'. p. 260</ref>]]
The exact origins of belief in jinn are not entirely clear.<ref name="Lebling–2010"><br/>
{{cite book
 |last=Lebling  |first=Robert
 |date=2010
 |title=Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and genies from Arabia to Zanzibar
 |publisher=I.B. Tauris
 |place=New York, NY & London, UK
 |isbn=978-0-85773-063-3
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qKL3AgAAQBAJ&q=ancient+Mesopotamian+genii+and+Islamic+jinn
}}
</ref>{{rp|style=ama|pages= 1–10}} Belief in jinn in the pre-Islamic Arab religion is testified not only by the Quran, but also by pre-Islamic literature in the seventh century.<ref name="HistMuh-2016">{{cite book |last= Zeitlin |first= I. M.|date= 2007|title= The Historical Muhammad|url= |location= United Kingdom|publisher= Wiley|page= |isbn=978-0-745-63998-7}}</ref>{{rp|p=54}} 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;<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 1–10}} others hold that they were originally pagan nature deities who gradually became marginalized as other deities took greater importance.<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=ama|pages= 1–10}}

=== Fear and veneration ===
Jinn were already worshipped by many Arabs during the Pre-Islamic period.<ref name=elZein-2009><br/>
{{cite book
 |last=el-Zein  |first=Amira
 |year=2009
 |title=Islam, Arabs, and Intelligent World of the Jinn
 |publisher=Syracuse University Press
 |place=Syracuse, NY
 |isbn=978-0-8156-5070-6
}}
</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p= 34}}<ref name="HistMuh-2016"/>{{rp|p=54}}  Julius Wellhausen observed that jinn were often thought to "inhabit or haunt desolate, dark and dingy places in the desert".<ref name="Zeitlin59">
{{cite book
 |first=Irving M. |last=Zeitlin
 |date=19 March 2007
 |title=The Historical Muhammad
 |publisher=Polity
 |isbn=978-0-7456-3999-4
 |pages=59–60
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v_seJ21M0UoC&pg=PT59
}}
</ref> For that reason, they were held responsible for various diseases and mental illnesses.<ref name=elZein-2009/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 122}}<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=ama|pages= 1–10}} [[Biography:Emilie Savage-Smith|Emilie Savage-Smith]], asserts that malicious jinn and good gods were distinct in pre-Islamic Arabia, but admits that such distinction is not absolute.<ref name="MagicAndDivination-2021">Magic and Divination in Early Islam. (2021). Vereinigtes Königreich: Taylor & Francis.</ref>{{rp|p=39}} In the regions north to the [[Place:Hejaz|Hejaz]], Palmyra and [[Place:Baalbek|Baalbek]], the terms ''jinni'' and ''ilah'' (deity) were often used interchangeably.<ref>ʻAẓmah, ʻ. (2014). The Emergence of Islam in Late Antiquity: Allah and His People. Vereinigtes Königreich: Cambridge University Press. p. 293</ref> Julius Wellhausen likewise agrees that in pre-Islamic Arabia it was assumed there are at least some friendly and helpful beings among the jinn. He distinguishes between a god and a jinni, not on the basis of morality, but on the basis of worship; the jinn are worshipped in private while the gods are worshipped in public.<ref name="MagicAndDivination-2021"/>{{rp|p=39}}

Al-Jahiz credits the pre-Islamic Arabs with believing that the society of jinn constitutes several tribes and groups, analogous to pre-Islamic Arabian culture. Jinn could also protect, marry, kidnap, possess, and kill people.<ref>
{{cite web
 |title=cin
 |website=TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi
 |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/cin
}}
</ref><ref name=Aloiane-1996/>{{rp|style=ama|page= 424}} Despite being invisible, jinn are considered to have bodies (''ajsām''), as described by Zakariya al-Qazwini, they are among animals, along with humans, burdened beasts (like horses), [[Biology:Bos|cattles]], wild beasts, birds, and reptiles.<ref>Nasr, S. H. (2013). Islamic Life and Thought. Vereinigtes Königreich: Taylor & Francis.</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=135}} Jinn are further known as shapeshifters, often assuming the form of an animal, favoring the form of a snake. Other chthonic animals regarded as forms of jinn include scorpions and [[Biology:Lizard|lizard]]s. Both scorpions and serpents have been venerated in the [[History:Ancient Near East|ancient Near East]].

When they shift into a human form however, they are said to stay partly animal and are not fully human.<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=164}}<ref name=elZein-2009/>{{rp|style=ama|p=164}} Although the power of jinn usually exceed those of humans, it is conceivable a man could kill a jinni in single combat, but feared for attacking without being seen.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last=Abd-Allah |first=Umar F.
 |year=2002
 |contribution=The Perceptible and the unseen: The Qur'anic conception of man's relationship to God and realities beyond human perception
 |editor-last=Palmer  |editor-first=Spencer J.
 |title=Mormons and Muslims: Spiritual foundations and modern manifestations
 |pages=209–264
 |place=Provo, UT
 |publisher=Brigham Young University
 |department=Religious Studies Center
}}
</ref> Some sources even speak of killed jinn leaving behind a carcass similar to either a serpent or a scorpion.<ref name=elZein-2009/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=91–93}}

=== Poetry and Soothsaying ===
Despite that they were often feared or inspired awe, the jinn were also pictured to befriend humans or have romantic feelings for them. According to common Arabian belief, soothsayers, pre-Islamic philosophers, and poets were inspired by the jinn.<ref name=elZein-2009/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 34}}<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=ama|pages= 1–10}}

The Arabian poet al-Aʿshā (d. after 3/625) is said to got his inspiration for his poetry by a friend named Misḥal ("daʿawtu khalīlī Misḥalan") and further calls him his jinni-brother ("akhī ʾl-jinnī").<ref name="jstor.org">Yosefi, Maxim. “The Origins of the Traditional Approach towards the Jinn of Poetic Inspiration in Tribal Arab Culture.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, vol. 49, 2019, pp. 293–302. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/27014158. Accessed 30 Oct. 2023.</ref> Similarly, the poet Thābit (d. 54/674) who later converted to Islam and became known as "the poet of the prophet", referred to his jinni-friend as his "sharp-sighted brother from the jinn" ("wa-akhī min al-jinn al-baṣīr").<ref name="jstor.org"/> The relationship between jinn and humans can also be romantic in nature. According to one famous Arabian story, the jinni Manzur fell in love with a human woman called Habbah. He is supposed to have taught her the arts of healing.<ref name="AmiraJinn2">Amira El Zein: ''The Evolution of the Concept of Jinn from Pre-Islam to Islam''. pp. 108–109.</ref>
 
The mutual relationship between jinn and humans is different than that of a jinni and a soothsayer (''kāhin''). The soothsayer is presented as someone who is [[Unsolved:Spirit possession|totally controlled]] by the jinni entering. The soothsayer was consulted to reveal hidden information or settle disputes, as it was believed, the jinn speaking through them reveal hidden knowledge.<ref>Ruiz, Manuel. "The conception of authority in pre-Islamic Arabia: its legitimacy and origin." (1971). p. 20</ref>

==Islam==
=== Quran ===
[[Image:Naskh script - Qur'anic verses.jpg|thumb|upright|The 72nd chapter of the Qur'an entitled Al-Jinn (The Jinn), as well as the heading and introductory ''bismillah'' of the next chapter entitled al-Muzzammil (The Enshrouded One)|alt=]]

Jinn are mentioned approximately 29 times in the [[Religion:Quran|Quran]].<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=21}} The Quran does confirm their existence to Muslims, but assumes that the audience is familiar with the subject without elaborating on the jinn in further detail.<ref>Rothenberg, Celia E. Spirits of Palestine: Gender, society, and stories of the jinn. Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. p.245</ref> According to the {{qref|51|56-56|b=y}}, Muhammad was sent as a prophet to both human and jinn communities, and that prophets and messengers were sent to both communities.<ref>{{qref|51|56-56|b=y}}</ref><ref>Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb al-Ṭabarī, ''Tuḥfat al-gharā’ib'', I, p. 68</ref><ref>Abū al-Futūḥ Rāzī, ''Tafsīr-e rawḥ al-jenān va rūḥ al-janān'', pp. 193, 341</ref>

Throughout the Quran humans and jinn (''al-ins wa-l-jinn'') appear frequently as a pair, designating their equal status in regards of their creation and rejecting that jinn share divinity with the Creator.<ref name="Sinai, Nicolai 2023">Sinai, Nicolai. "Key terms of the Qur'an: a critical dictionary." (2023): 1-840.</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=181}}<ref name=Fee-Webb-2016/> The term ''ins'' derives from ''anisa'', which means "to be familiar with", and refers to recognisable familiar human beings. In contrast, the term ''jinn'' refers to foreign, invisible, or unknown anthropomorphic beings, which are nonetheless subject to the same considerations as the former.<ref name="Abu-Hamdiyyah, Muhammad 2020"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=101}} They were both created to worship God ({{qref|51|56}}).<ref name="Medieval-2006"/><ref name="Sinai, Nicolai 2023"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=182}} Because they are supposed to worship God from free will, they are both able for good and evil deeds ({{qref|7|179}}, {{qref|55|56}}).<ref name="Medieval-2006"/><ref name="Sinai, Nicolai 2023"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=182}} They are, like humans, rational beings formed of nations ({{qref|7|38}}).<ref name="Medieval-2006"/><ref name="Sinai, Nicolai 2023"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=182}}

Surah al-jinn is about the revelation to jinn.<ref name=elZein-2009/>{{rp|style=ama|p=64}} The same Surah mentions righteous jinn on one hand, and malicious jinn on the other.<ref name="Sinai, Nicolai 2023"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=181}} The jinn can neither harm nor benefit humans, for they are occupied with looking after themselves and their own place on the cosmos.<ref name="Sinai, Nicolai 2023"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=185}} This is in notable contrast to demons and devils in the [[Religion:Judeo-Christian|Judeo-Christian tradition]].<ref name="Sinai, Nicolai 2023"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=181, 185}} The Quran doesn't condemn the jinn as a source of harm, but by mistaking them for beings deserving cultic veneration.({{qref|72|6}}).<ref name="Medieval-2006">{{cite book |last= Meri|first= Josef|date= 2016|title= Routledge Revivals: Medieval Islamic Civilization (2006) An Encyclopedia - Volume I|url= |location= United Kingdom|publisher= Taylor & Francis.|page= |isbn=978-1-351-66822-4}}</ref><ref name="MagicAndDivination-2021"/>{{rp|p=41}}<ref name="Sinai, Nicolai 2023"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=185}} Jinn and humans are blamed for ascribing divine attributes to another creature (i.e. jinn); jinn to themselves and humans to the jinn.<ref name="MagicAndDivination-2021"/>{{rp|p=41}}<ref name="Abu-Hamdiyyah, Muhammad 2020"/>{{rp|p=102}}

Despite their similarities, there are important differences between these two species recognised. Whereas humans are made from "clay" or "dirt", jinn were created from "smokeless fire" ({{qref|15|27|b=y}}, {{qref|55|15|b=y}}),<ref name="Sinai, Nicolai 2023"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=182}} which is possibly the reason why they are credited with some extraordinary abilities, such as invisibility, transformation, and ascending into the air like devils ({{qref|72|8|b=y}}).<ref name="Sinai, Nicolai 2023"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=182}} Despite some superhuman powers, the jinn occupy no fundamentally different position in the Quran than humans. Like humans, the jinn have no knowledge of the future.<ref name="Sinai, Nicolai 2023"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=182}} Like humanity, jinn face epistemic limitations regarding "the hidden/occult" (''ar-ghayb'') and have to rely on God's messengers, and face [[Unsolved:Eschatology|eschatological]] judgement.<ref name="Sinai, Nicolai 2023"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=182}}<ref>Teuma, Edmund. "The Solomon legend in Muslim tradition." (1987).</ref><ref name="Medieval-2006"/>

=== Exegesis ===
[[File:Royal figure enthroned and surrounded by Jinn of the Earth.png|thumb|Kashan, Iran, late 12th–13th century mina’i-fritware bowl. The scene in this bowl can be understood as depicting the enthroned (Second) Sulaymān with messengers to  either side, crowned human headed winged jinn.<ref>On the Exercise of Coastal Control through 
Observation and Long Distance Communication Systems in Seljuk Territory in the XIIIth 
Century</ref>]]
In [[Religion:Quran|Quran]]ic interpretation, the term ''jinn'' can be used in two different ways:<ref name="ReferenceA">DÜZGÜN, Şaban Ali. "DİNSEL ve MİTOLOJİK YÖNLERİYLE CİN ve ŞEYTAN ALGIMIZ."</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=12}}<ref name="Abu-Hamdiyyah, Muhammad 2020"/>

# a specific invisible being, offspring of ''abu Jann'' considered to be, along with humans, ''thaqalān'' (accountable for their deeds), created out of "fire and air" ({{lang-ar|مَارِجٍ مِن نَّار}}, ''mārijin min nār'').<ref name="Teuma, E. 1984">Teuma, E. (1984). More on Qur'anic jinn. ''Melita Theologica'', 35(1-2), 37-45.</ref> 
# any object that cannot be detected by human sensory organs, including angels, [[Unsolved:Shaitan|devil]]s, and the (spiritual) interior of human beings.<ref name="Teuma, E. 1984"/><ref>Noegel, Scott B. & Wheeler, Brannon M. (2010) ''The A to Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism''. Scarecrow Press {{ISBN|978-1-461-71895-6}} page 170</ref>{{efn|This is, for example, evident from A'sha's saying in mention of Sulayman ibn Dawud; ''and He subjected from the jinn among the angels (min jinni al-mala'iki)"''<ref name="Baydawi-2016">translator: Gibril Fouad Haddad, author: ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar al-Baydawi, 2016, ''The Lights Of Revelation And The Secrets Of Interpretation'', {{isbn|978-0-992-63357-8}}</ref>{{rp|p=546}} Al-Jahiz defines ''jinn'' as various spirits defined by their behaviour; a malicious and wicked ''jinn'' is called a s̲h̲ayṭān, a ''jinn'' lifting a heavy weight and listening at the doors of Heaven is a ''mārid'', a ''jinn'' of great intelligence is called an ''ʿabḳarī'', a ''jinn'' entirely good and pure is an angel.<ref>Fahd, T. and Rippin, A., “S̲h̲ayṭān”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 17 August 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1054>
First published online: 2012
First print edition: {{ISBN|9789004161214}}, 1960-2007</ref>}}

Belief in jinn is not included among the six articles of [[Religion:Iman (concept)#The Six Axioms of Faith|Islamic faith]], as belief in angels is. Nontheless, many Muslim scholars, including the Hanbalī scholar [[Biography:Ibn Taymiyya|ibn Taymiyya]] and the Ẓāhirī scholar ibn Hazm, believe they are essential to the Islamic faith, since they are mentioned in the Quran.<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=33}}<ref name=Cook-2000>{{cite book |last=Cook |first=Michael |year=2000 |title=The Koran: A very short introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-285344-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/koranveryshorti00cook |url-access=registration |pages=[https://archive.org/details/koranveryshorti00cook/page/46 46–47]}}</ref> It is generally accepted by the majority of Muslim scholars that jinn can possess individuals. This is considered to be part of the doctrines (''aqidah'') of the "people of the Sunnah" (''ahl as-sunnah wal-jammah'a'') in the tradition of [[Religion:Ash'ari|Ash'ari]].<ref name="Böttcher–2021">Islam, Migration and Jinn: Spiritual Medicine in Muslim Health Management. (2021). Deutschland: Springer International Publishing.</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p= 68}} The Atharī scholars ibn Taimiyya and ibn Qayyim agree on this matter.<ref name="Böttcher–2021"/> From among the Sunni schools of theology, only the [[Religion:Maturidism|Māturīdīs]] seems to debate possession. Al-Rustughfanī deemed jinn-possession impossible.<ref>Harvey, Ramon. Transcendent God, Rational World: A Maturidi Theology. Edinburgh University Press, 2021.</ref> Al-Māturīdī focuses on the dynamics between jinn and humans based on {{qref|72|6|b=y}}. He states that seeking refuge among the jinn increases fear and anxiety, however, not because of the jinn, but due to the psychological dependence of the individual towards external powers. By that, he refers to seeking refuge among the jinn as a form of ''[[Religion:Shirk (Islam)|širk]]'', due to the reliance on a created thing instead of God.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=23}}

=== Jurisprudence ===
[[File:The Singer Ibrahim and the jinn.jpg|thumb|The Singer Ibrahim and the jinn. Ibrahim has been imprisoned by his master Muhammad al-Amin and visited by a jinn in guise of an old man. The jinn offers him food and drink and is so impressed by Ibrahim's voice that he convinces Muhammad to free him.<ref>Komaroff, Linda, and Stefano Carboni, eds. The legacy of Genghis Khan: courtly art and culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002.</ref>]]
The jinn are obligated to follow the [[Religion:Sharia|divine law]] (''sharīʿa''), as derived from the Quran by [[Religion:Fiqh|Muslim jurists]] (''faqīh''). Thus, the jinn are considered, along with humans, to be ''mukallāf''.

Since both creations must perform the [[Religion:Salah|required prayers]] (''salah''), Muslim jurists debated if one is allowed to perform the prayer behind a jinni. Shibli cites two Hanbalite scholars who regard this as permissible without hesitation. Since Muhammad was sent to jinn and humans, both are ''mukallāf'' and subject to the command to pray.{{efn|''From'' T. Nünlist (2015) ''Dämonenglaube im Islam''<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|p=89}}<br />
'''{{sc|Translation:}}''' {{in lang|en}}<br />
"Islamic jurists have also repeatedly addressed the question of whether the jinn have a religion. Shchibli notes that in this context they had a controversial discussion about whether it was permissible under Sharia law to perform the Muslim ritual prayer (salat) behind a genie. Two Hanbali sources led by Shibli affirm this permissibility without hesitation and justify their point of view by saying that not only the humans (ins) but also the jinn are "mukallaf".<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=2}}
<br />
'''{{sc|Original:}}''' {{in lang|de}}<br />
"Auch die islamischen Rechtsgelehrten haben sich wiederholt mit der Grage beschäftigt, ob die Dschinn eine Religion haben. Shchibli hält fest, dass sie in diesem Zusammenhang kontrovers diskutiert hätten, ob es schariarehtlich zulässig sei, das muslimische Ritualgebet (salat) hinter einem Dschinni zu verrichten. Zweii von Schibli angeführte hanbalitische Gewährsleute bejahen diese Zulässigkeit ohne Zögern und begründen ihren Standpunkt damit, dass nicht nur die Menschen (ins), sondern auch die Dschinn ''mukallaf'' seien."<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=89}}
}}

Because humans and jinn are capable of procreation, Muslim jurists dealt with the issue of permissibility of intercourse between these two types of creatures. Some ''[[Religion:Hadith|Ḥadīths]]'', though considered fabricated (''mawḍūʻ'') by some ''muhaddith (hadith scholars)'', pushed the necessity for an explanation:<ref name=Hidden>{{cite book |last1=Hanegraaff |first1=Wouter J. |last2=Kripal |first2=Jeffrey |title=Hidden intercourse : eros and sexuality in the history of Western esotericism |date=2008 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-474-4358-2 |pages=53–56, 58 |url=https://www.pdfdrive.com/download.pdf?id=156631497&h=01723481c66b5fb7d9f36753045fe0f5&u=cache&ext=pdf |access-date=1 December 2020 |language=en}}</ref>{{blockquote|"The Hour will come when the children of jinn will become many among you."|Suyuti, Laqt al-marjân, 38.<ref name=Hidden/>}} 
{{blockquote|"Among you are those who are expatriated (mugharrabûn);" and 
this, he explained, meant "crossed with jinn."|Suyuti, Laqt al-marjân, 28.<ref name=Hidden/>}}

Although there are recorded cases between human-jinn relationships{{efn|In a study of exorcism culture in the [[Place:Hadhramaut|Hadhramaut]] of Yemen, love was one of the most frequent cited causes of relationships between humans and jinn. Love seems to be the most frequent occasion of contact between men and jinn. A jinni meets a woman and falls in love with her, or vice versa... This possession is manifest notably when the jinni has sexual intercourse with the person he/she possesses. In that case, the individual behaves with gestures and words as if they were having sexual intercourse, although he/she is apparently alone in the room. Besides, this person seems to suddenly lose all interest for his/her environment."<ref name=Hidden/>}} most Muslim jurists agree that such a relationship is not permissible.<ref>Köse S. Ci̇nlerle Evli̇li̇k Konusunda Hanefî Faki̇hi̇ Hâmi̇d El-İmâdî’ni̇n (1103-1171/1692-1758) Teka’ku’u’ş-Şenn Fî Ni̇kâhi̇’l-Ci̇nn Adli Ri̇salesi̇. Journal of Islamic Law Studies. 2010;(15):453-464. Accessed January 25, 2022.</ref> Even those scholars who allowed such relationships, still considered them undesirable (''[[Religion:Makruh|makruh]]'').<ref name=Hidden/> Offspring of human-jinn relationships are nonetheless, usually considered to be gifted and talented people with special abilities.<ref name=Aloiane-1996>{{cite journal |last=Aloiane |first=Z.A. |year=1996 |title=Anthropomorphic representation of evil in Islam and some other traditions – a cross-cultural approach |journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |volume=49 |issue=3 |publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó |pages=423–434 |jstor=43391301}}</ref>

Although conjuring jinn is considered unbelief (''kufr'') by Islamic scholars, most agree that they are capable of performing magic.<ref>Beyaz, Deniz. Türk halk kültüründe Cinler. MS thesis. Kocaeli Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, 2018.</ref>{{Explain|What kind of magic? In the sense of illusion or rather manipulating the strcutures of the universe?date=July 2023|date=July 2023}}

===Folklore===
[[File:Jinn of the Air in Seljuk arts.png|thumb|Examples of the Jinn of the Air depicted on Seljuk 13th century tilework from Kubad Abad.]]
The jinn (also known as: {{lang-sq|Xhindi}}, {{lang-tr|Cin}}, {{lang-ru|Chort}}) were adopted by later Islamic culture, since the Quran affirms their existence.<ref name="Companion-2021">The Routledge Companion to the Qur'an. (2021). Vereinigtes Königreich: Taylor & Francis.</ref> Although depictions are categorized into ''little tradition'' (folklore) and ''greater tradition'' (official Islam) for research purposes, both depictions are largely the same.{{efn|''From'' T. Nünlist (2015) ''Dämonenglaube im Islam'' '''{{sc|Translation:}}''' {{in lang|en}}<br/> "The distinction made between popular and scriptural Islam or between ''little'' and ''great traditions'' proves to be problematic and only serves as a makeshift here. This comparison implicitly suggests that the representations of daemonology in written sources differ from the findings documented in ethnographic, anthropological and sociologically oriented field studies. Such a view must be rejected. The treatment of the belief in daemons in the written sources primarily consulted in the context of these studies does not differ fundamentally from the views observed in popular Islam. Popular Islam and scriptural Islam do not design separate daemonologies. This situation is explained not least by the fact that the Quran and Sunna, the two most important sources in the area of Islam for the great tradition, clearly affirm the existence of jinn."<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=4}}}}

The Quran doesn't consider foreign mythological beings to be devils, but entities erroneously ascribed divine power to. Therefore, jinn were considered a third class of invisible beings, often neutral or morally ambiguous, not consequently equated with devils.<ref name=elZein-2009/>{{rp|style=ama|p=52}} Islam allowed to integrate local beliefs about spirits and [[Religion:Deity|deities]] from Iran, Africa, Turkey and India, into a monotheistic framework without demonizing them.<ref>Juan Eduardo Campo (2009) ''Encyclopedia of Islam''. Infobase Publishing {{ISBN|978-1-438-12696-8}} page 402</ref> Thus, they exist alongside other mythological entities, such as demons (''divs'') and ''peri'' (fairies).<ref>Heuer, B., Boykova, E. V., Kellner-Heinkele, B. (2020). Man and Nature in the Altaic World.: Proceedings of the 49th Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Berlin, July 30 – August 4, 2006. Deutschland: De Gruyter. p. 300-301</ref>

The moral attitude of the jinn is usually associated with their religion. Good jinn are usually considered ''Muslim jinn'' or ''jinn Islam'', whereas unbelieving jinn were tempted by the devils (''shayatin'') and are called ''kāfir jinn'' or ''jinn kāfir''.<ref>{{cite book |first=A.G. |last=Muhaimin |title=The Islamic Traditions of Cirebon: Ibadat and Adat among Javanese Muslims |publisher=ANU E Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-920942-31-1 |page=38}}</ref> Besides Islam, they could also practise Christianity and Judaism.<ref name="Gregg, G. S. 2005 p. 127">Gregg, G. S. (2005). The Middle East: A Cultural Psychology. Vereinigtes Königreich: Oxford University Press, USA. p. 127</ref> Good jinn might teach people moral lessons and might be benevolent,<ref>Celia E. Rothenberg ''Spirits of Palestine: Gender, Society, and Stories of the Jinn'' Rowman & Littlefield, 5 Nov 2004 {{isbn|9781461741237}} pp. 29-33</ref> or aid spiritual persons, such as shamans (''kam'') in [[Place:Central Asia|Central Asia]], or spiritual healers in Senegal.<ref>Bullard, A. (2022). Spiritual and Mental Health Crisis in Globalizing Senegal: A History of Transcultural Psychiatry. USA: Taylor & Francis.</ref><ref>Sidky, M. Homayun. "" Malang", Sufis, and Mystics: An Ethnographic and Historical Study of Shamanism in Afghanistan." Asian Folklore Studies (1990): 275-301.</ref>

Most of the time, jinn are believed not to interfere with humans and live mostly in desolate or abandoned places.<ref name="Hughes-1885-134-6">{{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Thomas Patrick |year=1885 |title=Dictionary of Islam: Being a Cyclopædia of the Doctrines, Rites, Ceremonies |publisher=W.H. Allen |location=London, UK |pages=134–136 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDtbAAAAQAAJ&q=jinn+named+tir+who+causes+calamities&pg=PA135 |access-date=4 October 2019 |chapter=Genii}}</ref><ref name="auto">Türk Söylence Sözlüğü, Deniz Karakurt, Türkiye, 2011</ref> This is, for example, evident from the Turkish phrase ''İn Cin top oynuyor''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mynet.com/in-cin-ne-demek-in-cin-tdk-sozluk-anlami-nedir-170100023318|title=İn cin ne demek? İn cin TDK sözlük anlamı nedir?|website=Mynet Eğitim|date=24 May 2022 }}</ref> It is only when they are angered or disturbed, for example, if their children are trodden upon or hot water is thrown on them,<ref>Robert Elsie ''A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology and Folk Culture'' C. Hurst & Co. Publishers 2001 {{ISBN|978-1-85065-570-1}} p. 134</ref> that they take revenge on humans. For this reason, Muslims utter "destur" (permission), before doing something which might accidentally hurt jinn, such as sprinkling hot water on public grounds or into bushes, so present jinn are advised to leave the place.<ref name="Hughes-1885-134-6"/><ref>MacDonald, D.B., Massé, H., Boratav, P.N., Nizami, K.A. and Voorhoeve, P., "Ḏj̲inn", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 15 November 2019 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0191> First published online: 2012 First print edition: {{ISBN|978-90-04-16121-4}}, 1960–2007</ref><ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=qKL3AgAAQBAJ&q=ancient+Mesopotamian+genii+and+Islamic+jinn 149]}}

Angered or straightforwardly evil mannered jinn, could hurt people by inflicting physical damage, causing illness, or [[Unsolved:Spirit possession|taking control over a human's body]].<ref name="Gregg, G. S. 2005 p. 127"/> A human, however, can't be controlled by jinn at any time. The individual needs to be in a state of ''dha'iyfah'' ([[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]: <big>ضَعِيفَة</big>, "(mental) weakness").  Feelings of insecurity, mental instability, unhappy love and [[Medicine:Depression (mood)|depression]] (being "tired from the soul") are forms of ''dha'iyfah''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gingrich |first=Andre |year=1995 |title=Spirits of the border: Some remarks on the connotation of jinn in north-western Yemen |journal=Quaderni di Studi Arabi |volume=13 |pages=199–212 |jstor=25802775 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25802775 |access-date=10 May 2020}}</ref> In that case, it is believed that an [[Religion:Exorcism in Islam|exorcism]] is required to save the person from the assaulting jinni.<ref>Joseph P. Laycock ''Spirit Possession around the World: Possession, Communion, and Demon Expulsion across Cultures: Possession, Communion, and Demon Expulsion across Cultures'' ABC-CLIO 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-610-69590-9}} page 243</ref> To protect oneself from jinn, many Muslims wear amulets with the name of God graved on. Jinn are also said to be scared of [[Chemistry:Iron|iron]] and [[Biology:Wolf|wolves]].<ref>Gods, Spirits, and Worship in the Greco-Roman World and Early Christianity. (2022). Vereinigtes Königreich: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 227</ref>

== Culture ==
[[File:Majlis al Jinn - Descending into cave.jpg|thumb|upright|The cave chamber ''Majlis al Jinn'', believed to be a gathering place of the jinn in Omani lore]]

=== In folk literature ===
The ''jinn'' can be found in various stories of the ''[[Religion:One Thousand and One Nights|One Thousand and One Nights]]'', including in:

* "The Fisherman and the Jinni";<ref name="classiclit.about.com">[https://web.archive.org/web/20161124224942/http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/arabian/bl-arabian-jinni.htm The fisherman and the Jinni] at About.com Classic Literature</ref>
* "Ma‘ruf the Cobbler": more than three different types of jinn are described;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idriesshahfoundation.org/books/tales-of-the-dervishes/ |title=Tales of the Dervishes |website=Idries Shah Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wollamshram.ca/1001/Vol_10/tale169.htm |title=Ma'aruf the cobbler and his wife |website=wollamshram.ca |series=1001 Nights |id=tale&nbsp;169}}</ref>
* "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp": two jinn help young Aladdin;<ref>{{cite web |series=The Arabian Nights |title=Aladdin; or, the wonderful lamp |website=About.com |department=Classic Literature |url=http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/arabian/bl-arabian-alladin.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215205012/http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/arabian/bl-arabian-alladin.htm |archive-date=2017-02-15}}</ref> and
* "Tale of Núr al-Dín Alí and his Son Badr ad-Dīn Ḥasan": Ḥasan Badr al-Dīn weeps over the grave of his father until sleep overcomes him, and he is awoken by a large group of sympathetic jinn.<ref>{{cite web |series=The Arabian Nights |title=The tale of Nur al-Din Ali and his son Badr al-Din Hasan |website=About.com |department=Classic Literature |url=http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/arabian/bl-arabian-nuraldin.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124190157/http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/arabian/bl-arabian-nuraldin.htm |archive-date=2016-11-24}}</ref>

In some stories, the ''jinn'' are credited with the ability of [[Unsolved:Teleportation|instantaneous travel]] (from China to Morocco in a single instant); in others, they need to fly from one place to another, though quite fast (from Baghdad to Cairo in a few hours).

===Modern and post-modern era===
==== Prevalence of belief ====
Though discouraged by some teachings of modern Islam, cultural beliefs about jinn remain popular among Muslim societies and their understanding of cosmology and anthropology.<ref name=Partovi-2009>{{cite journal |first=Pedram |last=Partovi |date=2009-12-03 |title=Girls' dormitory: Women's Islam and Iranian horror |journal=Visual Anthropology Review |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=186–207 |doi=10.1111/j.1548-7458.2009.01041.x |issn=1548-7458}}</ref> Affirmation on the existence of jinn as sapient creatures living along with humans is still widespread in the Middle Eastern world, and mental illnesses are still often attributed to jinn possession.<ref>{{cite book |first=G. Hussein |last=Rassool |date=2015-07-16 |title=Islamic Counselling: An Introduction to theory and practice |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-31744-125-0 |page=58}}</ref>

According to a survey undertaken by the Pew Research Center in 2012, at least 86% of Muslims in Morocco, 84% in Bangladesh, 63% in Turkey, 55% in Iraq, 53% in Indonesia, 47% in Thailand and 15% elsewhere in Central Asia, affirm a belief in the existence of jinn. The low rate in Central Asia might be influenced by Soviet religious oppression.<ref name="Rassool 2018">{{cite book |first=G. Hussein |last=Rassool |date=16 August 2018 |title=Evil Eye, Jinn Possession, and Mental Health Issues: An Islamic perspective |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-22698-7}}</ref> 36% of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina believe in jinn, which is higher than the European average (30%), although only 21% believe in sorcery and 13% would wear talisman for protection against jinn. 12% support offerings and appeal given to the jinn.<ref>Větrovec, Lukáš. "Curse, Possession and Other Worlds: Magic and Witchcraft among the Bosniaks." p. 74</ref>

[[Medicine:Sleep paralysis|Sleep paralysis]] is understood as a "jinn attack" by many sleep paralysis sufferers in Egypt, as discovered by a [[Organization:University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] neuroscience study Jalal, Simons-Rudolph, Jalal, & Hinton (2013).<ref name=Jalal-SimonsRudolph-etal-2013-10>{{cite journal |last1=Jalal |first1=Baland |last2=Simons-Rudolph |first2=Joseph |last3=Jalal |first3=Bamo |last4=Hinton |first4=Devon E. |date=1 October 2013 |title=Explanations of sleep paralysis among Egyptian college students and the general population in Egypt and Denmark |journal=Transcultural Psychiatry |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=158–175 |doi=10.1177/1363461513503378 |pmid=24084761 |s2cid=22226921}}</ref> The study found that as many as 48% of those who experience sleep paralysis in Egypt believe it to be an assault by the jinn.<ref name=Jalal-SimonsRudolph-etal-2013-10/> Almost all of these sleep paralysis sufferers (95%) would recite verses from the [[Religion:Quran|Quran]] during sleep paralysis to prevent future "jinn attacks". In addition, some (9%) would increase their daily Islamic prayer ([[Religion:Salah|salah]]) to get rid of these assaults by jinn.<ref name=Jalal-SimonsRudolph-etal-2013-10/> Sleep paralysis is generally associated with great fear in Egypt, especially if believed to be supernatural in origin.<ref name=Jalal-Hinton-2013-09>{{cite journal |last1=Jalal |first1=Baland |last2=Hinton |first2=Devon E. |date=1 September 2013 |title=Rates and Characteristics of Sleep Paralysis in the General Population of Denmark and Egypt |journal=Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=534–548 |doi=10.1007/s11013-013-9327-x |pmid=23884906 |s2cid=28563727 |issn=0165-005X}}</ref>

However, despite belief in jinn being prevalent in Iran's folklore, especially among more observant believers of Islam, some phenomena such as sleep paralysis were traditionally attributed to other supernatural beings; in the case of sleep paralysis, it was [[Biology:Night hag|''bakhtak'' (night hag)]]. But at least in some areas of Iran, an epileptic seizure was thought to be a jinn attack or jinn possession, and people would try to exorcise the jinn by citing the name of God and using iron blades to draw protective circles around the victim.<ref name=Omidsalar-2000-12-15>{{cite web |last=Omidsalar |first=Mahmoud {{lang|ur|محمود امیدسالار}} |date=15 December 2000 |title=Genie |publisher={{lang|ur|دانشنامه ایرانیکا}} |website=Iranica Online (iranicaonline.org) |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/genie- |access-date=15 April 2012 |url-status=live |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429185114/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/genie- |archive-date=29 April 2011}} <!-- former ref name="iranicajen" --></ref>

Most of the Islamic-majority countries in [[Place:West Africa|West Africa]] have a long tradition of jinn stories and populations that mostly believe in their existence, although there are some Islamic movements in the area that reject their existence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Olupona |first=Jacob K. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/839396781 |title=African Religions: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=[[Organization:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-979058-6 |location=Oxford |pages=36 |oclc=839396781}}</ref>

In Iran, many modern preachers substituted (evil) jinn by devils.<ref>Friedl, E. (2020). Religion and Daily Life in the Mountains of Iran: Theology, Saints, People. Vereinigtes Königreich: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 86</ref> Similarly, in many modern tales, the term ''jinn'' is for ''div'' (demon), causing a shift in meaning.<ref>Huart, Cl. and Massé, H., “Dīw”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 31 January 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_1879>
First published online: 2012
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004161214, 1960-2007</ref>

==== Post-modern literature and movies ====
Jinn feature in the magical realism genre, introduced into Turkish literature by Tekin (1983),<ref>{{cite book |first=L. |last=Tekin |year=1983 |title=Sevgili Arsiz Ölüm |trans-title=Dear shameless Death}}</ref> who uses magical elements known from pre-Islamic and Islamic Anatolian lore. Since the 1980s, this genre has become prominent in Turkish literature. A story by Tekin combines elements of folkloric and religious belief with a [[Social:Rationalization (sociology)|rationalized society]]. The protagonist is a girl who befriends inanimate objects and several spirits, such as jinn and ''peri'' (fairy). While the existence of jinn is generally accepted by the people within the novel, when her family moves from rural Anatolia into the city, the jinn do not appear anymore.

Jinn are still accepted as real by Muslims in the novel's urban setting, but play no part in modern life. The existence of jinn is accepted throughout the novel, but when the setting changes to the city, they cease to have any importance, symbolizing the replacement of tradition by modernization for Anatolian immigrants.<ref>{{cite thesis |first=Aslı |last=Değirmenci |date=9 August 2013 |title=Mapping Geographies in Transition: Magical realism in the fiction of Salman Rushdie, Latife Tekin, and Ben Okri |degree=Ph.D. |department=Department of English |publisher=State University of New York |place=Buffalo, NY}}</ref>

Contrary to the neutral to positive depiction of jinn in Tekin's novels, jinn became a common trope in Middle Eastern horror movies. In Turkish horror, jinn have been popular since 2004.<ref>{{cite book |first=Bilgehan Ece |last=Şakrak |article=Religious evils in Turkish horror films |title=This Thing of Darkness: Shedding light on evil |date=4 January 2019 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-1-84888-366-6}}</ref> They are still a popular trope today. A study from 2020 shows that jinn are still the favorite Horror element among teenagers.<ref>Gjinali, V., & Tunca, E. A. (2020). A General Look on the Impact of Turkish Horror Movies: An Exploratory Study on the Opinions of Youth on Horror Movies. SAGE Open, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020979701</ref> Out of 89&nbsp;films, 59 have direct references to jinn as the antagonist, 12 use other sorts of demons, while other types of horror, such as the impending apocalypse, hauntings, or ghosts, constitute only 14&nbsp;films.<ref name=Zeynep-2007>{{cite book |first=Zeynep |last=Koçer |date=13 March 2019 |orig-year=2007 |article=The monstrous-feminine and masculinityas abjection in Turkish horror cinema: An analysis of ''Haunted'' [''Musallat''] [by] Alper Mestçi |editor1=Holland, Samantha |editor2=Shail, Robert |editor3=Gerrard, Steven |title=Gender and Contemporary Horror in Film |pages=151–165 |place=Bingley, UK |publisher=Emerald |series=Emerald Studies in Popular Culture and Gender |doi=10.1108/9781787698970 |isbn=978-1-78769-898-7|s2cid=214474411 |url=http://research.uca.ac.uk/5021/2/AAM%20without%20image%20-%20McMurdo%20and%20Clayton%20-%20Captivity.docx }}</ref> Unlike other Horror elements, such as ghosts and zombies, the existence of jinn is affirmed by the Quran, and thus it is accepted by the majority of Muslims.<ref name="Sengul-2020">Sengul, Ali. "Cinema, Horror and the Wrath of God: Turkish Islam's Claims in the Kurdish East." Nübihar Akademi 4.14: 11-28.</ref> The presentation of jinn usually combines Quranic with oral and cultural beliefs about jinn.<ref name=Zeynep-2007/> The jinn are presented as inactive inhabitants of the earth, only interfering with human affairs when summoned by a sorcerer or witch.<ref name="Sengul-2020"/> Although the jinn, often summoned by pagan rituals or sorcery, appear to pose a challenge to Islam, the films assure that Islamic law protects Muslims from their presence. It is the one who summoned them in the first place who gets punished or suffers from the presence of jinn.<ref name="Sengul-2020"/>

Similarly, jinn appear in Iranian horror movies despite a belittling of the popular understanding of jinn by an increasing number of Islamic fundamentalistic reformists.{{refn|c.f. Partovi (2009)<ref name=Partovi-2009/> for representation of women's Islam.}} In the post-Iranian revolution [[Software:Psychological horror|psychological horror]] movie ''Under the Shadow'' the protagonist is afraid the jinn, who are completely veiled and concealed and intrude into her life frequently. In the end, however, she is forced by the Iranian guards to take on a Chador, and thus becomes like the jinn she feared. The jinn symbolize the Islamic regime and their intrusion into private life, criticises the Islamic regime and [[Religion:Patriarch|patriarch]]al structures.<ref>Khosroshahi, Zahra. "Vampires, Jinn and the Magical in Iranian Horror Films." Frames 16 (2019): 2.</ref>

== Visual art ==
Although there are very few visual representations of jinn in Islamic art, when they do appear, it is usually related to a specific event or individual jinn.

Visual representations of jinn appear in manuscripts and their existence is often implied in works of architecture by the presence of [[Social:Apotropaic magic|apotropaic]] devices like serpents, which were intended to ward off evil spirits. Lastly, King Solomon is illustrated very often with jinn as the commander of an army that included them.

=== In the ''Kitāb al-Bulhān'' ===
[[File:Jinn_King_of_Tuesday.png|thumb|350x350px|One of the Seven jinn-kings in the late 14th-century Book of Wonders. The red king of the djinns, Al-Ahmar.]]
In the ''[[Religion:Book of Wonders|Book of Wonders]]'' compiled in the 14th century by Abd al-Hasan al-Isfahani, there are illustrations of various supernatural beings (demons, ''ʿafārīt'',<ref>de Lafayette, Maximillien (2017). Early & contemporary spirit artists, psychic artists, and medium painters from 5000 BC to the present day economy. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-365-97802-9.</ref> jinn, the evil eye, devils, [[Biography:Lilith|lilith]], [[Unsolved:Planetary intelligence|celestial spirits]], etc.).<ref name="Taheri, Alireza 2017">Taheri, Alireza. "Comparative Study of «The Book of Felicity» Paintings and Book of «Al-Bulhan» of Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi." Honar-Ha-Ye-Ziba: Honar-Ha-Ye-Tajassomi 22.1 (2017): 15-29.</ref><ref name=Carboni-2013>{{cite journal |last=Carboni |first=Stefano |date=2013 |title=The ''Book of Surprises'' (''Kitab al-Buhlan'') of the Bodleian Library |journal=The La Trobe Journal |volume=91 |pages=27–28}}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=27}}

Each celestial spirits is referred to as a "King of the Jinn", represented alongside his spiritual helpers and alongside the corresponding talismanic symbols.<ref name=Carboni-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|p=27}} For instance, the 'Red King of Tuesday' was depicted in the ''Book of Wonders'' as a sinister form astride a lion. In the same illustration, he holds a severed head and a sword, because the 'Red King of Tuesday' was aligned with [[Religion:Mars (mythology)|Mars]], the god of war.<ref name=Carboni-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|p=27}} Alongside that, there were illustrations of the 'Gold King' and the 'White King'.<ref name=Carboni-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|p=27}}

Aside from the seven 'Kings of the Jinn', the ''Book of Wonders'' included an illustration of ''Huma'' (Arabic: حمى), or the 'Fever'. ''Huma'' was depicted as three-headed and as embracing the room around him, in order to capture someone and bring on a fever in them.<ref name=Carboni-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|p=28}}
[[File:Porte_citadelle_alep.jpg|left|thumb|300x300px|Ornamentation of intertwined serpents above the door of the Citadel of Aleppo.]]

=== Architectural representation ===
[[File:Jinn Carrying Solomon's Throne.png|thumb|Takht-i Marmar, the marble throne supported by jinn and divs (demons), Gulistan Palace, Teheran, created for Fath Ali Shah (r. 1797–1833).]]
In addition to these representations of jinn in vicinity to kingship, there were also architectural references to jinn throughout the Islamic world. In the Citadel of Aleppo, the entrance gate Bab al-Hayyat made reference to jinn in the stone relief carvings of serpents; likewise, the water gate at Ayyubid Harran housed two copper sculptures of jinn, serving as talismans to ward off both snakes and evil jinn in the form of snakes.<ref name=Duggan-2018/>{{rp|style=ama|p=408}}

Alongside these depictions of the jinn found at the Aleppo Citadel, depictions of the jinn can be found in the Rūm Seljuk palace. There are a phenomenal range of creatures that can be found on the eight-pointed tiles of the [[Religion:Seal of Solomon|Seal of Sulaymān]] device.<ref name=Duggan-2018/>{{rp|style=ama|p=390}} Among these were the jinn, that belonged among Solomon's army and as Solomon claimed to have control over the jinn, so did the Rūm Seljuk sultan that claimed to be the Sulaymān of his time.<ref name=Duggan-2018/>{{rp|style=ama|p=393}} In fact, one of the most common representations of jinn are alongside or in association with King Solomon. It was thought that King Solomon had very close ties to the jinn, and even had control over many of them.<ref name=Duggan-2018>
{{cite journal
 |last=Duggan |first=Terrance
 |year=2018
 |title=The just ruler of the age
 |journal=PHASELIS Journal of Interdisciplinary Mediterranean Studies
 |volume=4 |pages=389–421
 |issue=4|  doi=10.18367/Pha.18024 |doi-access=free
}}
</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=399}} The concept that a great and just ruler has the ability to command jinn was one that extended far past only King Solomon– it was also thought that emperors, such as Alexander the Great, could control an army of jinn in a similar way.<ref name=Duggan-2018/>{{rp|style=ama|p=399}} Given this association, Jinn were often seen with Solomon in a princely or kingly context, such as the small, animal-like jinn sitting beside King Solomon on his throne illustrated in an illuminated manuscript of ''[[Religion:Aja'ib al-Makhluqat|Aja'ib al-Makhluqat]]'' by Zakariya al-Qazwini, written in the 13th century.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Berlekamp|first=Persis|title=Wonder, Image, & Cosmos in Medieval Islam|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2011|location=New Haven|pages=71}}</ref>

=== Talismanic representation ===
[[File:Tawiz.jpg|thumb|Image of a talisman (''Tawiz''), supposed to ward off jinn, evil eye, sorcery, and demons.]]
The jinn had an indirect impact on Islamic art through the creation of talismans that were alleged to guard the bearer from the jinn and were enclosed in leather and included Qur'anic verses.<ref name=elZein-2009/>{{rp|style=ama|p=80}} It was not unusual for those talismans to be inscribed with separated Arabic letters, because the separation of those letters was thought to positively affect the potency of the talisman overall.<ref name=elZein-2009/>{{rp|style=ama|p=82}} An object that was inscribed with the word of ''Allah'' was thought to have the power to ward off evil from the person who obtained the object, though many of these objects also had astrological signs, depictions of prophets, or religious narratives.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Al-Saleh |first=Yasmine |date=2010 |title=Amulets and Talismans from the Islamic World |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tali/hd_tali.htm |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art }}</ref>

== Jinn and magical practises ==
{{Anchor|Jinn in form of storms and shadows}}
[[File:Kitab al-Bulhan --- demons.jpg|thumb|Zawba'a or Zoba'ah, the jinn-king of Friday]]

Jinn might be invoked, along with demons and devils, for means of sorcery, incantation, protection, or divination.<ref>Gerda Sengers ''Women and Demons: Cultic Healing in Islamic Egypt'' BRILL 2003 {{ISBN|978-9-004-12771-5}} page 31</ref><ref>Ian Richard Netton ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' Routledge 2013 {{ISBN|978-1-135-17960-1}} page 376</ref> Soothsayers (''kāhin'') are credited with the ability to ask jinn about things of the past, since their lives are believed to last longer than that of humans.<ref>Morrow, John Andrew (27 November 2013) Islamic Images and Ideas: Essays on sacred symbolism, McFarland, ISBN 978-1-476-61288-1</ref>{{rp|p=73}}

Common beliefs regarding sorcery and commanding jinn are attested in [[Biography:Ibn al-Nadim|ibn al-Nadim's]] ''Kitāb al-Fihrist''.<ref name="ReferenceB">Travis Zadeh ''Commanding Demons and Jinn: The Sorcerer in Early Islamic Thought'' Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2014</ref>{{rp|p=141}} Since he locates such practises not as a branch of science or philosophy, but rather in a chapter about stories and fables, the author might not have believed in the efficiency on sorcery himself.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>{{rp|p=141}} He reports that the art of commanding jinn and demons is traced back to Solomon and [[Religion:Jamshid|Jamshid]]. The first who would have practised a lawful method of incantation is supposed to be Abū Naṣr Aḥmad b. Hilāl.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>{{rp|p=142}} Ibn Nadim explains lawful and unlawful subjugating of jinn and demons as distinct: While the former controls the jinn by the power of God's divine names, the latter pleases demons and devils by prohibited offerings and sinful acts.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>{{rp|p=141–142}} Al-Jāḥiẓ is another author who tells about another man allegedly controlling jinn and demons: In the [[Place:Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad period]], ibn Hilāl is said to have the power to summon demons and jinn.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>{{rp|p=142}} He further claimed to have married a daughter of Satan and begotten a child.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>{{rp|p=143}}

There is evidence that subjugation of spirits, jinn, and demons, was also cultivated by various Islamic authorities. Al-Ṭabasī, who was considered a reliable ''[[Religion:Hadith|muḥadīth]]'' (scholar of ''ḥadīth'') and pious ascetic, wrote an extensive treatise (''al-Shāmil fī al-baḥr al-kāmil'') on subjugating demons and jinn.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>{{rp|p=145}} According to Zakariya al-Qazwini, it was well-known that jinn obeyed al-Ṭabasī. He gives an example, that al-Ṭabasī demonstrated the jinn to the famous scholar [[Biography:Al-Ghazali|Ghazālī]], who saw them as shadows on the wall.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>{{rp|p=145}} He professes that jinn only obey when the individual turns away from the temptations of creation and devoting oneself towards God.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>{{rp|p=146}} The al-Shāmil gives detailed instructions for preparations of various incantations. Unlike, for example in the writings of [[Biography:Fakhr al-Din al-Razi|al-Razi]], the ''al-Shāmil'' has no direct link to Hellenistic or Hermetic magic or philosophy.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>{{rp|p=148}} Magic was also used in the [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]] as evident from the Talismanic shirts of Murad III.<ref>Felek, Özgen. "Fears, Hopes, and Dreams: The Talismanic Shirts of Murād III." Arabica 64.3-4 (2017): 647-672.</ref>

Related to the occult traditions in Islamic culture is the belief in the "Seven kings of the Week", also known as ''rūḥāiya ulia'' (higher spirits; angels) and ''rūḥāiya sufula'' (lower spirits; demons). These beings are, for example, invoked for the preparation of [[Magic square#Magic squares in occultism|Magic squares]].<ref>Mommersteeg, Geert. “‘He Has Smitten Her to the Heart with Love’ The Fabrication of an Islamic Love-Amulet in West Africa.” Anthropos, vol. 83, no. 4/6, 1988, pp. 501–510. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40463380. Accessed 13 June 2020.</ref><ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=87}} This belief is attested by the [[Religion:Book of Wonders|Book of Wonders]].<ref name=Carboni-2013/> It contains artistic depictions of several supernatural beings (demons, jinn, the evil eye, fever (Huma, Arabic: حمى), devils, [[Biography:Lilith|lilith]], etc.).<ref name="Taheri, Alireza 2017"/><ref name=Carboni-2013/> Some of these beings indicate that the work connects Hebrew, Christian, and Islamic magical traditions.<ref name=Carboni-2013/> The original work is attributed to al-Bakhi, who founded a system of astrological magic based on [[Philosophy:Neoplatonism|Neo-Platonic thought]].<ref name=Carboni-2013/> Although many pages are damaged, it is possible to reconstruct their meanings from Ottoman copies.<ref name=Carboni-2013/> Each king is depicted with helpers and associated talismanic symbols.<ref name=Carboni-2013/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Associations
! rowspan="2" |Planet
! rowspan="2" |Day
! rowspan="2" |Angel that monitors the associated ''[[Social:Ifrit|‘Afārīt]]''
(Arabic; Hebrew equivalent)
! colspan="2" |''[[Social:Ifrit|‘Afārīt]]''
! rowspan="2" |Type of madness ({{lang-ar|جُنُون|label=none}}, ''junūn'') and parts of the body attacked
! rowspan="2" |Remarks
|-
!Common name
!Known other names
|-
|Sun
|Sunday
|Ruqya'il ({{lang-ar|روقيائيل|label=none}}); [[Unsolved:Raphael (archangel)|Raphael]] (רפאל)
|'''Al-Mudhdhahab/ Al-Mudhhib/ Al-Mudhhab''' ({{lang-ar|المذهب|label=none}}; The Golden One)
|Abu 'Abdallah Sa'id
|
|the name "''Al-Mudh·dhahab''" refers to the jinn's skin tone.
|-
|Moon
|Monday
|Jibril ({{lang-ar|جبريل|label=none}}); [[Biography:Gabriel|Gabriel]] (גבריאל)
|'''Al-Abyaḍ''' ({{lang-ar|الابيض|label=none}}; The White One)
|Murrah al-Abyad Abu al-Harith; Abu an-Nur
|Whole body
|the name "''Al-Abyaḍ''" refers to the jinn's skin tone, however he is portrayed as a "dark black, charcoal" figure. The possible connection of this name is with another name ''"Abū an-Nūr"'' ("Father of Light"); his names are the same as whose applied to ''[[Unsolved:Iblis|Iblīs]]''.
|-
|Mars
|Tuesday
|Samsama'il ({{lang-ar|سمسمائيل|label=none}}); [[Religion:Samael|Samael]] (סמאל)
|'''Al-Aḥmar''' ({{lang-ar|الاحمر|label=none}}; The Red One)
|Abu Mihriz; Abu Ya'qub
|Head, uterus
|the name "''Al-Aḥmar''" refers to the jinn's skin tone.
|-
|Mercury
|Wednesday
|Mikail ({{lang-ar|ميكائيل|label=none}}); [[Religion:Michael (archangel)|Michael]] (מיכאל)
|'''Būrqān/ Borqaan''' ({{lang-ar|بورقان|label=none}}; Two Thunders)
|Abu al-'Adja'yb; Al-Aswad
|Back
|
|-
|Jupiter
|Thursday
|Sarfya'il ({{lang-ar|صرفيائيل|label=none}}); [[Unsolved:Zadkiel|Zadkiel]] (צדקיאל)
|'''Shamhuresh''' (شمهورش)
|Abu al-Walid; At-Tayyar
|Belly
|
|-
|Venus
|Friday
|'Anya'il ({{lang-ar|عنيائيل|label=none}}); Anael (ענאל)
|'''Zawba'ah''' ({{lang-ar|زوبعة|label=none}}; Cyclone, Whirlwind)
|Abu Hassan
|
|It is said the "whirlwind" (''zawba'ah''), to be caused by an evil jinn which travels inside it.
|-
|Saturn
|Saturday
|Kasfa'il ({{lang-ar|كسفيائيل|label=none}}); [[Unsolved:Cassiel|Cassiel]] (קפציאל)
|'''Maymun''' ({{lang-ar|ميمون|label=none}}; Prosperous)
|Abu Nuh
|Feet
|His name means "[[Biology:Monkey|monkey]]"<ref name=Carboni-2013/>
|}

==Comparative mythology==
===Ancient Mesopotamian religion===
Beliefs in entities similar to the jinn are found throughout pre-Islamic Middle Eastern cultures.<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}} The ancient Sumerians believed in [[Religion:Pazuzu|Pazuzu]], a wind demon,<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}}<ref name="BlackGreen1992">{{cite book|last1=Black|first1=Jeremy|first2=Anthony|last2=Green|title=Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary|publisher=The British Museum Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-7141-1705-8}}</ref>{{rp|style=apa|pages=147–148}} who was shown with "a rather canine face with abnormally bulging eyes, a scaly body, a snake-headed penis, the talons of a bird and usually wings."<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=147}} [[Religion:Ancient Mesopotamian religion|Ancient Mesopotamian religion]] has ''[[Unsolved:Udug|udug]]'', Babylonian ''utukku'', a class of demons that were believed to haunt remote wildernesses, graveyards, mountains, and the sea, all locations where jinn were later thought to reside.<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}} The Babylonians also believed in the rabisu, a [[Unsolved:Vampire|vampiric demon]] believed to leap out and attack travelers at unfrequented locations, similar to the post-Islamic ''[[Social:Ghoul|ghūl]]'',<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}} a specific kind of jinn whose name is etymologically related to that of the Sumerian ''galla'', a class of Underworld demon.<ref>{{cite book |author=Cramer, Marc |year=1979 |title=The Devil Within |publisher=W.H. Allen |isbn=978-0-491-02366-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fdB-AAAAMAAJ&q=ghoul+galla+sumerian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Ahmed |last=Al-Rawi |year=2009 |title=The Mythical Ghoul in Arabic Culture |series=Cultural Analysis |volume=8 |publisher=Socrates.berkeley.edu |url=http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~caforum/volume8/vol8_article3.html |access-date=2011-03-23}}</ref>

[[Unsolved:Lamashtu|Lamashtu]], also known as ''Labartu'', was a divine demoness said to devour human infants.<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}}<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=115}} [[Unsolved:Lamassu|Lamassu]], also known as Shedu, were guardian spirits, sometimes with evil propensities.<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}}<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=115–116}} The [[Place:Assyria|Assyria]]ns believed in the [[Unsolved:Alû|alû]], sometimes described as a wind demon residing in desolate ruins who would sneak into people's houses at night and steal their sleep.<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}}

In the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, entities similar to jinn were known as ''ginnayê'',<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}} an Aramaic name which may be etymologically derived from the name of the ''genii'' from Roman mythology.<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}} Like jinn among modern-day Bedouin, ''ginnayê'' were thought to resemble humans.<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}} They protected caravans, cattle, and villages in the desert<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}} and tutelary shrines were kept in their honor.<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}} They were frequently invoked in pairs.<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=apa|pages=1–10}}

===Judaism===
[[File:Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae. Wellcome L0027769.jpg|thumb|The ''sheyd'' אַשְמְדּאָי ([[Unsolved:Asmodeus|Ašmodai]]) in bird-like form, with typical rooster feet, as depicted in ''Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae'' 1775]]
The Jewish depiction of jinn (Hebrew: ''Shedim'')<ref name="YALÇINKAYA, Mustafa 2020">YALÇINKAYA, Mustafa. "İLÂHİ DİNLERİN CİN KAVRAMI ALGISI: GENEL BİR YAKLAŞIM." PEARSON JOURNAL 5.7 (2020): 170-183.</ref> closely resemble that of the Islamic depictions in many regards. The story of Solomon being replaced by the evil jinn-king, is well known in both Quranic exegesis and the Talmud.<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=120}} Likewise, they may be rebellious and evil or lawful obeying  the holy scripture (i.e. the Torah).<ref>J. W. Moore, Savary (M., Claude Etienne)|''The Koran: Commonly Called the Alcoran of Mohammed''|1853|J. W. Moore| p. 20</ref> Their resemblance to humans is captured in a description in the Babylonian Talmud: "In three regards the shedim are like angels, and in three like humans: They have wings, they fly from one end of the world to another, they know the future listening from behind the veil of the angels; and in three regards they resemble humans: They eat and drink, procreate, and die like humans."<ref>Kohut, Alexander. Ueber die jüdische Angelologie und Daemonologie in ihrer Abhängigkeit vom Parsismus. No. 3. Brockhaus, 1866. p. 54</ref>

In earlier [[Religion:Midrash|midrash]]im they are corporeal beings. If they take on human forms, their feet would remain that of roosters (instead of hooves in Muslim depiction). Later, in Judaism such entities developed into more abstract beings, in contrast to Islam where they retained their corporeal image.<ref>GIMBEL, Jared Joseph. Spiritual Descent: A Study of Semi-Divine Beings and Non-Human Species in European Mythologies. 2011. p. 34-35</ref> However, like their Islamic-counterparts they are credited with possession.<ref name="YALÇINKAYA, Mustafa 2020"/> Like Muslim excorcism on jinn, Jewish excorcism as well includes negotiations with these beings, asking for their religion, sex, name, and intention. The treatment of possession by jinn (''jnun'', ''shedim'', etc.) differs from that of traditional Jewish cure of spirit possession associated with ghosts ([[Unsolved:Dybbuk|Dybbuk]]).<ref>Bilu, Yoram. "The Moroccan Demon in Israel: The Case of 'Evil Spirit Disease.'" Ethos, vol. 8, no. 1, 1980, pp. 24–39. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/640134. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.</ref>

===Buddhism===
As in Islam, the idea of spiritual entities converting to one's own religion can be found in [[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhism]]. According to lore, Buddha preached to [[Religion:Deva (Buddhism)|Deva]]s and [[Astronomy:Asura (Buddhism)|Asura]], spiritual entities who, like humans, are subject to the cycle of life, and who resemble the Islamic notion of jinn, who are also ontologically placed among humans in regard to [[Unsolved:Eschatology|eschatological]] destiny.<ref name=elZein-2009/>{{rp|style=ama|p=165}}<ref>{{cite book |first=Marie |last=Musæus-Higgins |year=1925 |title=Poya Days |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-8-120-61321-8 |page=14}}</ref>

===Christianity===
Abraham Ecchellensis writes that the jinn would be the children of [[Biography:Lilith|Lilith]] and devils, therefore the jinn would share three qualities with humans, such as procreation, eating, and dying, but share three qualities with devils in regard to flying, invisibility, and passing through solid substances, a depiction linked to the Jewish account on ''shedim''. Because of their human-like qualities, they are less noxious to humans than devils, and many would indeed live in some familiarity and even friendship with humans. In India, certain young jinn would assume a human form to play games with native children of human parents.<ref>Baring-Gould, Sabine. ''Legends of Old Testament Characters: From the Talmud and Other Sources''. Vol. 1. Macmillan, 1871. pp. 24–25</ref>

Van Dyck's Arabic translation of the Old Testament uses the alternative collective plural "jann" (Arab:الجان; translation:al-jānn) to render the Hebrew word usually translated into English as "familiar spirit" (אוב, [[Religion:Strong's Concordance|Strong]] #0178) in several places (Leviticus 19:31, 20:6; 1 Samuel 28:3,7,9; 1 Chronicles 10:13).<ref name=ArabicBible/>

Some scholars evaluated whether the jinn might be compared to [[Unsolved:Fallen angel|fallen angel]]s in Christian traditions. Comparable to Augustine's descriptions of fallen angels as ethereal, jinn seem to be considered as the same substance. Although the concept of fallen angels is not absent in the Quran,<ref>{{cite book |first1=Wouter J. |last1=Hanegraaff |first2=Jeffrey |last2=Kripal |date=2008-10-16 |title=Hidden Intercourse: Eros and sexuality in the history of western esotericism |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-4358-2 |page=53}}</ref> the jinn nevertheless differ in their major characteristics from that of fallen angels: While fallen angels fell from heaven, the jinn did not, but try to climb up to it in order to receive the news of the angels. Jinn are closer to daemons.<ref name=Azaiez-Reynolds-Tesei-Zafer-nd/>

==See also==
<!-- New links in alphabetical order please -->
{{div col begin |colwidth=25em}}
* [[Religion:Throne Verse|Throne Verse]]
* ''[[Religion:The Case of the Animals versus Man|The Case of the Animals versus Man]]''
* Daemon
* [[Philosophy:Human–animal hybrid#Theriocephaly studies|Human–animal hybrid]]
* [[Social:Marid|Marid]]
* Nasnas
* Qareen
* [[Unsolved:Shadow person|Shadow person]]
* Superstitions in Muslim societies
* ''Three Thousand Years of Longing'', a 2022 film starring Idris Elba as a djinn. 
* Uthra
* [[Earth:Will-o'-the-wisp|Will-o'-the-wisp]]
* [[Unsolved:Yōkai|Yōkai]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{reflist|25em|refs=
<ref name=ArabicBible>
{{cite web
 |title=Arabic Bible
 |publisher=Arabic Bible Outreach Ministry
 |website=arabicbible.com
 |url=http://www.arabicbible.com/arabic-bible.html
}}
</ref>

<ref name=McAuliffe-2005-EncQrn>
{{cite book
 |last=McAuliffe |first=Jane Dammen
 |year=2005
 |title=Encyclopaedia of the Qurʼān
 |volume=3 |page=45
 |publisher=Brill
 |isbn=978-90-04-12356-4
}}
</ref>

<ref name=Azaiez-Reynolds-Tesei-Zafer-nd>
{{cite book
 |editor1-first=Mehdi         |editor1-last=Azaiez    |editor2-first=Gabriel Said  |editor2-last=Reynolds  |editor3-first=Tommaso       |editor3-last=Tesei     |editor4-first=Hamza M.      |editor4-last=Zafer     |collaboration=Le Qur'an Seminar [The Qur'an Seminar]
 |date=7 November 2016
 |title=Le Qur'an Seminar: Commentaire collaboratif de 50&nbsp;passages coraniques
 |language=fr, en
 |edition=bilingual
 |trans-title=The Qur'an Seminar Commentary: A collaborative study of 50&nbsp;Qur'anic passages
 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
 |isbn= 978-3110444797 <!-- wrong 978-3-11-044545-9 -->
 |at=Q 72
}} {{ISBN| 3110444798}}
</ref>

}} <!-- end "refs=" -->

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}} (pub. so far)
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}}
* {{cite book
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{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite book |last=Asad |first=Muhammad |year=1980 |title=The Message of the Qu'rán |section=Appendix III: On the term and concept of jinn |publisher=Dar al-Andalus Limited |location=Gibraltar, Spain |isbn=1-904510-00-0 |url=https://quran-archive.org/explorer/muhammad-asad/1980?page=1012#top}}
* {{cite book |last=Crapanzano |first=V. |year=1973 |title=The Hamadsha: A study in Moroccan ethnopsychiatry |place=Berkeley, CA |publisher=University of California Press}}
*{{Cite book |last=Dibi |first=Tofik |url=https://sunypress.edu/Books/D/Djinn |title=Djinn |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2021 |isbn=9781438481302 |series=Queer Politics and Cultures |location=Albany, NY |translator-last=Barr |translator-first=Nicolaas P.}}
*{{cite book |last=Drijvers |first=H.J.W. |year=1976 |title=The Religion of Palmyra |place=Leiden, NL |publisher=Brill}}
* {{cite book |last=el-Zein |first=Amira |year=2009 |title=Islam, Arabs, and the intelligent world of the Jinn |series=Contemporary Issues in the Middle East |place=Syracuse, NY |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0-8156-3200-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JjTctEZXHCQC}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=El-Zein |first=Amira |year=2006 |title=Jinn |editor-first=J.F. |editor-last=Meri |encyclopedia=Medieval Islamic Civilization – an Encyclopedia |pages=420–421 |place=New York, NY & Abingdon, UK |publisher=Routledge}}
* {{cite book |last=Goodman |first=L.E. |year=1978 |title=The case of the animals versus man before the king of the jinn: A tenth-century ecological fable of the pure brethren of Basra |series=Library of Classical Arabic Literature |volume=3 |place=Boston, MA |publisher=Twayne}}
* {{cite book |last=Maarouf |first=M. |year=2007 |title=Jinn Eviction as a Discourse of Power: A multidisciplinary approach to Moroccan magical beliefs and practices |place=Leiden |publisher=Brill}}
* {{cite book |last=Peterson |first=Mark Allen |year=2007 |contribution=From Jinn to Genies: Intertextuality, media, and the making of global folklore |editor1-last=Sherman |editor1-first=Sharon R. |editor2-last=Koven |editor2-first=Mikel J. |title=Folklore/Cinema: Popular film as vernacular culture |place=Logan, UT |publisher=Utah State University Press |contribution-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt4cgnbm.8 |url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/34/ |via=Utah State U. digital commons}}
* {{cite book |last=Taneja |first=Anand V. |year=2017 |title=Jinnealogy: Time, Islam, and ecological thought in the medieval ruins of Delhi |place=Stanford, CA |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-1-5036-0393-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Zbinden |first=E. |year=1953 |title=Die Djinn des Islam und der altorientalische Geisterglaube |language=de |trans-title=The Djinn of Islam and Ancient Eastern Spiritual Belief |place=Bern, CH |publisher=Haupt}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.balashon.com/2007/02/genie.html Etymology of ''genie'']

{{Qur'anic people}}

[[Category:Paranormal terminology]]
[[Category:Supernatural legends]]
[[Category:Islamic terminology]]

{{Sourceattribution|Jinn}}