THE JINN
- Islam – around 6 AD
- Archeological evidence found in Northwestern Arabia seems to indicate the worship of jinn, or at least their tributary status, hundreds of years before Islam: an Aramaic inscription from Beth Fasi’el near Palmyra pays tribute to the “ginnaye”, the “good and rewarding gods”
- there is evidence that the word jinn is derived from Aramaic, where it was used by Christians to designate pagan gods reduced to the status of demons, and was introduced into Arabic folklore only late in the pre-Islamic era – with that meaning: demon.
- Numerous mentions of jinn in the Quran and testimony of both pre-Islamic and Islamic literature indicate that the belief in spirits was prominent in pre-Islamic Bedouin religion.
- In Islamic theology jinn are said to be creatures with free will, made from smokeless fire by God as humans were made of clay, among other things.
- When jinns are called “fire spirits” it´s does not refer to their current nature, rather to their origin.
- Jinn are mentioned 29 times in the Quran: Surah72 (named Sūrat al-Jinn) is named after the jinn, and has a passage about them.
- Another surah (Sūrat al-Nās) mentions jinn in the last verse.
- The Quran also mentions that Muhammad was sent as a prophet to both “humanity and the jinn”, and that prophets and messengers were sent to both communities.
- Like human beings, the jinn can be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent and hence have free will.
- Therefore, jinn will also be judged on the Day of Judgment.
‘Be careful with this one’ said Dina, bending down to greet the cat. ‘All cats are half jinn, but I think she’s three quarters.’
― G. Willow Wilson
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