jinn

Legends of Old Testament Characters

Lilith

Originally these were members of a class of wind and storm demons – nature spirits that came out of the desert to terrify settled populations and were, as we have seen, forerunners of the jinn.

One of these mates was Lilith or the Qarinah, who, as we shall see later, bore numerous jinn offspring.

Five sons of Iblis are noted among the most celebrated of the evil jinn:

The Pre-Adamites

Mankind is actually the successor of other intelligent creatures such as jinn and hinn

In early Islam, a common belief held that mankind is actually the successor of other intelligent creatures such as jinn and hinn.

Medieval Muslim traditions referred to the jinn as pre-Adamites,  depicted as human-like in various ways.

Although the notion of Jinn as pre-Adamites was generally accepted, the idea that other humans lived before the known Adam was controversial.

Solomon

Solomon, gifted with a luminous ring from the angel Gabriel, gains dominion over winds, animals, birds, and even the jinn.

He commands the jinn to construct a grand palace, adorned with marble and pearls from the sea, and to prepare lavish feasts.

As they spend time together, a deep bond forms between them, alarming the captive jinn who fear their servitude might extend if the pair were to marry and produce an heir.

Rumors spread by a jinn named Zabwa suggest Bilqis has jinn ancestry, evident in her hairy legs and peculiar feet.

Solomon buries her in Palmyra, Syria, a city with mystical connections to jinn and supposedly built on Solomon's command.

Iblis -> Azazil

Iblis' appearance before he fell was said to be unique and grand even amongst the ranks of the Jinn

After 25,000 years, the jinn became proud and arrogant and began to disobey the divine rules.

Allah sent legions of angels to punish the jinn, and many of the wrongdoers were destroyed.

The rest were dispersed to distant islands – all except for Iblis, an impressive jinn who was captured and brought to heaven.

Meanwhile, the scattered jinn on the earth came together again and formed a nation on an island in the Southern Ocean.

He left heaven and descended to the island, where he persuaded the jinn to accept him as their king.

Before his fall, Iblis was notably distinct and magnificent even among the Jinn.

The Jinn

Various categories of jinn were created separately

Both jinn and humans were created in heaven and lived in enclosed gardens

Jinn lacked bodies of their own

Jinn had weight and density equivalent to those of air

Theoretically possible for humans and jinn to intermarry and have children

Jinn

The various categories of jinn were created separately, according to a creation myth reported by the Arab historian Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Mas'udi (896 –956), called by some ‘the Herodotus of the Arabs’.

After 25,000 years, the jinn became proud and arrogant and began to disobey the divine rules.

Allah sent legions of angels to punish the jinn, and many of the wrongdoers were destroyed.

The rest were dispersed to distant islands – all except for Iblis, an impressive jinn who was captured and brought to heaven.

Meanwhile, the scattered jinn on the earth came together again and formed a nation on an island in the Southern Ocean.

He left heaven and descended to the island, where he persuaded the jinn to accept him as their king.

Some maintain that the Arabic word jinn is older, and that the Palmyran (ancient Syrian) word jny' or gny', which we shall encounter later, derives from the earlier Arabic form.

Pazuzu, the ancient Mesopotamian wind demon, is an example of a desert spirit, a primordial jinn, who struck terror in the hearts of city dwellers of Eridu, Ur, Nippur, Uruk, Akkad and other Sumerian cities some 4,000–6,000 years ago.

Jinn are often associated with the wind and are said to travel by it.

Islamic tradition says Allah created the jinn before the creation of Adam.

Both jinn and men were created in heaven and lived in paradise.

As God relates in the Qur'an: ‘We created man from sounding clay, from mud molded into shape; and the jinn race, We had created before, from the fire of a scorching wind’

And He created Jinns from fire free of smoke

As to the nature of the jinn, some early Islamic scholars – such as philosopher Abu al-Hasan al-Mawardi of Basra (972–1058, known to medieval Europe as Alboacen) – believed that jinn lacked bodies of their own and did not inhabit bodies of other creatures.

However, jinn were known to have their own independent existence, so these scholars were at a loss to explain what form they took.

Al-Mawardi’s conviction that jinn were totally incorporeal was a minority view.

Many other scholars, including Abu'l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi (d.1201) and Taqi al-Din ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328 AD), believed that jinn did have bodies which were either defi ned, with density, or subtle, so fine that human vision cannot detect them.

The Qur'an states that Satan and his jinn followers cannot be detected by humans:

One opinion circulating among Islamic scholars of the Middle Ages was that jinn had weight and density equivalent to those of air.

or to a female jinn,

To him, a marriage of a female human to a male jinn was simply inconceivable.

Ibn Taymiyyah, a scholar held in high regard by many conservative Muslims today, believed that it was theoretically possible for humans and jinn to intermarry and have children.

As far back as the seventh century, a prominent Islamic theologian named al-Hasan al-Basri decided that marrying a jinn was possible but impermissible.

Races

Little People

Probably connected to the Jinn

It is related in histories, that a race of Jinn, in ancient times, before the creation of Adam, inhabited the earth, and covered it, the land and the sea, and the plains and the mountains; and the favours of God were multiplied upon them, and they had government, and prophecy, and religion, and law; but they transgressed and off ended, and opposed their prophets, and made wickedness to abound in the earth; whereupon God, whose name be exalted, sent against them an army of Angels, who took possession of the earth, and drove away the Jinn to the regions of the islands, and made many of them prisoners …

Djinn/Jinn

Bhoots or Jinn

In various Middle Eastern cultures, Jinn are sometimes believed to inhabit mines or natural underground formations.

These Jinn are thought to guard the treasures of the earth and can either help or hinder miners, depending on how they are treated.

Similar to the broader concept of Djinn in Islamic mythology, in Afghanistan, there are tales of Bhoots or Jinn that can be small, mischievous spirits.

Genesis 2

Enclosed garden

One of these mates was Lilith or the Qarinah, who, as we shall see later, bore numerous jinn offspring.

Five sons of Iblis are noted among the most celebrated of the evil jinn: T ̧ ıˉr (Bird), who causes disaster, injury and loss; al-A'war (the One-Eyed), who promotes lewd and lascivious behavior; Suˉt, consummate liar and the father of lies; Daˉsim, who ruins marriages by generating hostility between husband and wife; and Zalambuˉr, who presides over dishonesty, thievery and fraud in the business world.

An interesting branch of the Adam legend with rich jinn connections involves Lilith, a she-demon of great antiquity whose important role in Semitic lore received its richest embellishment in the late Middle Ages in Jewish Kabbalistic mystical writings particularly prevalent in Spain.