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Writer's picturePirate Medz

FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY What Are Jinn: The Arab Spirits Who Can Eat, Sleep, Have Sex, and Die

From Disney's Aladdin to the subject of exorcisms, jinn spirits have influenced culture and religion for centuries in our realm and theirs.

By Leila Ettachfini RED EDITS ARE: Stephen J. Johnson



Arab poet Kuthayyir ‘Azzah of the Umayyad period (661–750)—known for depicting his romantic obsession with a married woman—once described how he became a poet:

‘One day […] a man on horseback came toward me until he was next to me. I looked at him. He was bizarre, a man made out of brass […]. He said to me, “Recite some poetry!” Then he recited poetry to me. I said: “Who are you?” He said, “I am your double from the jinn!”

That is how I started reciting poetry.


What is a Djinn?

Djinn (often al-jinn or djinn) are shape-shifting spirits made of fire and air with origins in pre-Islamic Arabia. They are the inspiration for Aladdin’s genie, and have held space in Arab culture for almost as long as Arab culture itself. And yet, having transcended both religion and the physical world, so little is understood about the spirits. “People in the West currently are more interested to learn about jihad, the veil, the status of women in Islam, and the various fundamentalist movements,” writes Amira El-Zein in her book Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn. “They assume the djinn is a topic better left to Disney and popular culture, or at best to anthropologists.” But djinn, who are part of Islam but not worshipped in it, with their free will and obscurity, have too much to teach us about a culture, a people, and their multiple religions to be forgotten.


What kind of beings are jinn?

Neither inherently good nor bad, djinn are amorphous (Without Shape) entities, able to take the shape of humans and animals alike. Their role in society, too, has been malleable: Djinn have served as a source of inspiration (Insanity. The Djinn is a Psychopath) for both the most esteemed classical Arab poets in the first millennium and Disney in 1992 (Djinni—aka genie🧞—is the singular of djinn). Both before and after Islam’s introduction—which included mentions of djinn in the Qur’an—djinn have remained an inexplicable (Unexplainable) entity. “The orthodox scholars say you can’t understand djinn,” (Djinn whisper in you mind or send you a vision. You’ll believe you’re the one that really wants do to that sex act or that robbery or that murder *If its murder it’s an Entity. You have to have an Evil Spirit if you even want Kill.🤷‍♂️)Arabic literature researcher Suneela Mubayi tells Broadly. Still, despite their mysterious nature, there are some things historians, Islamic scholars, and believers of djinn have come to discern about the spirits.

According to El-Zein, pagan Arabs 👀(big believers in the occult) worshipped djinn long before Islam was introduced in the seventh century (After Christ Jesus🤷‍♂️), believing that the spirits were masters of certain crafts and elements of nature who had the power to turn plots of land fertile (Elementals). Djinn are believed to both interact with humans in our reality and lead their own lives in a separate realm. “As spiritual entities, the djinn are considered dual dimensional, with the ability to live and operate in both manifest and invisible domains,” El-Zein writes.


Can djinn communicate with humans?

Djinn’s influence has been widespread both religiously and culturally in pre- and post-Islamic Arabia. They can talk or otherwise communicate with people, though some, like poets (Lucifer=Prince of the air), are more likely than others to be hit up by a djinni (This is why I was so good a writing raps from scratch w/no music…it was a djinni helping me the whole time. 🤔Inanna🤷‍♂️She was with me the time😲). Ancient Arabs, known for their affinity (a natural liking for something) for poetry, even coined the term sha’ir, meaning an Arabic literature poet who was “supernaturally inspired” by jinn, to designate poets like Kuthayyir ‘Azzah. “Poets in pre-Islamic Arabia often said they had a special djinni that was their companion,” says Mubayi. “Sometimes they would attribute their verses to the djinn."

In the early seventh century, when the Islamic Prophet Muhammed (SAWS) began spreading the word of the Qur’an, he shared multiple surahs, or verses, that mentioned djinn, including one named entirely after the spirits. Belief in djinn has been a part of the world’s second largest religion ever since. El-Zein argues that “one can’t be Muslim if he/she doesn’t have faith in [djinn’s] existence because they are mentioned in the Qur’an and the prophetic tradition.” And while, of course, not all who identify as Muslim subscribe to every word of the Qur’an literally, if El-Zein is right, it means that around 1.6 billion people in the world believe in djinn.


Can Djinn haunt people?

Djinn are considered part of al-ghaib, or the unseen (grimorium verum). As invisible entities with abstract definitions, belief in them manifests differently between communities and individuals. For instance, while some Islamic scholars agree that djinn are capable of possession, others do not. Still, in both the past and present, stories of those possessed by djinn are not hard to find. Exorcisms, which can involve reciting the Qur’an over a person or, more rarely, physically beating the djinn out of them, are performed in some circles 😲on those thought to be possessed by djinn (despite being condemned by mainstream Muslims). People who partake in the latter believe that the pain is not felt by the person who the djinni occupies (HOST), but the djinni themself.


And while reading the Qur’an is a popular exorcism method, Djinn’s links to possession predate Islam. “The Arabs of pre-Islam invented a whole set of exorcism procedures to protect themselves from the evil actions of the djinn on their bodies and minds, such as the use of beads, incense, bones, salt, and charms written in Arabic, Hebrew, and Syriac, or the hanging around their necks of a dead animal’s teeth such as a fox or a cat to frighten the djinn, and keep them away,” writes El-Zein. In Arabic, the word majnun—meaning possessed, mad, or insane—literally means “to be possessed by a Djinni.”

Despite stories of possession, djinn are remarkable in their propensity towards neither good or evil.


In Christianity, demons and evil spirits appear as entities carrying out Satan’s maleficent wishes, but neutral spirits like the jinn have no place. El-Zain believes that djinn have been robbed (Lucifer’s Satanic church Doctrine) of the scholarly devotion they deserve, in part because they complicate the narrative of monotheism 🙄, what it means to believe in “the existence of intelligent spiritual entities without necessarily demonizing them.” Djinn or Jinni (Genie🧞) are the Earthly Bound Spirits that died in the earthly realm. They can’t leave this plane due dying here. Attachment. It's only the Heavenly Host Vs. Deamonic Forces) Djinn—different than both angels and the devil—oscillate (to move back & forth at regular speed) between good and evil, making them all the more relatable.


They can fuck up, they can be pious (devoutly religious), they can help us (Only through Jesus’ authority), or they can hurt us (Not if you follow the ‘Rules to the Realm’(The Principles in the Bible), as shown in folktales from One Thousand and One Nights (commonly known in English as Arabian Nights). In one of these tales, “The Fisherman and the Jinni”—the inspiration for Disney’s Aladdin—a fisherman pulls a bottle out of the sea. When he opens it, a djinni appears. Angry to have been trapped in the bottle for centuries, the djinni tells the fisherman their plan to kill him. But after the two exchange stories, the djinni changes their mind, instead bestowing the fisherman with a life of good fortune.


Can you fall in love with a Djinn? I DID🤷‍♂️

Fluid in form and interpretation, djinn not only possess and converse with us, but they can also fall in love (or in bed) with humans. Pre-Islamic poet Ta’abbata Sharran once wrote about sleeping with a djinniyah (feminine form of jinn) in a poem called “How I Met the Ghul”: (This is the Horseleach🧛. Just like King Solomon *Proverbs 30: 11-16)

“I lay upon her through the night

that in the morning I might see what had come to me

Behold! Two eyes in a hideous head

like the head of a cat, split-tongued

Legs like a deformed fetus, the back of a dog,

clothes of haircloth or worn-out skins!”

According to El-Zein, the ability or desire to have sex, isn’t something all djinn have in common with humans. Like us, “Djinn eat, drink, sleep, procreate and die,” she says, though their mortal lives can extend for thousands of years. 👀

This article was updated for clarity on June 22, 2022.

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