Djinni

5 interesting historical facts about Djinn Jinn.

Human belief in djinni has been wide-spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula,

Middle East and Central Asia for as long as humans inhabited the Earth.

These spirits are even mentioned in the Koran. In fact, Satan often is believed to be the most prominent of the djinns.

The djinn were thought to be less powerful than angels, but held other powers &

can assume the shapes of humans, animals or whirlwinds

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Belief in djinns may well predate both Christianity and Islam.The word djinn comes from the Arabic "jinni," or demon. Its root is janna, meaning "to cover or conceal." In English, the word is often translated as "genie."

"According to traditional Islamic belief, the djinn are creatures made of 'smokeless flame,' which have free will."

Archaeological 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"

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.However, there is evidence that the word jinn is derived from Aramaic, where it was used by Christians who designated to their pagan gods.

Some scholars like Ibn Arabi, suggested Jinn are indeed imaginable and not unreal, therefore regarded to be spiritual in essence. They acknowledged that they truly exist but react to feelings and thoughts of humans. They came from the imaginable realm, the place where the unseen takes on visible forms.

As a world where emotions become predominant, it affects our world through dreams and psychological functions. Therefore, jinn are not monsters or beasts, but thoughts, that were in the world before the existence of the men, taking on physical shapes in certain conditions

According to early Sunni tribe,the humans are successors to the Jinn, who are said to have inhabited and ruled the earth before mankind.

According to this tradition, the Jinn were similar to human society and governed by 72 kings.Eventually they became infidels and started corruption, fought each other and shed blood.

God sent Angels and Khodams to them, but the Jinn continued doing evil. Then they became more impious, and God sent ARCHANGELS who drove away the Jinn so humans could replace them. The angels who fought the jinn, were according to SOME HISTORIANS also jinn , due to their origin in Jannah, and were created from fire too.

However they should not be confused with the Jinn as creature, since they differ from the terrestrial jinn

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The Quran says that the jinn were created from smokeless fire. They are not purely spiritual, but are also physical in nature, being able to interact in a tactile manner with people and objects and likewise be acted upon. The jinn, demons, humans, and angels make up the known sapient creations of God. Like human beings, the jinn can be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent and hence have free will like humans.

The shaytan-jinn are called "devils" or "demons" and akin to demons in Christian tradition.

By the time of Solomon, Djinn were more well known and no less than seventy were bound to his service by a special ring.

The Djinn tribes, though greatly changed in nature and power from Djinn of pagan times, are still formidable foes. Only the great Solomon (Suleyman) was ever able to bring them under control, by using his copper and iron ring. The Djinn are in fact related to the Fay, Celtic creatures, Vampire, Dragons and many more. All Elder Djinn are very powerful, in that they can fly and can choose to become completely invisible, as well as having a greater command of magical arts. Younger Djinn are generally much weaker because of their distance from sourse and intermarriage with humans, plus the consequences of their Choice.

Some powers are more common in Djinn than others. Most Djinn can also change into the shape of an animal ally to their tribe (see below), and even in their more human forms some physical evidence of that animal remains with them, such as a tail, or small horns, or fur on parts of the body. Many may fly if need be, while almost all can create illusions, an ability learned originally being a part of from the desert.