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Throughout history, people have continuously been drawn to the supernatural because of its unknown and mysterious qualities. The fact that there is a world parallel to ours has intrigued us. It is believed that this "spirit world" is a place where spirits or ghosts reside. Many different explanations of a spirit world can be given. For example, some might say it is where the souls of people who have passed away live or it is home for demonic spirits that wish to harm humanity.
However, a proper explanation to feed our curiosity can be provided from Islam. Muslim's believe that there is a realm of the unseen and the creatures that live there are called the "Jin". Genies (also called Jin or Genni) are spirits that are believed in parts of the Middle East, Africa, South Asia or any place under the influence of Islam. The word Jinn is an Arabic word that means "hidden" or "to hide". Folk tales of these mystical beings appear in early Arabian and later Islamic mythology and in parts of the Quran.
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In the Qur'an (the Holy book of Islam), Allah says: "Indeed We created man from dried clay of black smooth mud. And We created the Jinn before that from the smokeless flame of fire," 15:26-27. Thus they are created from a fire like the angels but they have a free will opposed to the angels.Jin were also given many powers like super strength and shapeshifting.
However their free will eventually lead the jinn to grow prideful over the years and believe themselves better than Allah (God)in the Quran it says "I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me." (Quran 51:56) so Allah then created another being (humans) from clay and ordered the angels and jinn to honor Adam, the first man.
Similar to people they decide what to do with their lives; they can get married, have children, drink, eat, find jobs, form communities, and decide whether or not to be Muslim.However, despite their strength and power, the Jinn can be harmed. According to the article, "Secrets of the Jinn" Robert M. Schoch states that, "As we cannot generally see them, a human may inadvertently hurt or kill a jinni (or jinniyah) by falling on him, urinating on him, pouring hot water on him, throwing a stone at him, and so forth. In turn, for such transgressions, the jinn may retaliate against the offending human." Thus Jinns are not as powerful as they seem but there are many different ones that can be stronger than the other. There are many types of Jinns that belong to different tribes.
One type would be Ghul or as we say it in English the Ghoul. According to Britannica encyclopedia online, ancient stories have told that "A gh?l stalked the desert, often in the guise of an attractive woman, trying to distract travelers, and, when successful, killed and ate them. The sole defense that one had against a gh?l was to strike it dead in one blow; a second blow would only bring it back to life again."As a result, they are one of the most feared Jinns because of their cannibalistic behavior and crave for human flesh. Ghouls are said to be the offspring of the devil himself. In addition, they inhabit rural places like the desert, graveyard, and forset. They tend to attack people traveling alone or in a small group. Another would the Sila. They are believed to be female and very rare. It is possible for them to become a person's companion because they are fairly tolerant of humans. However, they are mostly withdrawn and secretive. The Ifrits jinns are a variety of good and bad. They are thought to be the protectors of ancient ruins like the pyramids in Egypt. It is also believed that they are the ones who helped the Egyptians build the pyramids. Likewise, if any travelers try to intrude in any ancient Pyramid without an anti-spell the Ifrit will hunt them down and kill them. The most powerful type of Jinn would be the Marid. They live in open waters like the oceans and the sea. They are arrogant and known to be able to grant wishes. Yet this would require them to be imprisoned or a ritual be performed in their honor.
The most popular type of Jinn is the Qareen/Hamzad.Allah (God) has created this Jinn to accompany every human being. Everyone is born with their own Qareen. This jinn pushes a person to commit sins and do bad things. In other words, it brings upon the dark nature of a person and knows you better than you know yourself. It is possible for someone to capture their Qareen but this task is extremely difficult and requires years of hard work. However, if someone does manage to capture their Qareen and make it their servant they become capable of doing many things. For example, the Qareen can receive information on any person in the world by communicating with that individuals Qareen, it can find stolen or lost objects, it can cure any sickness, make you aware of the future, help control other people's Qareen and basically put that person entirely under your control. The last type of Jinn is the Shayteen or as other people call them "demons". These Jinns are pure evil and work for Satan. Furthermore, they are destructive, have the ability to possess people, and can cause illness and death. Jinns are percieved in many different ways in the modern world. Many people have mixed opinions about their existence but in earlier times they were believed without question. Some believe that they were not spirits or ghost but they were actual humans that were granted super powers and were capable of many impossible things. Others might believe that Jinns are beyond our comprehension and that people are not capable of knowing all the secrets of this world.They think that there is a limit to Human knowledge and actually knowing the truth would have harmful consequences.
Others might say that Jinns are stories created from our imagination due to loneliness or depression. They believe that this is the psychological response and the brain creates things like this for entertainment and Jinns are just wishful thinking. Lastly, it is most common for some one to simply not believe in Jinns because the modern world can provide many logical explanations to these phenomena. However, despite all these different beliefs on our current view, there will always be people who are curious to explore the unknown in search of answers. People will always continue to believe in spirits like the Jinns or other monsters because it makes our lives more interesting.
Types of Spiritual Entities in Islamic Traditions. (2019, Dec 15). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/types-of-spiritual-entities-in-islamic-traditions-essay
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