Following the ancient Arabian myths and legends series, my friend Peter asked me an interesting question: What were the ancient Arabs beliefs regarding Jinn?
I decided to end the series by answering his questions. The word Jinn is derived from the Arabic verb Ijtinan which signifies invisibility.
Before Islam, ancient Arabs believed that Jinn were invisible powerful beings that they’d either tried to appease or ward their evil off. Jinn were thought to be shape-shifters who took different forms- most knowingly snakes — that if killed would cause madness.
They also rode animals such as hedgehogs and ostriches. Harming any of these animals caused sudden illnesses that could only be cured by offerings of dates and barley.
The Jinn inhabited abandoned places especially destructed cities and the wild. One of the famous practices of ancient Arabs was asking loudly for the protection of the Jinn who was the “master of the place” when crossing valleys.
This practice was mentioned in the Quran in Surat Al Jinn that came to eradicate mythical beliefs regarding them.
The word Aabqari — genius in Arabic — comes from the name of a wadi that the ancients believed to be inhabited by Jinn. We still use the word to describe anything unparalleled.
Like humans, Jinn were divided into city dwellers and nomads. Moreover, there were the ones who lived by day and others by night who were called Al Surat.
The ancients believed that Jinn had the power to kill humans, make them go mad or simply disappear. A hare’s hind leg and a cat or a fox’s tooth were worn as a form of protection. Also, it was customary to give new-borns weird names to stop the Jinn from kidnapping them.
Interestingly, an ancient practice that still survives in few Arab countries to appease the Jinn — although prohibited by Islam — is animal scarification performed before moving to a new building.
The ancients thought that plagues were caused by Jinn and called them “Jinn spears”. They even brought about an illness that stopped cattle from drinking water, to which the cure was simple: by bringing a bull to lead the cows to water.
The ancients reasoned that the devil always rode between the bull’s horns — and being far more superior — the Jinn feared him.
Another thought was that Jinn’s tribal wars gave rise to sandstorms. Jinn had great lords with dramatic names like Al Shaysaban and formed alliances with human tribes, most famously with Bani Al Aslam.
Legend has it that one of the Jinn was killed by a man from the tribe which caused war between the two. The Jinn avenged by killing many people of the tribe, who took revenge by killing every single beetle, lizard, scorpion and snake they found in the surrounding valleys.
From the mountain of Abi Qubais surrounding Mecca, the Jinn cried out for truce and asked for the mediation of Quraish — the Meccan elites — to solve the issue after many were slaughtered by Bani Al Aslam’s hands. But it’s not always cat and mouse between the two realms.
The Jinn were helpful in predicting future events by something called Al Hatif, a voice heard by few humans that also aided many in finding their lost possessions. They also befriended men and lamented their imminent death by composing poetry that spoke of their good deeds, using one of their thousand poetic meters unknown to human poets. The Jinn even had musical talents and played drums that could only be heard at night time. With this I end the seven parts series. I hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed researching, translating and writing it.
Rasha al Raisi is a certified skills trainer and the author of The World According to
Bahja. rashabooks@yahoo.com
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
