52. On The Jinn.

Dearly Beloved,

One of the most mystifying things I discovered when living amongst Muslims in Oman was that there exist, in addition to humanity, an entire nation of Jinn which share the Earth with us humans. Jinn are so well integrated into Islamic belief that they are celebrated in the Holy Quran with a chapter of their own, Surah 72. Whilst man was created from clots of blood, Jinn were created from smokeless fire. They are invisible to us humans but they can see us. They are similar to men and women in that they are both good and bad and may hold any one of a number of religious beliefs including Islam. Furthermore the Jinn are ubiquitous, and when Muslims prayed in Oman, if a man was on the end of the row of those praying, he would do an acknowledgement to the space beside him in case an invisible Jinn had joined the prayer line and was standing next to him.

It is mystifying because most beliefs in Islam can be related to the Jewish Bible, the Apocrypha or to the New Testament and Christian beliefs (even if some of the latter are repudiated), but in none of these is there an entire, alternative, civilisation of spirits, very like humans but invisible to us. Jinn are not angels who are messengers from God and, are of course, essential to Islam, because it was the Angel Gabrial that recited the Holy Quran to Mohammed in a cave from which he carried the message to mankind– which is why Mohammed is referred to as "The Messenger".

Of course we know about Jinn from some stories, such as Aladdin and his magic lamp. When the lamp is rubbed a slave Jinn appears to ask what task is required. There are many other tales in which Jinn take part in the traditional tales found in the Thousand Nights and One Night. In the secular context Jinn have lots of powers which enhance story telling; they can change their shape and appearance, they can fly very fast to new locations and even carry a human with them. They have hierarchies of Kings and rulers like humanity but their opulence can be depicted as far greater, their palaces larger and more lavish with endless gardens full of natural riches, carefully guarded daughters, (even more carefully guarded and even more beautiful than those of humanity).

It is commonly supposed that including Jinn as part of the theology allowed for all the spirits of “the time of ignorance” ( the years before Mohammed arrived with his message), to be integrated into Islam whilst being effectively neutralised from a religious perspective. There may be other reasons too. One is that one or two people walking together in a remote or lonely place often feel that there is another person in company with them. As the poet TS Eliot writes in The Wasteland:

Who is the third who walks always beside you?

When I count, there are only you and I together,

But when I look ahead up the white road

There is always another one walking beside you,

Gliding wrapped in a brown mantle, Hooded.

I do not know whether a man or a woman.

--But who is that on the other side of you?

In a note on the text Eliot refers to the experience of arctic explorers (perhaps with Shackleton), who are at the end of their strength. Yet I have found this a common experience in any remote place; not in the least frightening or sinister, merely companionable and have interpreted it as a product of mankind's intense sociability; we have so great a need that we perceive people which may not exist. Perhaps this is why Islam, which originated from a desert environment of huge empty space, so easily absorbs the idea of a nation of Jinn living beside humanity.

T.S.Eliot of course interprets it all very differently, and in a note to his poem, refers to the disciples who fail to recognise Christ who joins and walks beside them on the road to Emmaus.

Peace,

Paul.


Attribution: By Cetipar - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

A Toad Headed Agamid  Phrynocephalus sakoi endemic to Oman. Believed by some to be a Jinn in disguise and "an enemy" to be killed on sight. Fortunately it is very wary and moves very fast

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