Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East)

Wonderful book. Very informative

The book is not so much "Islam, Arabs and the Invisible World of the Jinn" as "Early Islam and the Jinn". The content is mainly of two types: (1) quite detailed discussions of passages in the Qur'an and comments by early Islamic thinkers; (2) long digressions into discussions of western poets, folklorists and world mythology (Native American, Babylonian, etc.). The former is actually pretty good, if that's what you're looking for. The latter feels kind of like the early 20th-Century generalisations that we find in scholarship from a century ago (Frazer's Golden Bough leaped to mind). What is therefore completely missing is any discussion of subjects like: what is a Jinn (e.g. how does the term relate to other terms, such as ghūl)? Were did the idea come from? How has the term's meaning changed over time, and how much does it vary geographically? To what extent were ~19th Century Western folklorists true to, or else distorting, beliefs in jinn when they collected and published books like the 1001 Nights? How does/has Arabic belief in jinn relate to neighbouring traditions (e.g. maybe discussing jinn alongside the "demons" of classical Persian literature may be more relevant than references to Native Americans)? How have jinn be used in official texts, propaganda and politically-sponsored/sanctioned modern media, and what movements may have attempted to quash or change these beliefs? Etc, etc. All of this is completely missing. There are some intriguing observations here. I personally found the digression about the Qur'anic concept of multiple worlds interesting; and noting the linguistic closeness of "jinn" with "majnun" made me want to go back and reread the classic story of love and insanity, Layla and Majnun. Other readers may find other interesting snippets. But personally, I came to this because I want to understand the richness of what people have believed about jinn, so that I can better understand what I'm reading if I read folk stories or references in other books and mdeia. The author, however, is far more interested in the Qur'an, religious scholars, and Western poets (Keats etc.) and folklorists. So if - like me - the reader is looking for a book which explores jinn in the Arabic and Islamic traditions, historically and culturally and in terms of popular belief etc. ... well, this book is likely to disappoint.

Knowledgeable thorough read on an esoteric/ spiritual subject that has roots in pre Islamic Middle Eastern mythology & folklore. How it correlates with religious beliefs, philosophy and literature is extensively explained.

Not sure if this book is what I was looking for, it's mostly an analytical view from a religious perspective, not exactly a historical occult meaning.

Analisi ben fatta e ben curata sul misterioso mondo dei Jinn. Ho utilizzato questo studio soprattutto per la stesura della mia tesi di laurea ed è stato molto efficiente. Inoltre, è così interessante e scorrevole da leggere anche per piacere e istruzione personale

Die Ginn sind ja für westliche Augen nicht unbedingt ein aktuelles Thema. El-Zein gelingt es aber durch interessante Argumente, darauf neugierig zu machen. Sie zeigt, wie selbstverständlich im Orient damit umgegangen wird. Viele Details erscheinen etwas skuril, haben sich in Jahrhunderten im Volksglauben entwickelt. Manch Grundlegendes aber lässt einen doch nachdenklich werden: können wir mit reinem Rationalismus die ganze Welt erfassen? Jedenfalls eine umfassende und interessante Annäherung an dieses Thema.

Similar to the European fairies, Indian and Persian Devas and paris, are the Jinn. Legendary creatures made of wind and smokeless fire. They inhabit an invisible world between the realm of angels and the realm of man. They interact directly with our world but are banned from entering the realm of angels. Men who seek to find them usually travel to desolate out of the way places in the desert. The angels are made with bodies of light, ours of clay. The Jinn used to be able to enter the realm of angels and bring back the news from heaven to mankind's ears. With the advent of Islam the Jinn were banned from entering heaven. Their leader Iblis who may have been a lower level angel or high ranking Jinn, depending on the source refused to bow down to Adam so he was expelled to the planet earth. Now Jinn are not necessarily evil, they have a choice. They can come in any religion or none at all. Both Jinn and man will be judged for their deeds in judgment day. Yes there are Muslim Jinn. Some are good to people and other are bad. What follows is a scholarly examination of the Jinn concept in Arabia. Sources are pulled from pre Islamic works, Orthodox Islam and popular Muslim folklore. The concept of Jinn is compared to similar phenomena in other cultures, covering a range from Arabic, Persian, Greek, Roman, Indian and European folklore. Covered first if the cosmology of the Islamic heaven, briefly touched upon previously. The Muslim cosmology believes in seven earths each one differing from the other and each Earth contains worlds and universes. The consonants JN mean hidden or invisible . Such a concept could apply to angels, demons and other unseen being. It was thought that prior to the revelation of the Koran that the Jinn roamed the Earth and Heaven and in certain instances were thought of as Gods. The female Deities had wings and were treated much like angels or consorts to male gods. Some believe that the old Gods were in fact Jinn. After all they were unseen. Jinn can take many forms and sometimes they just keep on changing. The Gods in the Ancient world could also shape shift and be tricky. The Egyptian gods were part animal part features of humans. Some animals like the dear were holy to the Jinn. They liked deer. Snakes were considered both good and evil and in some instances were reviled and in others worshipped. In strict Islam the Jinn were prohibited from marrying humans yet coupling did happen. Usually the mission was to create a hybrid offspring. In folklore it happened with the hybrid having special powers. The book posits several examples. The Jinn lore is very similar to faerie lore from Europe. The book goes on to discuss how Jinn inspire poets and the different types of Jinn. This is an good beginning primer for those interested in the lore of the Jinn.

Valiosa información acerca del mundo de los djinn desde un punto de vista académico, sin pasar por alto el folclore, la tradición y el enfoque religioso.