The Mythical Jinn

"Genie" from the Disney animated movie "Aladdin."

Jinns...

Ok, you see them uttered by Muslim, well because the jinn is part of their Qur'an. In Qur'an 72:1 it says that, "It has been revealed to me that a group of the jinn listened and said, 'Indeed, we have heard an amazing Qur'an."

So what is a jinn?

According to a certain Islamic website...

The Jinn are beings created with free will, living on earth in a world parallel to mankind. The Arabic word Jinn is from the verb 'Janna' which means to hide or conceal. Thus, they are physically invisible from man as their description suggests. This invisibility is one of the reasons why some people have denied their existence. However, (as will be seen) the affect which the world of the Jinn has upon our world, is enough to refute this modern denial of one of Allah's creation. The origins of the Jinn can be traced from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. 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"

(Surah Al-Hijr 15:26-27)

[http://www.islamawareness.net/Jinn/world.html]

Really huh?

The fact is that, the Jinn are pre-Islamic Arabian mythological characters and according to the information in the Arabian Nights, types of jinn include the shaytan, the ghoul, the marid, the 'ifrit, and the jinn. The 'ifrits seem to be the strongest form of jinn, followed by marids, and then the rest of the jinn forms. So a jinn is what we also known as a genie - Yeah, that "Genie in a bottle."

Ancient magicians and wizards civilizations pre-dating Mesopotamia, created magical lamps and bottles to trap these Jinn. These magical prisons, composed of gold, silver, and mixes of known & unknown elements, were then placed in a special temple.

However it was found that over time the tricky Jinn were able to use the power of pure thought to escape their magical confines. Also, with the help of Angelic forces who revealed that in order to keep the Jinn confined they must be released every so often in a controlled manner. This controlled manner resulted in the granting of wishes.

In addition, a powerful spell keeping them in a fantasy reality within their prison, distracts them from trying to escape. After this happened the trapped jinn officially became the magical genies that grant wishes we know of today.

So I guess those who wrote the Qur'an incorporated these mythological characters in their holy book.

Aladdin would be proud.