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Djinn, Genies & The Arabian Nights

Shah was a darling....but I was a little wary of his linking the Templars & Masonry to the Sufi.

Bear in mind nothing would give me more pleasure than to say such wonderful stuff as Chivalry & the Guilds originated in our end of the pavilion; but I felt he was finding what he expected & wanted to find.

The work of Said Hussein Nasr provides a good balance (especially when it comes to the influence of Islamic science & philosophy).

:)
 
To bring back a (I think good) thread from the dark, dank corners of the FT site, I found an interesting article about THE GHOSTS OF THEBES that talks about the life and times of Sheikh Hussein Abd el Rassuhl, who was the last man alive who helped Howard Carter with the Tutankhamun dig. He also faked an Ifrit occurance to keep a tomb from being robbed that HE was robbing, but he also knew of a story widely regarded as a real ifrit murder to guard a tomb...

An undecorated tomb in the north part of Qurna (Dra´Abû el Naga´) was used by a family as a stable and lumber room. One day, upon removing some rubbish from his cave, the owner discovered an entrance to a passage descending into the rock. Each day he dug away a portion of the stones blocking the doorway, careful that none of the neighbors would find out, hoping to find innumerable treasures at the other end. He told his family, but he chose a day when they were away to force his way through the hole. The following morning his wife became anxious about his disappearance and went through the passage in search of her husband. She was in turn followed by her mother, a cousin, and yet another cousin. When an hour had passed and no one had returned, two of the relatives who had gathered at the entrance decided to enter with candles. Three yards beyond the entrance the passage turned sharply to the left, then to the left again. Here the candles began to fail, but a moment later, they came across the second cousin lying on the floor. They dragged him out, but soon he expired. Finally they had to call the police and when they arrived with an antiquity inspector they entered the passage and found that beyond the spot where the body had been found the passage turned right, then left again and opened into a hall with four rough columns. The air was foul, and the candles began to go out, but they thought they caught a glimpse of the three bodies. They were unable to reach them, being overcome with nausea. On their return no one dared enter again, for the general opinion was that an ifrit, an evil spirit, had overpowered the victims. The following day the passage was blocked up, the bodies left where they had fallen. The cause of death was registered (1949) as asphyxia produced by poisonous gases. Today there is no single remaining sign of that tragedy and as it is now an Islamic burial place, nobody is allowed to open it again.

"Tradition says that on every tomb a spell has been cast and if you do not know the ‘anti-spell’ there will be big problems", said Sheikh Hussein. "Not many know this ‘anti-spell".


The site I linked above also has a nice bit about the belief of the ifrit...
 
Grave robbing is quite common in Turkey, but tends to be curtailed by two beliefs.

The first is that hoards are often guarded by Djinn, who may or may not allow the treasure hunter to take or even find what they want. Kahin are often sought to scout the site out for any nastiness before work starts.

The second, more fundamental pause for thought is that the tradition runs that that which lies beneath the earth belongs to God. Should you find a trove, you are permitted to take what you need, if you need it, but no more. To break that ban is to invite trouble.

This also applies to anything mined or pumped...
 
Jinni

http://allafrica.com/stories/200409080061.html
Chilling Accounts

The Nation (Nairobi)
NEWS
September 8, 2004
Posted to the web September 8, 2004

By Stanley Kimanga
Nairobi

There is a multi-storied residential building in Nairobi's Eastleigh estate that always has vacant rooms. And it is not for lack of tenants. But those who enter the building never stay very long.

There is also a building in Huruma with a room that is always vacant. Several tenants are said to have died in that room, so nobody rents it any more. The building is widely rumoured to be inhabited by jinn.

Yet another building in Mathare North has a high turnover of tenants.

"Only a few people stay here for more than two years despite the reasonable rent," says a tenant who is planning to move out at the end of the month.

Francis Musyoka explains why. "I had surveyed the rooms. They are very spacious and I was planning to move in when I heard there were jinn in the building."

Asked for a logical explanation for these seemingly superstitious phenomena, a philosophy lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Mr Francis Owakah, retorts. "You sound sceptical; don't you believe that jinn exist?"

Jinn (the plural of jinni) are spiritual forms mainly associated with Muslim mythology who can assume human or animal form and influence man by supernatural powers.

Owakah wonders how one can possibly disregard the existence of spirits and their interaction with living people.

"How do you explain a dead person refusing to be transported to his rural home due to the presence there of somebody whom the deceased had disagreed with when he was alive," he asks.

"I have even heard of houses in Karen and Buruburu being abandoned due to jinn," he adds.

Nevertheless, the philosophy lecturer, who specialises in logic and African philosophy, hastens to add that so long as science has not discovered the laws governing phenomena such as spirits, their existence will always remain a matter of personal experience.

"Science operates within two laws. The first holds that the laws governing phenomena be discoverable. The second law states that such laws be interpreted. But what if science has not discovered the laws in the first place?" he poses.

So where does one draw the line between truth and fantasy? What are jinn in the first place and how do they resemble other spirits or differ from them?

The Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore Mythology and Legend says of jinn: "In Arabic tradition, a devil or demon with great miraculous power. There are five kinds of jinn: jann, jinn, shaitan, ifrit and marid, but these are seldom distinguished in translation."

The dictionary goes on to trace the dual nature of jinn: "In the earliest concept, the jinn were probably malicious demons, living in deserted or impure places, often in animal shape. Islam adopted these spirits, admitting a possible dualism in the jinn, some good, and some evil. They still retain an animal characteristic, whether paw, or hoof or tail."

Many of those who have encountered these spirits testify that jinn can either be benevolent or malevolent, depending on how they are treated by their human clients, although their malignant nature is more conspicuous.

The benevolent jinn are largely believed to protect their human clients against witchcraft, while others bring material prosperity. This, by and large, is the conception of jinn popular with Islam, which views them as God-fearing spirits just a little lower in rank than the angels.

Mohammed Abdullah, the Imam of Jamia Mosque in Eastleigh, Nairobi, explains that while angels are made of light, Muslims believe that jinn are made of fire. But he goes on to add that although jinn are "believers in God, they are made from the same material as shetani (devils), who only differs from them in that he doesn't believe in God. "

Jinn, according to Imam Abdullah, can disguise themselves in many forms and shapes such as animals and human beings. And like human beings, jinn also eat, but they eat bones of either animals or humans, rather than flesh. In this way, too, they differ from angels, who do not eat.

The evil jinn, on the other hand, are believed to engage in all sorts of malicious activities, including turning against their clients and killing them, haunting whole families out of their homes and having sex with women even in the presence of their husbands. Perhaps because of this malignant nature, none of those who keep jinn are willing to admit to it.

Nevertheless, tales abound of how jinn have made life miserable for some people while creating riches for others. Generally it is believed that the jinn behave themselves until their retainer breaches their terms of contract. One such term of contract is that their retainer must feed them well. Another is that he must ensure that some of them are sent "home" when they become too many, since jinn procreate like humans. If they are too many, they become a bother, often given to wandering and harassing innocent neighbours. Sending jinn away entails driving them to the nearest flowing river, which will take them all the way to the sea, their original and natural home.

Feeding jinn depends on what purposes they are retained for. According to Maluki Mwoki, who was once employed to look after jinn, those who are supposed to bring prosperity and protect it require a cow to be slaughtered for them at least once a year in addition to their normal food, such as rice. In addition, they might demand a human sacrifice, which might be the favourite child of the host. The host does not have to do the killing himself, but is required to point out the child, and the jinn do the rest, making it look like a natural death.

The other category of jinn, says Mwoki, are those that protect their owners against sorcery and other evil spirits, and these require normal food, and maybe a chicken or goat once in a while.

Dennis Wafula narrates how, for close to a year, he was haunted by jinn while living in Nairobi. The middle-aged man recalls how on several occasions he would leave his house in Dandora and go to the shop with a Sh100 note in his pocket, only for it to have turned into Sh50 when he took it out to pay for his purchases. And that was not all.

Several times he and his wife left the house in the morning to go to work, and on returning in the evening, would be told by the househelp about how they had both come back during the day for lunch or 10 O'clock tea.

When this happened several times, Dennis decided to investigate. He realised that some jinn had been impersonating him and his wife and coming back to the house when they were away. There have many cases reported of jinn haunting school children. Just two years ago, a primary school in Kitui town was reported to have been invaded by spirits, causing pupils to be possessed and to speak in strange tongues. Some of them spoke in fluent Kiswahili although many did not use the language in their normal lives.

A woman suspected to have brought the jinn to the locality from the coast was almost lynched by angry parents. Since time immemorial, spirits are believed to have physical love affairs with women of flesh and blood. The Bible reports in Genesis how the "sons of God' started having sex with human beings and in the process begetting giants".

In his book, The Story of the Devil, published in 1931, Arturo Graf narrates how Saints and Fathers of the church collected evidence of intimate communion between spirits and humans. Citing one such authority, Arturo writes: "And in the life of Saint Bernard is related the scandalous story of how a brazen devil who, for years in succession, lay daily with a certain woman without the slightest check or restraint, so that he would even thrust himself into the bed where the poor husband also was sleeping."

Arturo goes on to tell how some women came to like their clandestine connubial affairs with the spirits and concludes the passage with a shocking revelation: Alvaro Pelagio, bishop of Silva, who about the year 1332 composed in Latin a book entitled The Lament of the Church, says that he knew many nuns who voluntarily offered themselves to the fiend.

Despite their dark side, jinn are in high demand ("so and so has gone to the coast to buy jinn," it is often whispered) due to the belief that they protect one's wealth in addition to bringing prosperity. Indeed, so widespread is the the connection between jinn and wealth that anyone who becomes wealthy overnight is rumoured to possess them even when the poor fellow has no idea what the spirits are all about. On the flipside, the hand of jinn is often seen in tragedies. Commuter accidents, for instance, are often blamed on the owners of the vehicles or boats, who are accused of sacrificing innocent people to appease their jinn.

Spirits: Facts or fantasy?

Despite countless testimonies by different people about their encounters with spirits, there is still a lot of skepticism as to whether spirits really exist.

The major problem is that such experiences are not subject to scientific or even empirical verification, explains Mr Francis Owakah, a lecturer in the department of philosophy at the University of Nairobi.

Claims of encounters with ghosts, some people's ability to commune with the spirits of the dead, palm-reading and future telling have been attributed to religious beliefs by skeptics. The universal belief in life after death is seen as the utmost influence of those who claim such experiences. Scientists also attribute the phenomenon to mental dysfunctions and hallucination.

But since the 19th century, social scientists have been studying the phenomenon of spirits with more seriousness than before. Their findings, backed by empirical evidence, overwhelmingly lend credence to the existence of spirits. These studies show that what we call the soul or the spirit within us, can conceivably move out of the physical body and assume a different, more subtle body, thus overcoming the limitations of the grosser body we are made of, and the limitations of the senses which restrict the perception of human beings.

So far, these findings are the closest to a scientific admission that the soul survives death and thus corroborates the religious belief of life after death. The most persuasive phenomenon verified by social scientists across the world which gives evidence to the existence of spirits are the so-called Out of Body Experiences (OBEs). Jouni Smed defines OBEs as those curious and usually brief experiences in which a person's consciousness seems to depart from his or her body, enabling observation of the world from a point of view other than that of the physical body and by means other than those of the physical senses.

A number of OBEs, according to findings by social science researchers, have claimed to have left their physical bodies and gone wandering in various places. O

An example of a vivid OBE, which was subject to empirical verification, is cited in a book, Life at Death: A Scientific Investigation of the Near-Death Experience authored by K. Ring and published in 1980: A very near-sighted woman was lying on an operating table with the anesthesia medicine behind her head. When she experienced the OBE, she felt detached from her body and could read the equipment identification numbers which were out of her vision. She then floated up to the top of the room and noted that the top of the light fixtures were dirty. After she recovered from her illness, she returned to the hospital and ascertained that the numbers she had seen were correct and that the light fixtures were actually dirty.

Near Death Experiences are a phenomenon similar to OBEs, with many people who have been certified as clinically dead but somehow survived telling how they escaped the body and travelled in another subtler body. A 1991 poll, estimates that 13 million Americans (five per cent of the population) have reported having had near-death-experiences. Similar experiences have been recorded in other parts of the world and across all cultures. The surprising thing is that despite the dissimilarities of religions, all NDEs have common traits. NDErs talk about travelling in a bright tunnel, meeting the spirits of their dead relatives and a "Being of light". They report having seeing a river, which they their dead relatves urged them not to cross, and instead turn back because their time had not come.

These findings have strengthened the argument of those who believe in the existence spirits, and especially in life after death. To many people, the belief in spirits, is the clearest demonstration that there is life after physical death, and that human destiny is controlled by higher spiritual powers.

The Funk & Wagnall dictionary says that jinn "are usually invisible, but can appear in any shape, human or animal". This explains the different shapes and forms of jinn reported by those who claim to have seen them. Some have said they are miniature humans with oriental skin colour while others report seeing humans with hooves like those of a donkey. Still others associate jinn with cats. For the most time however jinn remain invisible even as they continue wrecking havoc in the lives of many people of flesh and blood.
:eek!!!!:
 
‘Possessed’ by evil spirits neighbours queued to see her

First published: 24 Sep 2004
Shelina Begum


HAVING undergone an unhappy arranged marriage Sureha Begum fell silent, spent hours alone weeping and eventually began to self-harm - cutting her arms with any sharp object she could find.
To many it would have been obvious that the 18-year-old south Manchester girl was suffering from depression.

But her parents believed she was in the possession of jinns, the evil spirits of the Muslim world. Their belief was eagerly supported by quack so-called faith healers who took over £3,000 of her parents in a series of fruitless exorcism.

How and why did this journey to hell begin?

Sureha spoke exclusively to Asian News in the hope that her tragic tale will be a warning to other who may be duped by superstition.

She said: "I was in a relationship with a steady boyfriend. He was Bangladeshi and a Muslim but when my parents found out they disapproved, panicked and arranged a marriage with a cousin in Bangladesh.

"In the two months leading up to the marriage I became quiet, I didn’t feel like eating or going out. Life didn't seem worth living.
"I knew my cousin was not for me and that I would be unhappy. I cut off all contact with my boyfriend. I became distant from my friends. I would sit in my room for hours just staring out of the window."

"Somehow my parents took me with them to Bangladesh. I really can’t remember many events there, most of it is a huge blur. By the time I got married I had completely stopped talking to people. Everybody thought after the ceremony I’d be back to my normal happy self again.

"Nothing changed and my in-laws began to notice my behaviour and they became worried. One night I was sat in my room crying and talking to myself, asking God, 'why me?'

"My husband walked in and thought I had gone mad. He called his parents and they started saying that their son had married a 'loony'."

Sureha’s situation didn't improve on her return to Manchester. In fact her mental health began deteriorating fast.

Rumours were circulating in the community that she had come back from Bangladesh as a 'phagal' - a possessed person.

Her parents feared there had been a jinn takeover in Bangladesh.
A family friend suggested to Sureha’s mother that she should take her daughter to a mullah in London who claimed to be an expert on possession.

They made the journey to a flat in Stephney Green where they met the mullah. Sureha's parents explained to him that Sureha had become withdrawn, did not eat, cried all the time, that she also did not want to bring her husband over and she didn’t speak to anybody.

The mullah readily agreed that a jinn was making her behave so strangely.

He told her parents that they would have to return to him in a week’s time so he could read special prayers over Sureha and banish the jinn.

Rumours preceded the family back to their Manchester home and when they arrived they were confronted with many friends and neighbours clamouring to see what a 'phagal' looked like.
Sureha started having nightmares - it was "the jinn" causing bad dreams.

Instead of going back to London her parents decided to go to a local faith healer.

He examined Sureha, prodding her body with a stick before agreeing that she was, indeed, possessed.

Said Sureha: "He poked me so hard it hurt. I tried to move away from him but my parents held me down. I hated being there. This faith healer claimed he worked with special spirits who visited him at midnight and told him how to help people. He promised my parents that I would be okay again but they must give him at least £500 to start the healing process.

"That day he said a prayer and I was taken again next week. This time he sat in front of me and wrote prayers on a sheet. He then burned the pieces of paper and put the ashes in water and said I must drink it. When I refused he told my parents that it was the jinn refusing to drink.

"I was then restrained while I was forced to drink the water. I was screaming to be let out of the mullah's house, but everything I did was blamed on this jinn.

"That night I went home scared and shaken. I wanted to end my life and had a small knife. I made a cut in my arms just to see how the pain felt. I didn’t have the guts to actually take it any further. But when I cut myself I felt relieved, as though the physical pain was taking away the mental pain.

"I started doing it regularly, eventually my parents had to take away all sharp objects from my room and even had to lock me in some days. Again the jinn was blamed for my behaviour."

In one year, Sureha's parents spent over £3,000 visiting a number of faith healers, each promising to bring back the old Sureha. But all failed.

The turning point came when Sureha's ex-boyfriend and his sister heard that she was ill and went to visit her. The ex-boyfriend was so shocked at see her he had to leave the house. His sister stayed on and talked to Sureha who told her everything.

The following day the ex-boyfriend and sister returned with an older member of the community and insisted that Sureha should be taken to a doctor as soon as possible.

Said Sureha: "My ex and his sister are very educated and don’t believe in jinn possessions, I think they could see straight away that I was ill and not possessed.

"Nobody realised that I was suffering from depression as these faith healers were so convincing..

"My parents finally took me to the doctors. I was diagnosed with chronic depression and was helped right away. I have been seeing a counsellor now for three months and taking strong medication.

"Faith healers are advertising everywhere and they are getting many desperate people paying them hundreds of pounds just to solve problems that can be resolved other ways.

"I don't blame my parents for going as they are very traditional and really didn't’ know what to do. They now realise they were wrong.

"I would like to warn parents and people in the Asian community not to fall for these adverts. Faith healers only prey on your weakness."

Jinns - what are they and where do they live?

THE belief in jinns is quite legitimate in the Muslim religion and strictly speaking they are not always evil but can influence a believer to do good - a view held by Muhammad the Prophet who though it worth while to pass the message of Islam to them.

They are often described as fiery spirits (Koran 35.15) particularly associated with the desert. While they are disruptive of human life, they are considered worthy of being saved. A person dying in a state of great sin may be changed into a jinn in the period of barzakh, separation or barrier, according to Islam.

The highest of the jinns is Iblis, formerly called Azazel, the prince of darkness or the devil. The jinns were thought by some to be spirits that are lower than angels because they are made of fire and are not immortal. They can take on human and animal shapes to influence men and women.

There is some disagreement as to where they reside. Many Muslims see them as existing in some kind of parallel universe to the human one. According to Persian mythology some of them live in a place called Jinnistan. Others say jinns live with other supernatural beings in Kaf, mystical emerald mountains surrounding the earth.

---------------------
First published by the Asian News

http://www.theasiannews.co.uk/heritage/index/11390.html
 
That day he said a prayer and I was taken again next week. This time he sat in front of me and wrote prayers on a sheet. He then burned the pieces of paper and put the ashes in water and said I must drink it. When I refused he told my parents that it was the jinn refusing to drink.


This is a classic practise, based upon belief in the power of the written and spoken word. Usually, the ink is allowed to dissolve into the water, which is then drunk. The burning of the script and consumption of the ashes is a tad extreme.

Another varient is to employ a specially engraved bowl. The British Museum possesses some exceedingly beautiful examples.

Link

Gives some idea of what they look like: a bowl or cup inscribed with the relevent incantations.

Also:

Link

Link

And especially

Link

Not because they are particularly relevent, but because they are so fecking beautiful :)

[Emp edit: Making links work.]
 
Sorry but none of those links are working for me. Which is a pity as they sound facinating.
 
Cujo said:
Sorry but none of those links are working for me. Which is a pity as they sound facinating.

The URLs are just too big and are getting split by the forum - I've turned off automatic URL parsing but the board still splits the long string (although it might be possible to reconstrcut them in Notepad) and I haven't found a way to trim it down without stopping it from working.

You best bet is going here and typing in "Islamic":

Link

You get 171 results and so look for 21, 75, 74 and 77 (in the order that Alexius gave)
 
Link craziness...very odd as they worked when I posted them...:eek!!!!:

The 'Compass' section of the BM site is fabness itself - 5000 items from the various collections, waiting to be ogled. :)
 
I was hoping no-one would notice.

Don't know what's going on, they usually don't have that sort of problem.
 
Weird. Ah well.

-------------------------
The man who can see the jinn, and make them go away

An Islamic faith healer talks about his profession

According to Islamic belief, a jinni can take any physical form or possess a human

By Hannah Wettig and Adnan El-Ghoul
Daily Star staff
Friday, October 01, 2004

The man who can see the jinn, and make them go away

BEIRUT: "The powers I command can help people who are willing to pay thousands of dollars for a glance of hope," says faith healer, Abu Yussuf.

Otherwise known as Hajj Mazloum, Abu Yussuf was staying at his brother's house in Bourj al-Barajne. Making his home in Detroit, Michigan, the healer was on his way to the Gulf, where he has many clients, he said, most of who have given up on conventional medical treatments.

Abu Yussuf says there is always plenty of work available for a faith healer.

"Sixty percent of all houses in Great Britain are haunted by ghosts. In Scotland and the U.S., I have fixed many of them."

Playing with his prayer beads, he explained further, "If your house is haunted, you hear voices. There may be a noise in the bathtub or closet, or you feel a wind when all windows are closed, or even something inside your body."

Although what he describes sounds like your usual ghost story, Abu Yussuf derives his knowledge from the Koran. A pious man, he only answered, "Al-Hamdulillah" (thanks be to God) when asked if his wife was veiled.

According to Islam, Allah created Angels from light and jinn, or evil spirits, from smokeless fire. In the Sura called Adh-Dhariyat, or the Winnowing Winds, Allah says: "I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship me."

While they do all kinds of things humans do, like eating, marrying and dying, the jinn also have extra powers: they can take any physical form they like.

In the article "The World of the Jinn" on the Islamic website al-sunnah.com, the author argues, "Over the last few years the interest in the subject of aliens and UFOs has become heightened. Thousands of people have sighted strange looking creatures all over the world ... It seems plausible, all the sightings of such creatures were just jinn parading in different forms."

Usually, however, jinn exist in another world, which humans can't see - most humans, that is.

"When you concentrate like people do in meditation, you start to see," says Abu Yussuf. Can he see the jinn? "Of course," he smiles.

The first time Abu Yussuf saw the evil spirits was over 20 years ago, while reading the Koran.

"I read a lot in the Koran and the Holy Bible. One time I was reading in the Koran and I felt something," he says. What he felt exactly can't be told, he adds; it is a secret.

Since that day he has worked as a healer, freeing houses and people from jinn.

If a jinn takes possession of a human, it can have disastrous effects, according to Abu Yussuf.

"From that day your life will change. They want to control your life," he says. "With women, they will start making love to her. Lots of women feel that. The problem is lots of people don't believe in them."

The Islamic Web site explains, "Jinn possess people for many reasons. Sometimes it is because the jinn have fallen in love with the person. However, most of the time possession occurs because the jinn are simply malicious and wicked. For this reason we have been told by the Prophet not to loiter in those places where the jinn reside, e.g. graveyards, ruins, deserts, market places."

While the Web site explains that jinn can be either good or evil, the ones who take possession of people are most likely bad, because they are not allowed to do so. "It is a great oppression to possess another being," the Web site says.

Science interprets possession differently. Many people, who are taken to faith healers to exorcise jinn, are, according to psychiatry, mentally disturbed.

In the Arab Journal of Psychiatry, Yahia Younis discusses the case of a young woman who was taken to hospital in a state of great excitement, who upon admission was "screaming, singing in a loud voice, clapping and throwing her hands sideways." Doctors put the woman on sedatives - as they had done two years earlier when she had arrived in the same condition.

She got better, but complained about the treatment by faith healers her family had taken her to in the interval. One healer had gripped her neck, shouting at her "Oh jinni, confess who you are." Due to the healer's hands, which nearly caused her to suffocate, she made up a name.

While Younis warns that unqualified doctors can do more harm than good, he also writes, "Non-physical methods like invocations, which are based on the Prophetic tradition, are religiously sanctioned. Religious beliefs and values may be used to enhance the effect of psychotherapeutic techniques."

On the other hand, faith healers may be well aware of modern psychology.

According to Samir Tomb, a Lebanese specialist in parapsychology and astrology, faith in a healer and the methods used are the key elements to success.

He is hesitant to talk about other healers, he says, as each uses different methods and approaches. Tomb holds a degree from the University of Banco in France (Deauville), and is a member of the International Association of French speaking Astrologists.

He said that psychology can be a part of all kinds of healing. Even a medical doctor is more effective when he applies psychological techniques to a patient.

"Psychological effects contribute 20 to 50 percent to any successful result," he said. "When a patient feels secure and trusts in his or her healer, the benefits are better."

Many people in Lebanon have stories to tell about violent exorcisms. Abu Yussuf talked about one case of a man who was brought in by his wife.

"When I started reading the Koran to him he first asked his wife, 'Why did you take me here?' He then started shaking and giving me the black eye. He started fighting me, but he couldn't reach me. His friend had to hold him."

But how does Abu Yussuf know if somebody is really possessed by a jinn? After all, the man could have just gotten angry at his wife, or he could have been suffering from a psychosis. Would Abu Yussuf be able to tell if the two journalists visiting him are free of jinn?

Again he smiles, "Sure." Abu Yussuf sits up straight on the armchair he had sunken into and asks this reporter to put out her hand.

"No, not that one, the left," he says. Waving his hands in circles, he starts to whisper verses. My hand trembles.

Abu Yussuf's diagnosis

is short, "You are possessed by a jinn."

"What about me?" the second reporter asks. Abu Yussuf gives him a short glance before saying most confidently, "No."

The experience

Jinn buster


BEIRUT: We just wanted to interview the man who said he could drive away evil spirits, but then he discovered I was possessed by a jinn.

Months later, we decided to visit faith healer Abu Yussuf again. He lives in Haret Hreik, where he has bought an apartment for his family. Since I still hadn't gotten rid of the jinn that posses me, he agreed to exorcise it.

Abu Yussuf was in high spirits. He had just discovered a drug to cure AIDS, he said. Do we know how many people suffer from the disease in Lebanon? He also thought about running for elections in Lebanon, but then decided that the system was too corrupt.

I am told to sit on a chair, my hands resting, relaxed on my thighs. Abu Yussuf stands next to me, bending forward, reciting verses from the Koran in my ear.

At first, I try to concentrate on the words, trying to make out the meaning. Then they all become one. Shaytan al-rajeem, shaytan al-rajeem ... I fall into the rhythm.

The shadows and lights reflected on the stone floor start to dance. My vision blurs. My hands start to sweat. I can feel my hands start to lift up - just a little bit, but strongly enough to make it hard to keep them down when I try. I have no idea how long this has all taken. It had been some 20 minutes until my hands and legs started shaking slowly, says my colleague later.

Abu Yussuf sits down and starts to chat with my colleague. Is it over?

My hands are still up. Somebody tells me I can sit back on the couch.

Abu Yussuf scribbles something on a dish - verses from the Koran. His daughter brings some water which he pours on the dish. The verses dissolve, coloring the water green.

"Drink," says Abu Yussuf.

The jinn, he says, is now gone - and no Jinn will ever come back.

"They know this person is protected."

How can the whole process be so painless?

"If someone knows what he is doing," Abu Yussuf says, "it doesn't have to hurt. This is why I made you sit up, so it goes out of your body through your hands and feet."

But where did the jinn come from? How did I catch it?

"Jinns are everywhere. The can always come," he says.

And how does the jinn know Arabic?

"In the whole world the jinn understands Arabic," he explains. "They would also understand some true parts of the Bible and the Torah."

I will soon feel better, I am told. I will be more successful in my career and personal life, now that the jinn can't control me anymore.

Sounds good to me.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=8885
 
Found an interesting Blog entry about the supernatural in Iraq, from June 8, 2004:

http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/archives/2004_08_01_healingiraq_archive.html

Chiefly about the supernatural

So, there were three of us last night at the doctors residence, me, the Baghdadi pharmacist, and our humorous cook. We were heatedly discussing, as we always do, the many ideological differences between Sunnis and Shia (we had started this habit a couple of months ago after they had realised, with some shock, that I don't pray or fast in Ramadan and that I have absolutely nothing to do with religion). The conversation slowly drifted to discussing death and the afterlife, we cracked a couple of popular jokes, and the pharmacist carefully flirted with the idea that it may all be an elaborate trick and that there is nothing but nothingness after death. Our cook got a bit uneasy on hearing this and started to recount some supernatural experiences that had occured to him or his friends, offering them as proof of there being an afterlife.

He was once out with his cousin on a walk in the country side south of Basrah, an area which is densely packed with palm groves, hundreds of small canals from Shatt Al-Arab running between them, and tens of scattered villages and habitations. Most roads here are unpaved and the whole place feels desolate and eerie at night especially during winter, dogs and wolves howl endlessly as in fear. They passed by some old ruins and a small graveyard which belonged to some Sadah (pl. of Sayyed, a descendant of Muhammed through his daughter Fatima and son-in-law Ali bin Abi Talib), it was very dark and a bit misty although it was a full moon.

They noticed some light shining from behind a grave stone in their direction, they stopped, wondering who would be in his right mind to be at such a place in the night. My cook described it as a white light that was getting stronger and stronger until what resembled a tall human figure emerged from it. He said they froze in horror at the sight of the strange figure. It looked as if it was dressed completely in a shiny white robe 'that was almost made of light', that it was faceless but it had a long white beard. The figure was about 20 metres away from them and it was moving closer to them as if it was gliding on the ground. They both snapped and started running for all they were worth, but the figure flyed behind them because they could see their shadows in the light. At one point his cousin looked behind while he was running and he missed the small bridge over one of the canals and plunged into the water. Our cook said he didn't pause for his cousin and that he kept running for his life until he was home.

On asking him what happened to his cousin, he said the cousin grew really strange after that incident, and denied seeing a ghost at all. When we started to joke about the Sadah, our cook recoiled in fear and begged us not to. It is a common superstition in southern Iraq that holy figures such as the Twelve Imams of the Shia, or basically any Sayyed can put a curse on anyone who says bad things about them. They describe Imam Al-Abbas as abu ras alhar (the hot-head) because he is supposedly known to punish people who swear falsely by his name. They tell the story of a woman who lied and sweared by the name of Abbas. She mysteriously disappeared afterwards and later they found her earrings hanging high on the ceiling of Al-Abbas' shrine in Karbala. During the last century it was common practice for the Iraqi government to ask witnesses to swear by Abbas when taking oaths in courtrooms instead of the Quran.

On this occasion, and seeing that I continued to joke about them, my cook predicted that something bad would befall me soon. He kept eyeing me and looked a bit hurt to see that nothing wrong happened to me.

There was a famous story during the nineties that took place in Najaf which is home to the largest graveyard in the world (This is because most Shia from all over the Middle East desire to be buried in holy Najaf close to the shrine of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, to this day corpses are brought from Iran, Pakistan, even India to be buried there, this was also how several plagues spread to Iraq centuries ago). Two friends challenged a third to enter the graveyard in the middle of the night and to hammer a large nail into a well known grave which belonged to a Sayyed. The man entered the graveyard, his friends waited for hours but there was no sign of their friend returning. They headed to the mentioned grave the next morning, and they found him at the grave babbling and acting as if he had lost his mind. On closer look, they found that he had driven the nail through the sleeve of his dishdasha and into the tomb. Since it was pitch dark the previous night, the man had apparently hammered the nail through his shirt unknowingly and on trying to leave imagined it as something or someone had snatched his hand and he went crazy on the spot.

Personally, I have no such experiences with ghosts. The only one that can be described as one was at high school when a friend of mine handed me a small khirza (a stone with purported magical powers). There are many kinds of these (that come in different colours and shapes) in Iraq, some bring good luck, some bring fortune, and some are used to entice ladies (something close to that is the chest bone of woodpeckers, adhm alhudhud). He said the stone would bring luck. It first rotated between a circle of our friends. One of them was kicked out of home by his father, another had a car accident, and the last failed miserably in a series of exams.

I accepted it because I was dubious and was instructed to put it under my bed pillow. Nothing happened on the first night, on the second I had some extremely erotic dreams that had me trying to keep the stone for myself and some of our friends, on hearing this, impatiently asked me for their turns to try the stone. The third night something strange happened, I felt the room was getting really hot, almost as if it was on fire. My imagination was running wild and I thought that I saw shadows on the wall dancing in fire. I returned the stone next morning and said I didn't want anything to do with it any more. Someone else took it and claimed that he lost it afterwards, he probably enjoyed those dreams too much!

At the time, my grandmother (who is a psychic) insisted that I was ridden by a Jinn (djinn) and she gave me a special hijab (not a headscarf!), which was an old faded paper with Quranic verses and strange numbers and triangular figures on it, she said it would scare the Jinn away. I admit that I did feel better then. She also has several of these stones that she keeps in a small bag of cloth. She claims that she bathes them and feeds them salt, and that they even have conversations with her.

Jinn stories are very popular in Iraq. Needless to say that Muslims are supposed to believe in Jinn because their existence is mentioned in the Quran, therefore it almost blasphemy to deny that they exist. The same as the human race, they say there are good Jinn and evil Jinn (even Muslim Jinn), they are also supposed to live in a parallel dimension so we can't perceive each other's presence. Some people are known to have contact with Jinn and can use their powers. In my family there is an old story that was passed down to us involving my father's great grandmother and her friendly relation with the Jinn. His great grandfather was a drunkard and he returned home every night and beat up his wife with a stick. On one of these nights, he entered the house to find his wife with the lamp in her hand standing in the hallway waiting for him with a strange expression on her face. She was surrounded by evil looking dwarves that sounded like elves from their description. He died on the spot, they found him the next day with his eyes wide open and with a gruesome look of sheer horror on his face.

Two popular supernatural figures in Iraqi folklore are the Tanttel and the Su'luwwa. The first is a tall and black hairy creature common in dark alleys and abandoned places. Old women are known to scare children with it. The second is a wicked woman that lives in the river and snatches young men from their boats at night. Some fishermen from Rawa even claimed to have captured one in a net.
 
More on Jinn

Not sure if this has been mentioned as I have just found the thread and not had time to read it all yet but there is an interesting characteristic of the jinn which has some relevance to Fortean studies.

It is believed that the jinn can live as humans undiscovered and provision exists in Islamic law for situations where a human may find themselves married to one. Thus they have an official legal status as well as a folkloric one - it is even accepted that they can interbreed with humans and again, there are provisions in law for the offspring of these unions.

The interesting point here (to me anyway) is that these resultant beings are held to die in a flaming manner - ie to be consumed by smokeless fire when they die.

The rationale behind this is obviously that the jinn are made of fire and are in essence elementals (there are other classes of elemental being in Islamic law also) but perhaps the belief arose from an observation of SHC phenomena in Islamic lands - an area which has so far avoided research in the main.

Some more info can be found at http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm006.htm where this quote is also to be found:

The Jinn are not immortal; they are to survive mankind, but to die before the general resurrection. Even at present many of them are slain by other Jinn, or by men; but chiefly by shooting-stars hurled at them from Heaven. The fire of which they were created, circulates in their veins instead of blood, and when they receive a mortal wound, it bursts forth and consumes them to ashes. They eat and drink, and propagate their species. Sometimes they unite with human beings, and the offspring partakes of the nature of both parents.
 
The interesting point here (to me anyway) is that these resultant beings are held to die in a flaming manner - ie to be consumed by smokeless fire when they die.

The rationale behind this is obviously that the jinn are made of fire and are in essence elementals (there are other classes of elemental being in Islamic law also) but perhaps the belief arose from an observation of SHC phenomena in Islamic lands - an area which has so far avoided research in the main.

This connection between the Djinn and (smokeless) fire is fascinating and is leading me to many interesting questions and a possible theory as to the possible origins of the Djinn.

The holy books of the world may or may not be the actual word of God(s) and may contain great wisdom. But, they are also sales documents, instruments of control and propaganda. I would argue that our holy books like our histories are written by the victor!

The rise of Islam saw in correlation a decline in the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism. As one religion became dominant and common place the other under pressure became hidden and secretive - ignorant belief that its practitioners have special powers and abilities would grow. And when that hidden community are Zoroastrians their mysterious powers and abilities become surrounded with the mythology of fire. Fire, to the Zoroastrians is a symbol of "Asha" and the "original light of God" and holds a special place of esteem in the religion. Prayer is often done in front of fire and consecrated fires are kept perpetually burning in important temples. My thoughts are that the Djinn are these hidden practitioners, that the Djinn are the Zoroastrian priesthood mythologised.

The best anology of this theory I can come up with is a belief that the fairies of Ireland are a folkmemory of the stone age culture that existed and was replaced by later metal working cultures.

So I guess my theory is:-
That the Djinn have an origin in ancient Mithraic solar cults.
That the Djinn are the Zoroastrian priesthood mythologised (as seen through an Arabic cultural filter).
That the Djinn live on in the form of the Yezidi, Zoroastrian, Parsees and others.

*****

The term Yezidi comes from the ancient Iranian term for Angel or divine being - Similar to the Sanskrit concept of the Devi or powerful being, somewhat less than a God, but far beyond the powers of ordinary mortals.

The above would also seem to be a fair description of a Djinn!
 
You make some interesting points Byron and there may well be something in your theory of links with Zoroastriansm.

The problems with it would seem to be that Zoroastrianism was already a secret tradition by the time of Christianity. In fact one could argue that Zoroastrianism (or something behind Zoroastrianism) is an implicit secret tradition in both the Bible and Qur'an.

Clearly this is obvious in the story of Jesus's birth with the motif of the Zoroastrian Magi who travel to meet Jesus and 'transmit' to hand over the tradition. Clearly this is astrological - the parallels with Mithras and Horus also suggest an existing tradition.

Also, Zoroastrians are named in the Qur'an as people who are 'believers' and 'of the book' so clearly there is no conflict or suppression as such on the outward level.

In fact the Zoroastrian priesthood could not have been mythologised in quite the way Byron suggests as they themselves also had conceptions of other beings (ie jinn) and, perhaps more importantly, the motifs of the Magi were transmuted into Sufism to a very large extent - or perhaps some of the beliefs of the Sufi were the same as those of the Magi.

This is also apparent in the issue of the Yezidis who are clearly a deterioration of a Sufi group. There practices are not devil worship as such (although Satan in some Sufi conceptions is the first true monotheist - and hence a good Muslim - as his 'fall' was to refuse to worship adam when asked to by God) but are clearly Sufic - Sufis are often demonised and this is perhaps the reason for their bad reputation. in any event, their antecedents are clearly to be found in the teachings of the Sufi Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir.

Actually I just remembered an interesting connection which may be relevant - the Yezidis have a symbol of a black snake which is traditionally blackened with soot or carbon from a fire. Hmmm.....





[/i]
 
The problems with it would seem to be that Zoroastrianism was already a secret tradition by the time of Christianity. In fact one could argue that Zoroastrianism (or something behind Zoroastrianism) is an implicit secret tradition in both the Bible and Qur'an.

This seems to support my theory.

In fact the Zoroastrian priesthood could not have been mythologised in quite the way Byron suggests as they themselves also had conceptions of other beings (ie jinn) and, perhaps more importantly, the motifs of the Magi were transmuted into Sufism to a very large extent - or perhaps some of the beliefs of the Sufi were the same as those of the Magi.

And this blows a hole in my theory large enough to throw a cat through!

So its back to the begining as far as the origin of the Djinn go. Happily my elderly copy of the Qu'ran contains an Index, footnotes and some notes in the margin made by somebody far more wise than I. They may give a little more insight into the nature of the Djinn:-

"[Genii]. This word signifies properly the genus of rational, invisible beings, whether Angels, Devils, or that intermediate species usually called Genii. Some of the commentators therefore, in this place, understand the Angels whom the pagan Arabs worshipped; and others the Devils, either because they became their servants by adoring idols at their instigation, or else because, according to the Magian system, they loked on the Devil as a sort of creator, making him the author and principle of all evil, and God the author of good only. (Al Beidawi)"

". . . some imagine the Genii are a species of Angels: others suppose the Devil to have been originally a Djinn, which was the occasion of his rebellion, and call him the father of the Genii, whom he begat after his fall; it being a constant opinion among the Mohammedans, that the Angels are impeccable, and do not propogate their species."

"These Genii, according to different opinions were of Nisibin, or of Yaman, or of Ninive; and in the number nine or seven. They heard Mohammed reading the Koran by night, or after the morning prayer, in the valley of Al Nakhlah, during the time of his retreat to Al tayef, and believed on him. (Al Beidawi, Jallalo'ddin)"

"He created man of dried clay like an earthen vessel: but he created the genii of fire clear from smoke." - Qu'ran: Chapter 55. The Chapter of The Merciful.

Reading through this thread I get the sense that the Djinn have there origin within Arab paganism. That the Pagan Gods of Arabia with the coming of Islam evolved into and merged with Angels, demons and the Djinn. A similar development occured in Britain with the coming of Christianity where the 'Old Gods' became or merged into Saints, such is the case with St. Bridgit who Sir James Frazer called "an old heathen Goddess of fertility, disguised in a threadbare Christian cloak." (The Golden Bough). Perhaps then, when searching for "European equivalents" to the Djinn rather than look amongst the folklore of trolls, elves and faeries it is best to seek the sources of the Christian Saints. It seems the Djinn are as unique to the Arabs as the Fair Folk to western Europeans.

Now i'm viewing the Djinn as a relic of Arabia's pagan past and so looking at The Arabian Nights and its veracity as a relic of a pre-Islamic belief system and culture. What was the name of this thread again?
 
Apologies for disrupting the flow of the recent conversation but I watched this short clip of an Egyptian TV show yesterday and thought it may be of interest. This is the synopsis for the vid from IFILM.com:

A Muslim man freaks out and writhes around on the floor, after being possessed by the spirit of Jinn. Meanwhile, a panel of Koranic scholars debates his insanity.
 
A well-done site about Jinn & Islam:

http://muttaqun.com/jinn.html
Book - "The World of the Jinn and Devils", p. 7
Ibn Abdul Barr said, "The jinn, according to the scholars of the language, are of different types:

If one is mentioning the jinn purely of themselves, the are called jinni.*
If one is mentioning the jinn that live among mankind, they are called aamar whose plural is amaar.
If one is mentioning the ones that antagonize the young, they are called arwaah.
If one is mentioning the evil ones that antagonize humans they are called shaitan for the singular [and shayateen for plural].
If they cause even more harm and become strong, they are called afreet."**

*Notice the similar sound between jinni and english's "genie". TV and other media have twisted the concept of jinn; however, it is interesting to note its origin is from Islam. "I Dream of Jeannie" is a TV show based around a Genie (jinni, plural of jinn). In this show, Jeannie, the genie, frequently was given a request and the requestor never quite got what was requested as she was always creating unintentional mischief. However we understand that the shaitan among the jinn antagonize humans, not that they are kind beings who accidentally mess up on occasion. Those who seek aid (such as asking for favors or making request) from the jinni will find deception and a twisted type of aid that doesn't really meet the requestor's original request, but that satisfies the shaytaanic jinn's desire for evil.

**An Ifrît (strong) from the jinns said: "I will bring it to you before you rise from your place (council). And verily, I am indeed strong, and trustworthy for such work." [The Noble Qur'an 27:39]
and
More About the Jinn
Hadith - Sahih Bukhari 4:533, Narrated Jabi bin 'Abdullah

The Prophet said, "Cover your utensils and tie your water skins, and close your doors and keep your children close to you at night, as the Jinns spread out at such time and snatch things away. When you go to bed, put out your lights, for the mischief-doer (i.e. the rat) may drag away the wick of the candle and burn the dwellers of the house." Ata said, "The devils." (instead of the Jinns).

Hadith - Sunan of Abu Dawood, Narrated Abu Sa'id al-Khudri
Muhammad ibn AbuYahya said that his father told that he and his companion went to AbuSa'id al-Khudri to pay a sick visit to him. He said: Then we came out from him and met a companion of ours who wanted to go to him. We went ahead and sat in the mosque. He then came back and told us that he heard AbuSa'id al-Khudri say: The Apostle of Allah said: Some snakes are jinn; so when anyone sees one of them in his house, he should give it a warning three times. If it return (after that), he should kill it, for it is a devil.

Hadith - Al-Muwatta 54.33
...The snake stirred on the end of the spear and the youth fell dead. No one knew which of them died first, the snake or the youth. That was mentioned to the Messenger of Allah said, "There are jinn in Madina who have become muslim. When you see one of them, call out to it for three days. If it appears after that, then kill it, for it is a shaytan." "'

Hadith - Muwatta, 49.21
...Shaytan does not open a locked door or untie a tied knot, or uncover a vessel.

Hadith - Tirmidhi #350
Allah's Messenger said: Don't cleanse yourself with dung or with bones for that is the food of your brothers from amongst the Jinn. [Transmitted by Tirmidhi, Nasa'i with this exception that he did not make mention of: The Food of your brothers from amongst the jinn.]

The Noble Qur'an - Ar-Rahmaan 55:56
Wherein both will be those (maidens) restraining their glances upon their husbands, whom no man or jinn yatmithhunna (has opened their hymens with sexual intercourse) before them.

Hadith - Abu Dawood 1046, Narrated Ali ibn Abu Talib

Ali said on the pulpit in the mosque of Kufah: When Friday comes, the devils go to the markets with their flags, and involve people in their needs and prevent them from the Friday prayer. ...
 
Nice WIKI article on Djinn links in turn to THIS ARTICLE:

Visions of the Jinn
Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips

Ibn Taymeeyah's Essay on the Jinn (Demons)

Based on "Eedah ad-Dalaalah fee 'Umoom ar-Risaalah", from volume 19 of "Majmoo' Al-Fataawaa" (A Collection of Religious Rulings); volume 35 of "Majmoo' Al-Fataawaa" and Ibn Taymeeyah's classic, " Al-Furqaan Bayna Awliyaa ar-Rahmaan wa Awliyaa ash-Shaytaan."

Note: All remarks that are bracketed in the text are made by Bilal Phillips

THE AUTHOR

Ahmad ibn 'Abdul-Haleem ibn Taymeeyah was bron in the town of Harran [near Edessa, in what was once Northern Iraq, but is now called Orfa and is a part of Turkey.], in the year 1263 CE. His father was a leading scholar of the Hanbalite school of Islamic law and so was his grandfather, who authored Muntaqaa al-Akhbaar, the text of ash-Shawkaanee's Hadeeth classic Nayl al-Awtaar.

Ibn Taymeeyah mastered the various disciplines of Islamic study at an early age and read extensively the books of the various sects and religions in existence at that time. Much of his time and effort was spend defending the orthodox Islamic position against a tidal wave of deviation which had swept over the Muslim nation. Consequently, he faced many difficulties from both the prominent sectarian scholars of his time and from the authorities who supported them. His clashes with them led to his imprisonment on numerous occasions. Ibn Taymeeyah also fought, not only against internal enemies of Islaam, but also against its external enemies by both his Fatwaas (Islamic legal rulings) and his physical participation in battles. His ruling allowing the taking up arms against groups which recognized the Shahaadataan (declaration of faith) but refused to uphold some aspects of the fundamental principles of Islaam, greatly affected the resistance movement against the Tartars who had declared their acceptance of Islaam but did not rule according to divine law.

During these struggles he wrote countless books and treatises demonstrating his extensive reading and knowledge, not only of the positions of the early scholars, but also those of the legal and theological schools which had subsequently evolved. Ibn Taymeeyah also had a major effect on the open-minded schoars of his day, most of whom were from the Shaafi'ite school of law. Among the most famous of his students were IBN KATHEER, ADH-DHAHABEE and IBN AL-QAYYIM. The author died in 1328 while in prison in Damascus for his Fatwaa against undertaking journeys to visit the graves of saints [Ibn Taymeeyah's ruling was based on the authentic statement reported by Abu Hurayrah wherein the Prophet Muhammad (saws) said, "Do not undertake a journey except to three masjids; this masjid of mine, Masjid al-Haraam (Makkah) and Masjid al-Aqsaa (Bayt al-Maqdis)." Collected by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]. His Fatwaa had been distorted by his enemies to say that he forbade visitingthe Prophet Muhammad's (saws) grave.

CHAPTER THREE: DEMONIC VISIONS

Those involved in incantations and oaths often swear by some devils to help them against others. Sometimes the evil JINN fulfil their request but frequently they do not, especially when the JINN against whom help is sought is honored among them. Neither the one chanting incantations nor his incantations have any power to force the devils to help them. The reciter of incantations earnestly entreats a being whom he considered great - which may or may not be the case - to harm others who may conceivably be greater. In the case where someone entreats the JINN to harm someone whom the JINN hold in high esteem, they will ignore him. In fact, it may prevent them from even responding at all. Their situations is quite similar to that of humans except that human beings are generally more intelligent, truthful, just and trustworthy while the JINN tend to be ignorant, untruthful, oppressive and treacherous.

The point is that though the oaths and incantations of devil-worshippers may contain statements of idolatry and disbelief, they are frequently ineffective against the JINN. When requested to kill or apprehend another JINN who has possessed a human, the JINN will often mock those who make the request by falsely giving them the impression that they killed or detained the offending JINN. This is especially so in cases where humans believe in the illusions created by the JINN. The JINN usually communicate by either visions or voices ["The gleaning of hidden information by way of visions and voices has been well documented among clairvoyants and mediums. 'A medium' may be defined as a person through whose agency or through whose orgainsm there are received communications ostensibly from deceased human beings or other discarnate or remote entities. In what is called 'clairvoyant mediumship' -now popularly known as channelling- the meduim 'sees' or 'hears' the deceased friends and relatives of persons persent and relays messages from them. Generally speaking, the experiences concerned seem not to have the distinctness of ordinary perception but are rather a seeing or hearing 'in the mind's eye' or ear. Sometimes, however, the figures seen or voices heard may attain as hallucinatory vividness; the medium's experience then resembles that of one who witnesses an apparition." (Benjamin B. Wolman. ed., Handbook of Parapsychology, New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1977, pp, 579-580)] with those seeking information among the idol-worshippers, Christians, Jews, and heretical Muslims driven astray by the devils. JINNS may take the form of a live picture portraying whatever the sorcerers and fortunetellers wish to know about. When these deviants see the image of what they sought, they then inform other humans about it. Some of them may know that the image is actually an illusion, while others may be deluded into believing that they are actually wintessing the real scene. JINNS may also make humans hear the voice of those whom they call upon who are far away. Such cases are frequent among idolaters, Christians, Jews and ignorant Muslims who seek refuge in those whom they consider holy. When some devotees call on their spiritual masters for help saying, "Oh my Lord so and so!" the JINN will address them in the voice of their masters. When the masters answer their request, the JINN, in turn, answer the devotees in the masters' voice. This has happened to many people some of whom are known to me. The devils will often respond while talking the form of the one besought, whether dead or alive, even if he is unaware of those who call on him. Those committing Shirk in this fashion believe that the person beseeched has actually replied when in fact it is the JINN replying. This frequently happens to Christians who call on those whom they edify, whether dead or alive, like George or other holy figures [ROME, Feb 24 1989 (AFP) - A retired Italian roadman Renato Baron claims that he has been seeing and talking to the Virgin Mary for nearly three years now. Visions by Baron and about THIRTY others have attracted tens of thousands of people from Italy, France, Belgium, and West Germany to a hill near Venice, causing huge traffic jams.

Ambridge, Pennsylvania - A small Roman Catholic Church in a western Pennsylvania mill town is preparing for a deluge of pilgrims after a reported Good Friday miracle in which the eyes of a statue of Christ suddenly closed. The Rev. Vincent Cvitkovic, a Franciscan friar, and many of his parishoners reported that the eyes of a life-size statue which depicts the crucified Christ, which have been open for 60 years, closed during a prayer meeting. (The Times, Monday, April 10th 1989, no. 63, 364, p.8)

In 1981 a group of five children were playing on a hill just outside of a village in the Yugoslavian Republic of Bosnia - Herzegovina called Medugorje when a vision of a beautiful woman claiming to be the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared before them. Since 1981 some seven to eight million pilgrims from different countries, cultures and Christian traditions have climbed up the holy hill of Medugorje. At 7:30 every evening pilgrims and tourists anxiously crowd around the dark rectory of a nearby church staring at the stream of light which will signify that once more the children, who still gather there daily, are having their private audience with the Blessed Mother. (IRF, Newsletter of the International Religious Foundation, Inc., Vol II, No. 6, Nov-Dec 1987, pp 1-2).

This is part of a larger article, for those interested.....
 
*Desperatly trying to clutch at straws thrown into a whirlwind*

Alexius4 said:
I've heard of folk meeting them in more outlandish forms - speaking cats, :)

Gef the Mongoose...comes to mind

KeyserXSoze said:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200409080061.html

The evil jinn, on the other hand [snip] and having sex with women even in the presence of their husbands.

Incubi & Sucubi?

Several times he and his wife left the house in the morning to go to work, and on returning in the evening, would be told by the househelp about how they had both come back during the day for lunch or 10 O'clock tea.

Dopplegangers?
 
An interesting site concerning direct questions about the Jinn:

http://www.islamawareness.net/Jinn/

Including such topics as:

FATWAS

Can a Human Marry a Jinni?

Did Allah Raise Prophets from among the Jinn?

The World of Jinn and Its Secrets

Jinn Comrade (Qareen): How to Get Rid of It?

The Fate of Animals, Jinn & Angels in the Hereafter

Driving Away Satanic Whispers

And from the Jinn FAQ:
Question 10: Can human beings and jinn inter-marry?

Yes and no. It depends upon how one looks at it. It is a known fact in the Qur'an in Surah Al-Israa' (17:64) that jinn may share with us our wealth and our children. The Hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) reconfirms this concept when he says that when a man has marital relationship with his wife, he should mention the name of Allah (swt). He should seek refuge in Allah (swt) from the outcast shaitan. Otherwise, shaitan folds himself up in the man's urethra and shall have sexual relations along with him.

Moreover, when a man goes to his wife while she is in her menses, shaitan precedes him. She shall conceive and will bring forth a sterile person (Mukhannath). Such a sterile person is considered to be child of the jinn.
 
Looks like we are going to be getting a Jinn horror film soon starring Darth Maul:

http://www.jinnthemovie.com/
In the Beginning, Three were Created...

Man made of Clay.

Angels made of Light.

And a Third...made of Fire.

From the beginning, stories of angels and men have captured our imaginations and have been etched into our history crossing all boundaries of culture, religion, and time. These two races have dominated the landscape of modern mythology for countless centuries, almost washing away the evidence that a third ever existed. This third race, born of smokeless fire, was called the jinn. Similar to humans in many ways, the jinn lived invisibly among us and only under dire or unusual circumstances were our paths ever meant to cross.

As humans became the dominant force on Earth, contact between man and jinn steadily decreased.

Modern man has all but forgotten the jinn.

It is time for him to remember.
 
A friend of mine from the (Caliphate) O.T.O. was telling me that he once went along to a Islamic group meeting in the U.K. and they performed a group ritual which was actually an evocation with the intention of summoning each person's personal djinni! And when he questioned them about it they denied what they were doing was against their faith! I'll ask him the name of the group when I next speak to him.
 
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Just to add on the same subject, one of my occult articles was published recently by a great publisher called Martinet Press and one of their most popular publications is a book called the Devil's Quran. This area of practice has seemingly become very popular over the past couple of years. Many of my friends practice from the book but I tell members of O.M. not to as it's provenance is very false, and it encourages readers to cut themselves and rub the pages of the book with their blood; blood sacrifice with spirits is a dangerous game as the attachment forged can be very difficult to break and can cause decades of harassment, I've known people to have periods staying in St Ann's after performing blood sacrifices and hearing voices immediately afterwards. So anyway despite having a good relationship with the publisher I strongly disagree with marketing a book as an ancient powerful grimoire when it's been invented by an American occult enthusiast over the last couple of years.

Quoting directly form the amazon description:

''Islamic tradition holds that through the fallen angels Harut and Marut, Shaitan has revealed his own scriptures. The Devil's Quran is one such text. Said to have been discovered in Iraq, this profane collection of ten suras speaks to the reader from the viewpoint of the Adversary. It outlines the cosmology of evil, and contains detailed instructions on the rites, prayers, and heretical practices. Compelling and sincere, it offers a path for those who are willing to enter Hell and claim the Devil as their lord. This is the voice of fire, which speaks to the hearts and minds of genuine seekers.''

= bullshit, Abdul Alhazred's toilet paper.
 
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