Genie
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For other uses, see Genie (disambiguation).
In Arabian folklore, a genie (also jinn, djinn, from Arabic جني jinn) is a supernatural fiery creature who is said to possess free will. Genies are mentioned in the Qur'an, wherein a whole Sura is named after them (Al-Jinn). They can be both good and evil. In some cases, Evil genies are said to lead humans astray. In Islam, Satan, known in Arabic as Iblees, is the iconic genie that refused to bow down to Adam when ordered to by Allah.
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology and definitions
2 Jinn in pre-Islamic era
3 Jinn in the Bible
4 Jinn in Islam
5 Jinn in post-Islamic Arabic fiction
6 Genies in Western culture
7 See also
7.1 Compare
8 References
9 External links
[edit]Etymology and definitions

Genie is the mythical English translation of the Arabic term jinn. The first recorded use of the word Genie in the English language was in 1655 as geny, with the Latin meaning (see Genius (mythology)). The French translators of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights later used the word génie as a translation of jinni because it was similar to the Arabic word both in sound and in meaning; this meaning was also picked up in English and has since become dominant. The plural, according to Sir Richard Francis Burton, is Jann. The French génie, in turn, came from the Latin genius, which meant a sort of tutelary or guardian spirit thought to be assigned to each person at birth. The Latin word predates the Arabic word jinni in this context, and may have been introduced in the Arabian civilization through the Nabataeans[citation needed]. The root however, and its concept of being "hidden" or "concealed" still comes from the Semitic root "JNN" and from which the Arabic Jannah (garden or paradise) is derived.[1][2]
Arabic lexicons, such as William Lane's lexicon provide[3] the rendered meaning of Jinn not only for spirits, but also for anything concealed through time, status and even physical darkness. A classical Arabic use of the term Jinn is as follows:
And there is no concealment with vehement hatred as well as the averting look.
[edit]Jinn in pre-Islamic era

Amongst archaeologists dealing with ancient Middle Eastern cultures, any spirit lesser than Angels is often referred to as a “Djinn”, especially when describing stone carvings or other forms of art. This practice draws on the original meaning of the term genie as simply a spirit of any sort.
Inscriptions found in Northwestern Arabia seem to indicate the worship of Djinn, or at least their tributary status. For instance, an inscription from Beth Fasi'el near Palmyra pays tribute to the "Ginnaye", the "good and rewarding gods"[4] providing a sharp resemblance to the Latin Genius and Juno: The Guardian Spirits.
Types of Djinn include the ghul (“night shade”, which can change shape), the sila (which cannot change shape), the Ifrit IPA: [iˈfɾɪt], and Marid [mʌˈɾɪd]. According to the information in The Arabian Nights, Marid seem to be the strongest form of Djinn, followed by Ifrit, and then the rest of the Djinn forms.
In the Middle East it is believed that the Djinn were spirits of smokeless fire, although sometimes they associated them with succubi (demons in the forms of beautiful women). The feminine form of Djinn is “jinniyah” or “jinneyeh”.
[edit]Jinn in the Bible

In several verses in Old Arabic and Old Persian Bible translations, the words: Jinn(جن) Jaann(الجان) Majnoon(مجنون) and Iblees(ابلیس) are mentioned as translations of familiar spirit or אוב(obe) for Jaann and the devil or δαιμόνιον(dahee-mon'-ee-on) for Iblees. In Cornelius Van Allen Van Dyck's Arabic translation of the Bible these words are mentioned in Lev 19:31, Lev 20:6, 1Sa 28:3, 1Sa 28:9, 1Sa 28:7, 1Ch 10:13, Mat 4:1, Mat 12:22, Luk 4:5, Luk 8:12, Joh 8:44 and other verses as well. Also, in the book of Testament of Solomon, Solomon describes particular demons whom he enslaved to help build the temple, the questions he put to them about their deeds and how they could be thwarted, and their answers, which provide a kind of self-help manual against demonic activity.
[edit]Jinn in Islam


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The Djinn are said to be creatures with free will, made from 'smokeless fire' by Allah in the same way humans were made of earth. According to the Qur'an, Djinn have free will, and Iblees used this freedom in front of Allah by refusing to bow to Adam when Allah told Iblees to do so. By refusing to obey Allah order he was thrown out of the Paradise and called “Shaitan”. Djinn are frequently mentioned in the Qur'an, Sura 72 of the Qur'an (named Al-Jinn) is entirely about them. Another Sura (Al-Naas) mentions the Djinn in the last verse. It is also mentioned in the Qur'an that Muhammad was sent as a prophet to both “humanity and the Djinn”.
In the world there are three main creations, Angels, Humans and Jinns (other than various animals):
Angels: Angels are made from light (Noor). In Islam they are slaves of God who have no free will. They do not commit any sin nor disobey God and they always worship him.
Humans: Humans are created from earth and are given free will to do good or bad in their lives. Because of their free will, they will be held accountable for their choices in this life on the Day of Judgement. Those who follow and obey God (Allah), will be rewarded with paradise/heaven.
Jinns: Similar to humanity, jinns have free will allowing them to follow any religion they choose to, such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. The only difference is that they are made of smokeless fire and therefore are not visible to humans. There are more jinns than humans, in terms of population. Jinns have the power to fly and fit in to any space so they live in remote areas, mountains, seas, trees, and in the air, in their own communities. Similar to the humans, Jinns will also be judged on The Day of Judgement and will be sent to Jannat (heaven) or Nar (hell) according to the life they lead.
Every person is assigned a special jinn to them, also called a qareen, the jinns that whisper into your soul and tell you to give into your evil desires. The Prophet Muhammad's jinn turned into a Muslim jinn, on the recitation of the Qur'an, as the jinn found it most beautiful.[citation needed]
[edit]Jinn in post-Islamic Arabic fiction

The evil "Ifrit" are called “the seed of Iblees” in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.
The Spirit of the Lamp in the story of Aladdin, a familiar djinn to the Western world (see next section), was such a jinni, having been bound to an oil lamp. Ways of summoning jinn were told in The Thousand and One Nights: by writing the name of God in Hebrew characters on a knife (whether the Hebrew name for God, Yahweh, or the Arabic Allah is used is not specified), and drawing a diagram, with strange symbols and incantations around it.
The jinn’s power of possession was also addressed in the fictional Nights. It is said that by taking seven hairs out of the tail of a cat that was all black except for a white spot on the end of its tail, and then burning the hairs in a small closed room with the possessed filling their nose with the scent, this would release them from the spell of the jinn inside them.[citation needed].
[edit]Genies in Western culture

The Western interpretation of the genie is based on the story of Aladdin in the Western version of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, which told of a genie that lived in an oil lamp and would grant wishes to the owner of the lamp, as well as the genie in the tale of The Fisherman and the Jinni
Many western stories about genies tend to follow the same vein as the famous short story The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs, with the overriding theme of “be careful what you wish for”. In these stories, wishes can have disastrous, horrific, and sometimes fatal consequences. Often, the genie causes harm to the loved ones or innocent people surrounding the wisher, making others pay for its master’s greed or ignorance. This also forms the basis of numerous three wishes jokes.
Exploiting loopholes or twisting interpretations of wishes is a classic trait amongst genies in Western fiction, with the genies either deliberately or unintentionally misinterpreting the wishes to grant the wisher exactly what they had asked for while in fact giving them the opposite of what they wanted. For example, in “The Man in the Bottle” episode of The Twilight Zone, a poor shopkeeper who finds a genie and wishes to become a leader of a great nation is transformed into Adolf Hitler at the very end of World War II. Often, these stories end with the genie’s master wishing to have never found the genie, all his previous wishes never to have happened, or a similar wish to cancel all the fouled wishes that had come before.
[edit]See also

Genie in popular culture
Aladdin
Christian demonology
Classification of demons
Dantalion
Demon
Demonic possession
Exorcism and Exorcism in Islam

Ghost
Ifrit
International Association of Exorcists
Mr. Popo
List of exorcists

Marid
Magic carpet
Satanism
Spiritual possession

[edit]Compare
Wight
Sprite
Tutelary deity
[edit]