Conceptions of Jinn

Sitting in a muggy, open air restaurant in Quezon City, my friend confides in me his cousin’s struggles with jinn.In Islamic mythology jinn (singular jinni) are entities created out of smokeless fire that inhabit a realm unseen by humans, but the concept of jinn is much older than the Islamic faith.  The power cuts out and he’s visibly uncomfortable. “This is a sign they’re listening,” he whispers to me.

Jinn are a remnant of pre-Islamic Arabian belief systems, where they ranged from lesser deities to mischievous spirits. As Islam gained ground, the belief in jinn persisted and while these creatures are mentioned in the Qur’an, the rich folklore about them lies outside of scripture. The concept of jinn easily mingled with elements of the magical in the traditional religions that Islam sought to displace, adding and expanding jinn lore while Islam was realigning and re-imaging remnants of the religious cultures it overtook.

Jinn are said to live lives parallel to humans. They have governance, practice the same religions as humans, they have families, and cultures, but exist in a realm humans cannot perceive. They possess the ability to shapeshift and can manipulate the human realm. Many of the jinn stories I’ve encountered mimic local ghost stories and urban legends. As ghosts do not exist in Islam these urban legends and myths are reframed with jinn functioning as the ghosts and ghouls of societies.

Jinn mixed into traditional folklore taking the place of protective and vindictive nature spirits. Stories about interactions with jinn are passed down through families adding a sense of legitimacy to encounters with these otherworldly beings. Most but not all the subjects of these stories were Muslims and the jinn act in a way that mirror the stories of demons found in Christianity. They entice and seduce believers into immorality, possess their bodies and cause all sorts of malaise.

Local and pop cultures shape and transform past understandings and beliefs of jinn, weaving the new and the old, the local and the foreign. In the Philippines, I’ve met several people who have described jinn as having the same appearance as ghosts from Japanese horror films—pale skin with dark hair obscuring their face that moved in disjointed and terrifying ways. Encounters with these Japanese-esque entities were not described as sustained, but brief moments that did not initially register as unnatural. A girl on a bed, sitting cross legged, and deeply engrossed in a book, mistaken for the story teller’s sister only to find her in another room. A woman, face obscured waiting on the street while the narrator enjoyed a cigarette. Only when something feels amiss, upon second glance the onlooker sees that there is no one. The stories involving these cinematic type ghouls were rarely described as overtly violent, only slightly menacing and unnerving–offering a hint of the otherworldly.

The concept of jinn is extremely amorphous and even creeps into modern folklore. Aliens and jinn are considered to be one and the same by some believers, and abductions are just the jinni kidnappings of the past. Still many imagine jinn as horned demon-like creatures as depicted in medieval Muslim texts.

Enforcers of Morality

Jinn, be they described as pale ghouls, horned demons, or alien-esque creatures have the power to invade all aspects of human life and according to much folklore, have the ability to possess humans. Within the Philippines the understanding of possession among Muslims mirrors that of Catholics in terms of manifestations and in some manners of ritual exorcism. Possession has been used to explain illness across cultures—both physical and mental. While possession is often used as an explanation for illness and misfortune, it also illustrates underlying notions of values and modes of proper religious conformity.

Within Islam, maintaining one’s prayers is considered paramount and stories of jinn possessing wayward believers serve as a warning to those who may be less rigorous about performing the prescribed rituals. Neglecting prayer can illustrate that one has been influenced or even possessed by a jinni, or that one is inviting possession by not adhering to their religious duties. The subject of the story is usually a distant source—when the narrator relays the story it’s always a friend of a friend, or a distant relative who suffered for their lack of devotion. These stories serve to influence the listener by reasserting the importance of ritual prayer and the consequences if one does not practice.

While praying, one is often told to be wary of jinn. In congregation believers must pray shoulder-to-shoulder and foot-to-foot because any gap can be occupied by a jinni with nefarious intent trying to lead the faithful astray. Some Muslims even fold over a corner of their prayer rug after they’ve finished, for fear a jinni may occupy it. No space is safe from the jinn and a Muslim must be constantly vigilant because giving into temptation no matter how minute that temptation can have disastrous consequences.

In these anecdotes and stories often relayed to other believers, jinn function as policing forces for morality and proper behavior. Possession, in this understanding, only occurs among those that do not fall in line. One account narrated to me involved a young woman who often neglected her prayer and who did not “know her place.” In this story not only is possession situated on religious impropriety, but also on a woman not adhering to traditional patriarchal social norms. Jinn then become a tool to promote conformity, upholding the status quo by pathologizing deviation.

By regulating adherence to ritual and social norms through the threat of possession, jinn enforce the supremacy of Islam. It is through the practice of Islamic rituals one maintains their health and agency, but shirking religious responsibility leads to madness. If such a terrible fate befalls an individual it is only through Islam by way of exorcism and scripture that one can be cured. The strength of jinn and traditional local belief in which they are subsumed cannot shake the authority of Islam and by its power to “cure” the possessed it proves to believers that the ideology is true and should be obeyed.

Through the concept of jinn pre-Islamic and extra-Islamic beliefs avoid complete erasure in Islam dominate contexts. While these “exterior” beliefs may find a home within the framework of Islam, by virtue of being married to the notion of jinn they now serve uphold the primacy of the Islamic faith and compel normative manifestations of religious practice amongst Muslims. Stories of jinn and especially possession by jinn serve to quell spiritual and social aberration amongst believers by reinforcing authority of religious doctrine. Tangible chaos and pain can be derived from fictional creatures because there is strength in mere belief. Jinn may serve as spooky antagonists to creepy stories, but they can also be utilized to induce and uphold conformity—something more nefarious than a scary story.