The Vengeful Djinn: Unveiling the Hidden Agenda of Genies (11 page)

HADITH-AL-MUWATTA 51.10

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya Ibn Said, "When
the Messenger of Allah was taken on the night journey, and he
saw an evil djinni seeking him with a torch of fire. Whenever
the Messenger of Allah turned, he saw him. Jibril (the Archangel Gabriel) said to him, `Shall I teach you some words to say?
When you say them, his torch will be put out and will fall from
him.' The Messenger of Allah said, `Yes, indeed.' Jibril said,
`Say, `I seek refuge with the Face of Allah and with the complete
words of Allah which neither the good person nor the corrupt
can exceed, from the evil of what descends from the sky and the
evil of what ascends in it, and from the evil of what is created
in the earth and the evil of what comes out of it, and from the
trials of the night and day, and from the visitations of the night
and day, except for one that knocks with good, 0 Merciful!"

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 djinn 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 shaitan."

Comment: This is an interesting passage, for it says that there are
good djinn and one should leave them alone and live in peace with
them, but beware of the evil djinn. This passage gives instructions
on how to tell them apart.

HADITH-AL-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 djinn.

Comment: Once again, the djinn are called the "brothers" of mankind.

HADITH-AL-TIRMIDHI 358

Allah's Messenger said: The screen between the eyes of djinn
and the private parts of the sons of Adam as one of them enters
the privy is that he should say: In the name of Allah.

HADITH-SAHIH MUSLIM 39.6757

Allah's Apostle said: There is none amongst you with who is
not an attache from amongst the djinn. They said: Allah's Apostle with you too? Thereupon he said: Yes, but Allah helps me
against him and so I am safe from his hand and he does not
command me but for good.

HADITH-SUNAN ABU-DAWUD 36.5236

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 djinn; 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.

If Djinn Are Real, Why Are They Not Mentioned in
the Bible?

This is a question that comes up over and over again. There are
other types of beings mentioned in the Christian Bible who are not
humans or angels. In several translated verses of the Old Persian
Bible, the words jinn, jaann, and Iblis are mentioned as the names
of the devil and demons. In Cornelius Van Allen Van Dyck's Arabic translation of the Bible, these specific words are mentioned in
Leviticus 19:31 and 20:6, Matthew 4:1 and 12:22, Luke 4:5 and
8:12, and John 8:44.

More modern translations-there are dozens in use today-use
different terminology. Here are the above verses in the King James
Bible, the predominant text used until the mid-twentieth century,
and the New American Standard translation made in 1995:

LEVITICUS 19:31

King James-"Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD
your God."

New American Standard-"Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the LORD
your God."

LEVITICUS 2o:6

King James-"And the soul that turneth after such as have
familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I
will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from
among his people."

New American Standard-"As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set
my face against that person and will cut him off from among his
people."

MATTHEW 4:I

King James-"Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil."

New American Standard-"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit
into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."

MATTHEW I2:22

King James-"Then was brought unto him one possessed with
a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the
blind and dumb both spake and saw."

New American Standard-"Then a demon-possessed man who
was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so
that the mute man spoke and saw."

LUKE 4:5

King James-"And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, shewed [showed] unto him all the kingdoms of the world in
a moment of time."

New American Standard-'And he led Him up and showed
Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time."

LUKE 8:I2

King James-"Those by the way side are they that hear; then
cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts,
lest they should believe and be saved."

New American Standard-"Those beside the road are those who
have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from
their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved."

JOHN 8:44

King James-"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of
your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the
father of it."

New American Standard-"You are of your father the devil,
and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there
is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his
own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

So, it seems that the term jinn does appear indirectly in the
Christian bible, but due to the many interpretations and translations over the years the words djinn, jinn, and Iblis were replaced
by devils, demons, and familiar spirits. Perhaps the devils and demons of Christianity are really evil members of the ancient race of
djinn.

T'S A DIFFICULT TASK To research and obtain information about
a race of beings that prefers to remain hidden from us. For the
most part, all we have are stories and legends that have been handed
down through generations. Most of the information in this chapter
comes from information obtained from Phil's trips to several Middle
Eastern countries. Information he gathered was in the form of written legends, passages from the Qur'an, and stories from holy men
and families he met. Later, we found additional data in a number of
books and papers written by Muslim scholars. These references appear in the bibliography.

The djinn are much older than the human race but exactly
how much older is unknown. However, if they were around before Adam, the time period from their creation to the present day
could be millions of years. A being that could exist for hundreds
of centuries could accumulate a great deal of knowledge about the universe and be very powerful. As you might expect, in their long
life spans, they have developed a complex society and have evolved
with a great deal of diversity.

When compared to a human, a djinni's life span is very long. A
person in good health may live to be eighty years old. We consider
this age quite elderly, but a djinni of this age is yet a toddler. In a
person's life span, an individual learns at his or her own pace. This
rhythm is determined not only by the individual's interest level, but
also by his or her goals, spiritual development, and intelligence.

Just like their human counterparts, djinn are born with free will
and have very little knowledge and power. Humans attend school
to learn more about their world, how to function within it, and
how to contribute to society. The djinn do the same. The big difference is that a human child may have sixteen years or so of direct
schooling, while djinn juveniles may be in training for thousands
of years before they can graduate to a higher level.

People mistakenly tend to place all djinn in a single category,
assuming all act with a single purpose, controlled by one mentality. This is far from the case; each djinni is an individual, just as is
a person. Although djinn are subject to the same laws and morals
as humans operating within a social construct, there are renegades
who choose to not follow rules. The information the human race
has about the djinn not only comes from historical writings and
stories, but from djinn who like to talk excessively, another way
information about them filters through the dimensions.

Individual djinn react differently to human presence. There are
djinn who are harmless and feel indifference toward us and there
are djinn who interact with humans, but benignly. Many of the
younger djinn are just as curious about us as we are about them
and it is in this type of encounter in which a juvenile djinni will
take on a different form, such as an animal, fairy, or other type of
entity that would surely get our attention and at the same time, conceal its true nature. Shapeshifting appears to be the only way these "youngsters" can get close enough to study us. On a similar note, younger djinn seem to be more attracted to children than adults and will often appear before them in one of the forms mentioned above. They may also stay invisible and communicate using only a disembodied voice. We use the term "youngster" here, but please realize that although the human child may be six years old, the djinn child is most likely thousands of years old.

Some of the very old and powerful djinn have interacted with humans in the past, but they seem to have their own agendas for the most part. A few of these powerful djinn have been sealed in prisons by angels, and in some cases, by King Solomon himself. Although these djinn are not necessarily evil, they have acquired dangerous amounts of power and are unpredictable. They have the free will to act out and may some day pose a threat to humanity. In old Arabian stories, it is this type of djinni that is freed from imprisonment. As the story often goes, the djinni is so grateful that it (usually a "he") grants its human liberator three wishes. After the three wishes are fulfilled the djinni goes on his way, completely free. However, the story doesn't always turn out well for the people involved. The centuries-long imprisonment often makes the djinni resentful, angry, and even psychotic. When finally released from his prison, the djinni sometimes takes his anger out on the human who set him free and then continues to exact revenge on all creatures he blames for his long period of captivity-the human race being enemy number one.

The Thief of Baghdad was a popular movie made in 1940 that features a bitter, angry djinni.l
The hero of the film is a boy
named Abu who finds a strange bottle washed ashore on a beach. The bottle is old, made of brass and glass, and the top is sealed.2
Abu breaks the seal and out of the neck of the bottle shoots thick black smoke. The smoke takes the form of a powerful, giant djinni who has been imprisoned in the bottle for more than two thousand years. Recognizing the figure as a djinni, the boy commands him to do his bidding. The djinni answers him with a thundering "NO!" Abu reminds the djinni that he set him free, and according to the will of the king who imprisoned him (King Solomon), the djinni must grant him three wishes. The djinni replies, "For two thousand years I have been in the bottle, imprisoned by the great Solomon himself, master of all djinn. For the first thousand, I vowed that I would serve in gratitude and grant three wishes to any man who freed me, but in the second thousand years, I became angry at all men and vowed to destroy he who set me free to appease my anger, so prepare to die!"