In the stories of the 1001 nights, we encounter demons, ghosts and jinns, as well as other Arabic fairy tales and folk tales talk of various monsters, some of which have survived to our own time.
Many magic tales have their origins in the myths of the ancient Semitic religion. The gods and demon conception usually referred to the nature-important objects of the economy, such as Stars or organic processes that are possessed or influenced, caused or prevented by the gods or demons: illness, death, birth, fire, drought, rain, thunderstorms. An outstanding position was taken by the rain god, to whom human sacrifices were made every year, so that he would give the human settlements water and thus fertility. This rain god can be found in many Arabic fairy tales in the figure of the water demon Il-Afrit, to which a girl is sacrificed, and in return the people get the vital water, which he has held back so far. Likewise, as a god of water, one can classify the Garguf, and if one seeks a natural explanation for the murderous, wild animal transforming itself into a wild animal, one finds these in an epidemic, which lets many humans die. These deities of pre-Islamic times, sunk to demons, we find in certain forms in popular belief today.
From the multitude of names of gods we want to restrict ourselves to the generic term "djinn", which has its firm place in the present thinking of ordinary people and is therefore of importance. In the time of the Prophet Muhammad these spirits were worshiped as indefinite, impersonal gods, today they are defined differently.
The goblets were created by God from smokeless flame, while angels and humans, the other two beings with reason, were made of light and clay. The Dschinne are independent beings and are described as airy or fiery body. They are not tangible and able to appear in changing shape. They are considered mediocrities between humans and angels and will also have to give an account of their deeds at the recent judgment.
Genies are invisible creatures of non-human origin, they are born directly into the spirit world. Some are intelligent as smart people or as good as saints, while others can be quite spiteful. They do not live on earth but their place is underground. They are mortal, but their lifespan should be several centuries.
In Islamic society, the existence of the ghost is confirmed and all consequences drawn. Their legitimate position has been discussed and established and possible relationships between them and humans, e.g. Marriage and ownership examined. It is interesting that there were countless stories of love relationships between girls and humans and still exist.
In magic, the guitars are also fully recognized. Some wizards and magicians are able to move certain types of spirits to serve humans. They provide services in either the visible or the invisible world, such as collecting messages from the deceased. Magic in this case is the knowledge of how to enforce these services of the spirits, but one needs a hard and dangerous apprenticeship.
In addition to "Djinn" you often hear the names "Ifrit" and "Shaitan". Originally, Ifrit was an epithet meaning "mighty," meaning a mighty jinn. Later, both terms were equated, but more in the sense of "vicious, devious".
In the vernacular dialect, an Ifrit is the spirit of a murdered person or a non-natural deceased, but commonly referred to as the modern language, a powerful malevolent and hostile djinn who throws his opponent into the dust (afar).
If we now consider the term Shaitan in relation to the spirit world, one can trace its meaning as a superhuman being back to Arab paganism. Even in the stories of Solomon, a Shaitan is nothing more than a jinn superior to others in knowledge and power. Other names for Shaitan are Taghut and Dschann, which means "Father of the Dschinne". The term Iblis is to be understood as a proper name of the devil, the particular Shaitan.
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| ghosts and jinns |
If we consider genie as a collective term, we can
- define an unbelieving genie as Shaitan,
- one who is violent and vicious is called Afrit,
- Ghosts who attack especially boys are called Arwah,
- and a rebellious genie is a marid.
A variety of marines belonging to the jinns is the ghoul. The ancient Arabs used ghul to describe a female, especially gruesome, misanthropic demon who can change his form, and especially escapes travelers from their ways, attacks them and devours them.
The ghoul is sometimes equated with the si'lat, which has a similar power to transform itself and is therefore also called the sorceress (sahira) among the jinns. The male counterpart of the Ghul is the Kutrub. The word ghoul is also commonly used for misfortunes that come upon men. Ghoul, or Ghula or Kutruba, is popularly known as a cannibal expression, whether of human or demonic origin. One also imagines the ghula as a creature that lives in cemeteries and feeds on corpses.
Now it can happen that one hears only voices and does not perceive the associated demons. This voice is called Hatif, which means a perception that conveys a mysterious message, warning or solicitation. Through magic, such voices can be made using certain means, and thus you can request messages for specific people.
All these terms or designations may be regionally different in content, but this proves that they have always played a role in human life.
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