Editing Jinn (section)

== Pre-Islamic era ==
The exact origins of belief in jinn are not entirely clear.<ref name="Lebling–2010">
{{cite book
 |last=Lebling  |first=Robert
 |date=2010
 |title=Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and genies from Arabia to Zanzibar
 |publisher=I.B. Tauris
 |place=New York, NY & London, UK
 |isbn=978-0-85773-063-3
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qKL3AgAAQBAJ&q=ancient+Mesopotamian+genii+and+Islamic+jinn
}}
</ref>{{rp|style=ama|pages= 1–10}} Belief in jinn in [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia|pre-Islamic Arab religion]] is testified not only by the Quran, but also by [[pre-Islamic Arabic poetry]].<ref name="HistMuh-2016">{{cite book |last= Zeitlin |first= Irving M.|author-link= |date= 2007|title= The Historical Muhammad |publisher=Polity |page= |isbn=978-0-745-63998-7}}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=54}} Some scholars of the Middle East hold that they originated as malevolent spirits residing in deserts and unclean places, who often took the forms of animals;<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 1–10}} others hold that they were originally pagan nature deities who gradually became marginalized as other deities took greater importance.<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=ama|pages= 1–10}}

=== Fear and veneration ===
Jinn were already worshipped by many Arabs in [[pre-Islamic Arabia]].{{Sfn|El-Zein|2009|p=34}}<ref name="HistMuh-2016"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=54}} [[Julius Wellhausen]] observed that jinn were often thought to "inhabit or haunt desolate, dark and dingy places in the desert".<ref name="Zeitlin59">
{{cite book
 |first=Irving M. |last=Zeitlin
 |date=2007
 |title=The Historical Muhammad
 |publisher=Polity
 |isbn=978-0-7456-3999-4
 |pages=59–60
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v_seJ21M0UoC&pg=PT59
}}
</ref> For that reason, they were held responsible for various diseases and mental illnesses.{{Sfn|El-Zein|2009|p=122}}<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=ama|pages= 1–10}} [[Emilie Savage-Smith]] asserts that malicious jinn and good gods were distinct in pre-Islamic Arabia, but admits that such distinction is not absolute.<ref name="MagicAndDivination-2021">Magic and Divination in Early Islam. (2021). Vereinigtes Königreich: Taylor & Francis.</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=39}} In the regions north to the [[Hejaz]], [[Palmyra]] and [[Baalbek]], the terms ''jinni'' and ''ilah'' (deity) were often used interchangeably.<ref>ʻAẓmah, ʻ. (2014). The Emergence of Islam in Late Antiquity: Allah and His People. Vereinigtes Königreich: Cambridge University Press. p. 293</ref> Julius Wellhausen likewise agrees that in pre-Islamic Arabia it was assumed there are at least some friendly and helpful beings among the jinn. He distinguishes between a god and a jinni, not on the basis of morality, but on the basis of worship; the jinn are worshipped in private while the gods are worshipped in public.<ref name="MagicAndDivination-2021"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=39}}

[[Al-Jahiz]] credits the pre-Islamic Arabs with believing that the society of jinn constitutes several tribes and groups, analogous to pre-Islamic Arabian culture. Jinn could also protect, marry, kidnap, possess, and kill people.<ref>
{{cite web
 |title=cin
 |website=TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi
 |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/cin
}}
</ref><ref name=Aloiane-1996/>{{rp|style=ama|page= 424}} Despite being invisible, jinn are considered to have bodies (''ajsām''), as described by [[Zakariya al-Qazwini]], they are among [[animals]], along with humans, burdened beasts (like [[horses]]), [[Bos|cattle]], [[Wildebeest|wildebeests]], [[birds]], and [[reptiles]].<ref>Nasr, S. H. (2013). Islamic Life and Thought. Vereinigtes Königreich: Taylor & Francis.</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=135}} Jinn are further known as shapeshifters, often assuming the form of an animal, favoring the form of a [[snake]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Amira el-Zein |title=The Evolution of the Concept of Jinn from Pre-Islam to Islam |page=260}}{{full citation needed|date=May 2024}}</ref> Other [[chthonic]] animals regarded as forms of jinn include [[scorpion]]s and [[lizard]]s. Both scorpions and serpents have been venerated in the [[ancient Near East]].

When they shift into a human form however, they are said to stay partly animal and are not fully human.<ref name="Nünlist-2015"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=164}}{{Sfn|El-Zein|2009|p=164}} Although the power of jinn usually exceed those of humans, it is conceivable a man could kill a jinni in single combat, but they are feared for attacking without being seen.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last=Abd-Allah |first=Umar F.
 |year=2002
 |contribution=The Perceptible and the unseen: The Qur'anic conception of man's relationship to God and realities beyond human perception
 |editor-last=Palmer  |editor-first=Spencer J.
 |title=Mormons and Muslims: Spiritual foundations and modern manifestations
 |pages=209–264
 |place=Provo, UT
 |publisher=Brigham Young University
 |department=Religious Studies Center
}}
</ref> Some sources even speak of killed jinn leaving behind a carcass similar to either a serpent or a scorpion.{{Sfn|El-Zein|2009|p=91–93}}

=== Poetry and soothsaying ===
Despite that they were often feared or inspired awe, the jinn were also pictured to befriend humans or have romantic feelings for them. According to common Arabian belief, pre-Islamic [[Fortune-telling|soothsayer]]s, philosophers, and [[Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry|poets]] were inspired by the jinn.{{Sfn|El-Zein|2009|p=34}}<ref name="Lebling–2010"/>{{rp|style=ama|pages= 1–10}}

The Arabian poet [[al-A'sha]] (d. after 3/625) is said to have gotten his inspiration for his poetry by a friend named Misḥal ("daʿawtu khalīlī Misḥalan") and further calls him his jinni-brother ("akhī ʾl-jinnī").<ref name="jstor.org">{{Cite journal |last=Yosefi |first=Maxim |date=2019 |title=The origins of the traditional approach towards the jinn of poetic inspiration in tribal Arab culture |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27014158 |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |volume=49 |pages=293–302 |jstor=27014158 |issn=0308-8421}}</ref> Similarly, the poet [[Hassan ibn Thabit|Thābit]] (d. 54/674) who later converted to Islam and became known as "the poet of the prophet", referred to his jinni-friend as his "sharp-sighted brother from the jinn" ("wa-akhī min al-jinn al-baṣīr").<ref name="jstor.org"/> The relationship between jinn and humans can also be romantic in nature. According to one famous Arabian story, the jinni Manzur fell in love with a human woman called Habbah. He is supposed to have taught her the arts of healing.<ref name="AmiraJinn2">{{cite book |author=Amira el-Zein |title=The Evolution of the Concept of Jinn from Pre-Islam to Islam |pages=108–109}}{{full citation needed|date=May 2024}}</ref>
 
The mutual relationship between jinn and humans is different than that of a jinni and a soothsayer (''kāhin''). The soothsayer is presented as someone who is [[Spirit possession|totally controlled]] by the jinni entering. The soothsayer was consulted to reveal hidden information or settle disputes, as it was believed, the jinn speaking through them revealed hidden knowledge.<ref>Ruiz, Manuel. "The conception of authority in pre-Islamic Arabia: its legitimacy and origin." (1971). p. 20</ref>