Thread by @aaolomi

In Islamic and Middle Eastern folklore, the djinn/jinn are classified into different types: those with wings, those that take animal shape or as marid, ifrits, and ghuls.

But there are lesser known more obscure djinn that reside in nature and in our homes

A thread on the jinn

In the deserts of Arabia there is the Gaddar, a monstrous djinn who feasts on people with a taste for their genitals.

Sometimes considered a monster all it’s own, other times it’s treated as a giant djinn

The Dulhan is found near the red sea where it uses its powers to cause massive tempests to shipwreck the unlucky.

They are also said to ride on ostriches and hunt and raid travelers

The Sa’alin are female djinn who are associated with night horses, winged beasts that fly on the midnight wind.

They can be heard coming as a dull whistling sound

While some djinn have wings others use birds as their mounts. Djinn ride ravens and black birds, driving them fast as an arrow.

These djinn perch on the birds on rooftops and like throwing stones at people

The Zawabi on the other hand are said to ride pillars of sand and whirlwinds. They are a type of fiery Ifrit who avenge the wrongful dead.

Either with dying breath or the family of the dead calls upon the Zawabi for vengeance and like the Furies unleash their wrath

In other tellings, the spirit of the murdered victim becomes the Zawabi themselves, haunting their attacker

Then there is the Azabb, a hulking, hairy djinn found in remote places.

While the Berber Semarih is found in butcher shops

Some djinn are more domestic and associated with homes. Some houses are said to have benevolent djinn who guard the place and its residents.

A pre-Islamic practice that’s still found in some folk traditions involve offerings of milk left out by the family for the djinn

But the house djinn can be temperamental so one must take care to not offend.

It’s said the they occasionally dwell in sinks so one must say “by your leave” before dumping hot water into it at night

This is likely is linked to the older idea that djinn reside in wells

There is another legend that said djinn like to dwell in the corners of houses, hunched down. If it’s a troublesome house djinn then salt in the corners drives it out.

Even less pleasant are the khubuth wa khabaith who dwell in bathrooms

Domestic jinn in particular are associated with various gendered ideas, for example house corners are said to be evenly divided between male and female

While other traditions talk about undressing and privacy in light of djinn living in the home

I’ll continue to explore the folklore of djinn in future threads

Addendum: I saw a video making its round in which a dude was telling women to veil themselves to avoid possession by djinn. Some thoughts

Folklore about djinn is useful for a variety of purposes: for historians of religion who study the way Islam was localized, or for

a way to understand the fears and anxieties of the authors (often gendered fears), for the spiritual who seek to understand the complexities of the human psyche or the numinous “out there” even for the faithful to understand their cosmology

What it is never for is to regulate the behaviors of people especially women. Anyone using the djinn to do so should be treated as they are: a predator exploiting fear. Fin.