Thread by @aaolomi

In Islamic cosmology, the universe is populated by angels and the earth is the home of humans and jinn alike. A race of intelligent, shape-shifting invisible beings, the djinn/jinn have a unique relationship to animals.

A thread-

The idea of jinn taking the form of animals is a pre-Islamic belief which was then Islamized.

Snakes, cats, camels, deer, and even types of birds were all linked to jinn.

A narration of Muhammad from Abu Tha’labah al Khashani relates jinn come in many forms: with wings, in the form of snakes, and those that wander.

In the biographies of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, it is said he came upon a dead snake and so he wrapped it in his cloak and buried it.

Suddenly a stranger appeared before him and thanked him.

When Umar asked what for the stranger replied, the snake was the jinn Sariq, one of the jinn who had heard Muhammad preaching the Qur’an.

There are several stories of people showing kindness to animals only for them to turn out to be jinn.

Famously, the noble Yemeni king, Al Hadhad was hunting one day when he happened upon a family of beautiful deer.

He stayed his bow sparing the creatures.

Without warning a mighty being appeared before him; it was the jinn king Sakan.

The family of deer was a tribe of jinn. Sakan thanked the young monarch and rewarded him the hand of his jinn daughter, Baltaqa.

Al Hadhad and Baltaqa had a child of their own; Bilqis the Queen of Sheba who would go on to be King Solomon’s love.

Jinn are also connected with cats and dogs.

The 9th century author Al Jahiz records the jinn known as ghuls as taking the form of black dogs.

Ghuls were cemetery-dwelling jinn who feasted on the corpses of the dead.

Their preternatural howl was said to herald death and there mere presence induced sudden sweats and panic.

The connection with dogs is particularly prevalent throughout Africa where multiple cultures share lore about them.

The Qutrub is another corpse-eating jinn. Taking the form of a wolf; the canny jinn is said to stalk its pray over weeks before pouncing.

In Morocco, the Haraja is a jinn who takes the form of a red dog, assaulting travelers at night.

The mighty jinn king Barqan of Mercury is often called the Black King because he takes on the form of a black cat so he can observe humans up close.

He is said to be a guardian of small animals and judges humans based on their treatment of them.

Indeed one of my favorite stories is from the Ikhwan al Safa who tell of how a group of human adventurers came upon a small island which they claimed for themselves.

They promptly began to overhunt the animals there.

The creatures took their complaint to the jinn king, bringing the humans to jinn court.

The humans and jinn pleaded their case before the king whose judgement rendered the humans were allowed to hunt, but restricted them and demanded moderation.

Balance was restored.

Jinn also take animal form when they are interested in learning.

The 16th century scholar Al Sha’rani relates jinn in the form of cats and dogs would come to him with scrolls in their mouth upon which was written questions.

He would write answers and hand the scrolls back.

Thus did jinn philosophers communicate with Muslims scholars.

As a result of this, Muslims are advised not to kill strange animals especially cats, dogs, or snakes which appear in their homes, but rather to politely greet them and ask them to leave for the creature may be a curious jinn.

The relationship between human and animal jinn was a complicated one.

In some instances jinn would take animal form to join in alliances with humans.

Human mages and cunning practitioners of the secret arts would form pacts with mighty jinn who would grant them a jinn guardian called a re’ya.

The re’ya would take the form of a cat, a dog, or a bird.

The relationship could also be a nuisance.

Some jinn take the form of ravens and crows, perching on roofs and pelting humans with rocks and pebbles.

Another troublesome jinn used to take the form of a cat and steal the dates of Al Ansari so he complained to Muhammad.

The Prophet taught him to recite “In the Name of Muhammad the Messenger of God.”

When the jinn cat heard those words, it apologized and promised to stop stealing.

When Ansari told Muhammad, the prophet smiled and told him the jinn was a liar.

True enough the jinn went back to stealing.

Three times the jinn promised and three times it lied until finally the man was taught to recite Ayatul Kursi from the Qur’an which prohibited the jinn from causing any further trouble.

The story is related in Damiri who is citing al-Tirmidhi.

There are even bug-like jinn.

The Aqarib were scorpion-jinn whose poison would bring fevers and death. They were so deadly, several talismans and charms were dedicated to keeping them out of the house.

The most famous of these jinn-bugs was Kebikaj a worm-like creature who ate books and papers.

Its name would usually be written as a charm in manuscripts to keep them safe.

The connection of jinn and animals is a particularly interesting one.

Firstly, it identifies the jinn as part of the natural world. While they may reside in the hidden realm, the jinn aren’t technically supernatural, they are of the natural world.

In many instances the jinn can be seen as the world of nature and animals given a voice.

The stories also tell us a great deal about the Islamic understanding of humanity’s relationship to nature.

While humanity was given the world as their abode, they had to share it.

The world was not unpopulated. Jinn live alongside humans. And while humans were granted more authority, this was not an unlimited domination.

Humanity’s exploitation of nature in particular would be checked by the jinn.

Analyzing the relationship of jinn to animals we can understand the relationship of humans to nature.

The story of the humans taken to jinn court is particularly telling here.

If you are interested in more jinn check out my patreon. I just posted instructions for a legendary historic charm used to gain favors from the jinn: patreon.com/headonhistory

We’ll continue to explore jinn and Islamic cosmology in future threads