Thread by @aaolomi

Various stories and accounts tell of the complicated relationship between jinn and humans. Love, fear, and respect all mingle as the human world and the hidden realms collide.

In one case the Sufi Shaykh Abd al Qadir Jilani has to deal with the king of the jinn

A thread-

One night a young girl in Baghdad was playing on the rooftop when a powerful jinn marid spied her.

Fancying the girl he swooped in on swift wings and kidnapped her.

Her father rushed to the roof only to see the creature abscond with her.

He was forlorn. How could he ever get his little girl back.

So he sought out the wise, Shaykh Abd al Qadir Jilani. He told the shaykh what happened begging aid.

The shaykh told him to have faith and instructed him to go to the local ruins and to trace out a circle in the name of Allah with the intention of the name of the shaykh and then to sit there until the king of the jinn arrived then to tell the king the shaykh sent him.

And so the man did as instructed.

In the dark of the night he went to the ruins and sat in his circle.

Suddenly row upon row of jinn appeared before him, walking up to the circle but unable to pass within.

He saw all manner of jinn from winged ones to crawly ones.

They came to him in every form and guise until dawn a mighty king approached and demanded what the man wanted.

The man told him, “I have been sent by Shaykh Abd al Kadir Jilani”

Upon hearing the words the king dismounted and kissed the ground asking what he could do for him

He told the jinn king of the plight of his daughter.

With a flick of his hand the jinn monarch brought forth the marid and demanded why the creature took the girl. The marid responded for he desired her

The jinn king had him executed and returned the girl safely to her father

The jinn king promised no further harm would come to those under the protection of the “Qutb”

The story is related in Manaqib al-Shaykh Abd al Qadir al Jilani and is illustrative of several important themes

Firstly the genre of literature was crucial for spreading the influence of the Sufi shaykh and part of a body of texts which were instrumental in establishing religious authority even as the caliphate crumbled

By examining the story of the jinn we can also see the role of charismatic and popular authority.

This type of authority is not divorced from scholarly lineages of learning.

Shaykh Abd al Qadir Jilani was a learned jurist in addition to the claims of his charismatic authority

The appellation of “qutb” and “muhiyuddin” were part of the cultivation of millennial authority as discussed in Moin’s Millennial Sovereign

The fusion of traditional scholarly learning with popular charismatic sovereignty allowed Islam to spread, integrating the local, and localizing Islam

The jinn here and authority over them is one expression of this type of charismatic power

I should note the framework of tracing something in the sand as a barrier parallels a similar event with the jinn in the Hadith

For scholars of religion the stories of the jinn aren’t just ways to examine cosmological and doctrinal beliefs but also to understand how Muslims throughout history expressed ideas of authority and the relationship to the unknown.

If you’re interested in the history of esotericism check out my patreon where I just released a podcast on dream interpretation patreon.com/headonhistory

I’ll cover Islamic history and Islamic esotericism in future threads