In Islam, humanity shares the world with the jinn, an invisible race of beings formed of smokeless fire. Some jinn are good, some are ambivalent, and some are down right devilish.
A thread-
The chieftain of the wicked jinn is Iblis, the devil.
Originally a goodly jinn who was raised on to the heavens to live alongside the angels, he was accursed and cast down for his disobedience to God and arrogance.
He refused to bow to humanity proclaiming why should a being of fire bow before a creature of clay.
medieval astrologers of the Islamic world interpreted this as:
-fires & heat
-resource scarcities
-exposure of corruption and fraud
-disasters in nature
-disruption in harvests
-disruption of commerce
-danger is al Andalus and Levant
-Ibn Ezra includes Tunis in his list
while Abu Ma’shar includes the land of the Copts
-death among philosophers and scribes
-death among notable youth
-rebels and damage to buildings
-conflicts which injury property and earth
-earthquakes
The significations include a continuation of the theme of fire which started in Cancer and continued with Leo.
Interestingly while today some associate Aquarius with technology, medieval astrologers connected Virgo with science and technology (technical knowledge more broadly)
In Islamic cosmology, God created humans from clay, jinn from smokeless-fire, & angels from light. As God’s unerring servants angels are so numerous the heavens groan under their numbers. All praise God, while some carry out Divine decrees relating to life and humans
A thread-
Jibra’il, Mik’ail, Israfi’l, and Azra'il are chief of the angels.
The first two deal most directly with humans while the latter two are responsible for their end either through the Day of Judgement, or their death.
Jibra’il is the angel of revelation who descends to earth frequently on orders from God.
At the height of their power, the Abbasids fell into a civil war which lasted years.
Brother fought brother, competing astrologers read the omens of the stars, scheming viziers plotted in secret, and the course of Islamic history was changed.
A thread-
There were two major civil wars, the Anarchy of Samarra from 861-870 and the Great Civil War of 811.
Today we’ll talk about the latter.
The fifth Abbasid Caliph, Harun al Rashid, fearing chaos and violence in the process of succession devised a plan where his son al-Amin would inherit the caliphate first followed by his other son, al-Ma’mun.
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.
Contrary to their contemporary image, early and medieval descriptions of angels in Islam are utterly alien and fearsome. Their presence could bring comfort to the devout or strike terror in the hearts of the wicked.
A thread on the angels of hell and death in Islam-
In Islamic cosmology, angels are the perfect servants of God, unerring in carrying out their duties and implacable in their mission.
Like their ancient Biblical counterparts, they are described as otherworldly and terrifying.
Angels are depicted as maintaining the celestial and earthly order, worshipping God, and significantly, guarding Hell itself.