Thread by @aaolomi

In Islamic cosmology humanity is not alone in this world, but rather the world is shared with the jinn an invisible race of beings born of smokeless fire. Some places in the world are said to be especially connected to them.

A thread on the realms of the jinn

Jinn are deeply connected to the natural world and so many are said to live in trees, caves, and mountains.

Popular advice warns people to not wander near trees at night to avoid mischievous jinn

The sa’alin are a particular trickster jinn said to harass people from trees

Certain mountains have a unique connection to jinn.

Mount Qaf is a legendary homeland of the jinn. Said to exist at the edges of the known world the mountain is the home of the jinn king Gatshan and his court

In Persianate sources the Pari are also said to live on Mount Qaf.

We also hear of Paristan, the land of the Pari in South Asia.

Both are examples of how local ideas are incorporated into an Islamic cosmology

Islands are also said to be unique homes of the jinn.

The Ikwan al Safa tell a story of humans landing on an island and promptly overhunting the animals.

The animals take the humans to jinn court

We find similar language in travelogues of special islands full of jinn and creatures of all sorts

Al Qazwini mentions how islands in the Indian Ocean and near China are home to the jinn

Al Tabari says in the great jinn war many of them were driven the islands.

Socotra near Yemen is said to be the home of many jinn while in the adventures of Buluqiya he is informed one of the islands he visits is the realm of the jinn king Sakhr.

For historians these point to the geographic imagination of medieval Muslims; islands on the fringes of the empire became imagined geographies of the other while distant mountains became Mount Qaf and the end of the known world

Today that memory remains in the popular discourse of how places like the Maldives, Indonesia, and Malaysia are uniquely jinn-filled places.

In Arabian tribal understanding the desert itself is the realm of the jinn. Stories tell of travelers walking the desert only to suddenly find themselves in a different realm, the home of the jinn.

Similarly in many African tellings people who have wronged the jinn find themselves in wide open spaces surrounded by whispers and glimpses of mighty court as they face trial before the jinn king

The relationship between the other and geography is found repeatedly in these stories

Yet jinn also are related to the immediate geography

Some jinn become custodians of human history, residing in ruins

Taneja’s writes about the ruined fortress Feroz Shah Kolta of the Delhi Sultanate and @iamrana has shared images of Jinnati Masjid another spaced connected to the jinn.

These are related or similar to the Jinn Mosque in Mecca, which commemorates the site the jinn gathered to hear Muhammad recite the Qur’an.

We also hear of jinn living among humans. In the narrations of Damiri we are frequently told holes in the grounds and wells are places jinn haunt.

Humans are advised not to pour water into holes to avoid the wrath of the jinn

In the Sudan and Morocco the Haraja appears near wells and waylays travelvers at night.

Older memory reflects the folk belief of jinn hanging out in house hold plumbing.

People are advised to ask permission before pouring hot water down a drain.

Jinn are even said to haunt bathrooms, they are the khubuth wa khabaith

The idea of jinn homelands and spaces speak to the imagined geography of Muslims but also the belief that the earth is shared and humanity is not alone

I’ll be hosting a Q&A/ AMA on my pat this Sunday for the interested if you want to learn more about the jinn or Islamic esotericism: patreon.com/headonhistory

We will continue exploring Islamic cosmology in future threads