Comparing Cosmology of the Jinn in two Distinct Places - Research Paper Example

ZHA Final: Comparing Cosmology of the Jinn in two Distinct Places To the concept of origin of Jinn has not been compressively studied. Muslim world over believe in the existence of Jinn. The study of the origin of jinn reflects to an extent the origin of Islam as the last of the three most known religions. The paper seeks compare cosmology of the jinn in two distinct places taking into consideration the story of City of Brass, The Fisherman and the Jinn and the notes on Jinn provided. The paper will therefore conclusively address the cosmology of Jinn as addressed by the two stories and the notes provided. Muslims worldwide believe in three types of species of intelligence beings (Stoddard et al. 23). They believe in Angels, formed of light, Genii formed of fire and man men that were formed of earth. The angels are called ‘Melaikeh’, Genii are referred to as ‘Jinn’ or ‘Ginn’. Disobedient Jinn are called devils (Sheytans). Jinn, therefore, is an intelligent spirit though of lower rank than angels, is still able to appear in animal and human form and to possess humans (Stoddart et al. 14). The class of Jinn is believed to have gotten formed several thousands of ages ahead of Adam (notes on Jinn, or Genni). The types in accordance with the custom of the Prophets is said to consist of five generations. The generations or orders of this variety include Jann that are created the smallest level influential of all. Others include Sheytans, Jinn, `Marids, and Efreets. Jann are altered Jinn. It is also important to note that Jann and Jinn are broadly used arbitrarily, as forenames of the names of the entire types. Jann and Jinn are therefore used to include even the other orders indicated before, whether bad or good (notes on the Jinn, or Genni). Sheytan usually gets used to mean every wicked jinnee. An `Efreet, on the other hand, is a powerful evil jinnee, a marid is an evil jinnee of the most powerful order (Stoddard et al. 25). The jinn got created out of fire in in line with the custom of the prophet. Though signifying a fire without smoke, the word has been widely misconstrued to mean ‘the flare of fire’. ‘El-Jann’ is sometimes adopted as a name for Iblees; as in the following verse of the Kur-an: - ‘And the Jann, father of Jinn were created before creation of Adam of fire of the samoom (Stoddart et al. 16). Jann also gets used to imply ‘a serpent’ as is in the chapters of the Kur-an; and gets used to imply similarity to ‘Jinn’. There are several contradictory tradition from the prophet though which are reconciled by what has been stated above (Stoddard et al. 17).In some stories, it said that Iblees bore Jann and Sheytans; Jann here being synonymous with Jinn. In the other it is said that, Jann was the father of all Jinn, Jann in this case being used to mean Iblees (notes on the Jinn, or Genni). People differ in opinion pertaining to these species. Some men take the Jinn and Sheytans as untrue (Stoddard et al. 3). The men are referred to as Moatezileh, a faction of Muslim who are open minded. Some say that, God created the Angels of light of the fire, and then jinn of its flame, and Sheytans of its smoke (notes on the Jinn, or Genni). The latter also hold that it is not possible to see such kind of creatures, but they hold the assumption that when they please, their form becomes strong thus get noticeable. It is also assumed that God created the Jinn two thousand years ago before even creating Adam and Eve (Stoddart et al. 10). According to some supporters, there exist infidels and believers, and each faction in the midst of Jinn, are for the case of men. It is thought that preadamite Jinn got managed by forty kings. Some believe that the kings were seventy-two, to each whom the Arab writer gave the name Suleyman (Stoddard et al. 34). The subsequent history of the preadamite jinn gets disseminated by El-Kazweenee. “It is related in history, that a race of Jinn, in ancient times, before creation of Adam, inhabited the earth, and covered it, the land and the sea, and plains and the mountains. The special treatments of God were proliferated upon them. The blessings made them have the administration, and religion, divination, and decree. They nonetheless went astray, affronted and rebelled against their prophets, and caused iniquity to bind on the world. Then God, whose name is glorious, imparted not in their favour a mass of Angels. The Angels assumed ownership of the universe, and the Jinn got driven far from the islands. Angels then took possession of them as captives. Along with those that got imprisoned was `Azazeel. He would later be called Iblees because of his desolation. During that time Azazeel was young and having grown up among the Angels, acquired their knowledge. Azazeel thereafter became a ruler by assuming governance when his years were prolonged to a culmination and was made a chief. This lasted a long period to a point when there was an occurrence of an affair connecting him and Adam (notes on the Jinn, or Genni). ‘Iblees,’ we are also told was sent to earth as a governor upon it and judged among the Jinn a thousand years, after which he ascended into heaven into heaven and remained as an employee in worship until the creation of Adam (Stoddard et al. 30). The forename of Iblees was `Azazeel. In different places, there is a contention as to whether he was one of the Angels or the Jinn. There exist three distinct opinions on this issue. The first claim is that he was the Angels, from a custom, as of Ibn-`Abbas. The second opinion stipulates that he was of the Sheytans or evil Jinn as it is said in holy Kur-an, ‘except Iblees, who was one of the Jinn. The third and last opinion on the same is that he neither belonged to the Angels nor was he inclined to the Jinn instead, produced alone of flames. The first view gets derived from the same manuscript where El-Hasan and El-Basree derive the phrase: ‘When we said to the Angels, worship ye Adam and all adoration save for Iblees who was one of the Jinn’. This is explained by asserting, that the extremely gracious and honourable amongst the Angels are known as ‘the Jinn’, since they are disguised in the eyes of the other Angels on based on supremacy and that Iblees was one of the Jinn. He further says that he had the administration of the lowly paradise and of the universe, which was referred to as the Taoos. This implies the peacock, of the Angels; and absence of a place in the lowly heaven however he had prostrated himself on it but the moment the Jinn rebelled upon the world, God sent a throng of Angels. The Angels drove them to the island and mountains; and Iblees being elated with pride and refusing to prostrate before Adam, God transformed him into a Sheytan (notes from Jinn, or Genni). Time of existence is also used to distinguish Iblees and all Sheytans from other Jinn. Sheytans are said to be children of Iblees, and die not but with him: whereas the other, Jinn die before him; though may live many centuries (notes on the Jinn, or Genni). According to many beliefs, it is untrue that several evil Jinn and Iblees are poised to survive humankind. The true position is that they all would die prior to universal resurrection. The fire with whom Jinn are created circulates in his veins, in place of blood therefore , when he receives a mortal wound, this fire, issuing from his veins, generally consumes him to ashes (Stoddard et al. 50). In the midst of the wicked Jinn are eminent five sons of Chief Iblees sons, specifically, Teer, who convey a disaster, sufferings, and grievances. El-Aawar, who is responsible for promoting the wickedness, Sot puts forward lies; Dasim, roots for detestation among man and companion and finally Zelemboor, controls over places of passage. Another tradition from the prophet indicates that Jinn are of a range of forms; including the appearance of serpent, jackals, scorpions, lions and wolves. Jinn, therefore, are reflected as of three types, inhabiting the land, inhabiting the ocean and the other one in the atmosphere. Jinn according to this consists of forty troops with each consisting of six hundred troops (Notes on the Jinn, or Genni). Various tales have been put forward to explain the origin of Jinn and one such of tales is The City of Brass. The narrative starts in Damascus. The assembled company at the courtyard of the Umayyad `Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan share stories of past kings (Hoch 60). The story explain the might of Solomon son of David, to whom God gave a kingdom so that he didn’t rank below any other king. Solomon is said to have jailed resistance Jinn and demons in long-necked bottles, caged them with lead and tightened them with his ring (Hoch 67). Talib ibn Sahl describes a land faraway and lived by a group of unclothed black folk who did not comprehend speech but who had a ruler who would speak in Arabic (Hoch 70). These folks followed religions such as there were before the rise of Islam. The king also explains that none of the humans had showed up to them before (Hoch 75). The story reveals that the black people went out to fish and came back with surface long-necked brass bottle, closed with the lead and tighted with the ring of Solomon. When the bottles were broken the frightened creature held captive in the bottles would take a form of a cloud of smoke saying, “I repent! I repent, O Prophet of God.” (Hoch 77). The men were frightened but the king calmed the down and said that this were those whom Solomon had imprisoned in the long-necked brass neck and cast to the sea. These creature when let out of the bottle thought that Solomon was still alive (Hoch 79). The story of the fisherman and the Jinn also provides a basis of explaining evolution of the Jinn. The story explain of a poor fisherman who cast his strictly four times a day (Fein et al. 40). One day while on his routine fishing, he tried pulling his net but he found it heavy than usually. When he dove and dragged it, he got a deceased donkey. The second time he casted his net he pulled a pitcher full of dirt. When he casted his for the third time he pulled shards of pottery and glass. On his fourth and the last for the day he called on God before he could cast the net (Fein et al. 46). When pulled he got a copper jar with a cap that had stamp of Solomon on it. The fisherman was more than joyful and given that he could not exchange the jar for cash, he was curious to know what was kept in the jar. When he opened the jar a plume of smoke oozed of the jar and turned into an Ifrit, a powerful genie. The fisherman got scared even though at first the Jinn didn’t recognize him, the Jin thought the fisherman was Solomon and had come to kill him. When the fisherman informed the Jinn that Solomon was long dead, it was happy and offered the fisherman an opportunity to choose how to die (Fein et al. 48). The fisherman in desperation begged the Jinn to spare his life but the Jinn could not take it. The fisher then decided to use trickery to save his life. He tricked the Jinn to tell him how he able to fit in the bottle (Fein et al. 50). The Jinn with pride and want to show off his prowess jumped back into the bottle to show his kills. The fisherman then hurriedly sealed the jar and threated to throw the Jinn back into the sea. The Jinn pleaded with the fisherman for its life. The Jinn pleaded for mercy and swore to help the fisherman in exchange for its freedom. The fisherman then agreed a deal with the jinn, and freed the Jinni. The Jinni then took the fisherman to a pond with a lot of mysterious fish, and the fisherman netted four. Before vanishing, the Jinni instructed the fisherman to take the fish to the Sultan (Fein et al. 53). The fisherman obliged and was paid money for bringing the fishes. While frying the fish, a person would show up and question them, and the fish answered. While flipping the fish in the pan, it charred. Surprised, the Sultan asked the fisherman where he had fished and went to the pond to reveal their mystery (Fein et al 55). When the sultan arrived at the pond, he found a gentleman who was half man and half stone (Fein et al. 56). The gentleman narrated his issues, as the story of "The Ensorcelled Prince". The Sultan then helped the Prince in his freedom and retaliation. They became great of friends, and the fisherman who first found the fish was compensated with his son being chosen the Sultans treasurer, and the Sultan and the prince wedded the fishermans two lovely daughters (Fein et al. 58). The two stories plus the deeper insight of the notes gives a clear insight of the origin of the Jinn. The stories of the City of the Brass and The Fisherman and the Jinn indicate that the Jinn existed from the time of Solomon. They were however held captive for disobedient. The jinn that exist today were rescued at different instances and with City of Brass claim that it came to existence through the help of those who went fishing and came back with the bottles. It can therefore be right to conclude that the jinn came to existence from the resistant demons which were held captive by Solomon. Works Cited Fein, Eric and Eduardo Garcia. The Fisherman and the Genie. London: Raintee, 2003. Print Hoch, Edward D. City of Brass and other Simon Ark Stories. New York: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media, 2013. Print Stoddart, William, and R.W.J. Austin. Outline of Sufism: the essential of Islamic Spirituality Bloomington, Ind.: World Wisdom, 2002. Print Read More