JINN IN OTHER CULTURES

The word jinn most likely came from Aramaic, where Christians associated pagan gods with demons. However, the first mention of jinn dates back to pre-Zoroastrian mythology in Iran, where the Jaini was a wicked female spirit. In Judeo-Christian mythology, the word or concept of jinn as such does not occur in the Old Testament, but the Arabic word jinn was often used in several old Persian and Arabic translations. The word jinn itself comes from an Arabic word ‘janna’ meaning to hide or conceal.” Earliest archaeological evidence from northwestern Arabia indicate the worship of jinn much before Islam. Pre-Islamic Bedouin religions used to believe in spirits. An inscription from Beth Fasi’el near Palmyra pays tribute to the ‘Jinnaye’, the ‘good and rewarding gods’. In Oman, Bahla is known as ‘Madinat-Al-Sehr’, or the ‘City of Magic’. It is also known as the birthplace of jinn or black magic, a reputation that predates Islam. Legends about Bahla’s magical past include tales of people being turned into cows or goats, haunted by spirits or vanishing when they stood in cursed places. Another one claims that jinns built the 7-mile long city wall in one night. Neighbouring Nizwa enjoys a similar dubious reputation as the epicenter of black magic.” There are also similar types of deities in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. In Guanche mythology from Tenerife in the Canary Islands, there exists a belief in beings like the maxios or dioses paredros, which are attendant gods, domestic and nature spirits, and tibicenas, considered evil genies, and the demon guayota, the aboriginal god of evil, that is identified as a genie. In certain aspects of Japanese religion and culture, the shinigami are gods or supernatural spirits that invite humans toward death. They have been described as monsters and helpers, creatures of darkness, and fallen angels.

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