A Dictionary of Islam Being a cyclopedia of the...

It is believed that the chief abode of the Jinn is in the mountains of Qāf, which are supposed to encompass the whole of our earth. But they are also believed to pervade the solid body of our earth, and the firmament; and to choose, as their principal places of resort, or of occasional abode, baths, wells, the latrina, ovens, ruined houses, market-places, the junctures of roads, the sea, and rivers.

The Arabs, therefore, when they pour water, &c., on the ground, or enter a bath, or let down a bucket into a well, or visit the latrina, and on various other occasions, say, “Permission!” or “Permission, ye blessed!” (Iẕn! or Iẕn yā Mubārakūn!). The evil spirits (or evil genii), it is said, had liberty to enter any of the seven heavens till the birth of Jesus, when they were excluded from three of them. On the birth of Muḥammad, they were forbidden the other four. They continue, however, to ascend to the confines of the lowest heaven, and there listening to the conversation of the angels respecting things decreed by God, obtain knowledge of futurity, which they sometimes impart to men, who by means of talismans or certain invocations make them to serve the purposes of magical performances.

What the Prophet said of Iblīs in the following tradition, applies also to the evil Jinn over whom he presides: His chief abode [among men] is the bath; his chief places of resort are the markets and junctures of roads; his food is whatever is killed without the name of God being pronounced over it; his drink, whatever is intoxicating; his Muʾaẕẕin, the mizmār (a musical pipe), i.e. any musical instrument; his Qurʾān, poetry; his written character, the marks made in geomancy; his speech, falsehood; his snares are women.

That particular genii presided over particular places, was the opinion of the early Arabs. It is said in the Qurʾān (Sūrah lxxii. 6), “And there were certain men who sought refuge with certain of the Jinn.” In the commentary of the Jalālān, I find the following remark on these words:—“When they halted, on their journey, in a place of fear, each man said, ‘I seek refuge with the lord of this place, from the mischief of his foolish ones!’ ” In illustration of this, I may insert the following tradition, translated from al-Qazwīnī:—“It is related by a certain narrator of traditions, that he descended into a valley with his sheep, and a wolf carried off a ewe from among them; and he arose, and raised his voice, and cried, ‘O inhabitant of the valley!’ whereupon he heard a voice saying, ‘O wolf, restore to him his sheep!’ and the wolf came with the ewe, and left her, and departed.” The same opinion is held by the modern Arabs, though probably they do not use such an invocation.

It has already been mentioned that some of the Jinn are Muslims, and others infidels. The good acquit themselves of the imperative duties of religion, namely, prayers, almsgiving, fasting during the month of Ramaẓān, and pilgrimage to Makkah and Mount ʿArafāt, but in the performance of these duties they are generally invisible to human beings.

No man, it is said, ever obtained such absolute power over the Jinn as Sulaimān ibn Dāʾud (Solomon, the son of David). This he did by virtue of a most wonderful talisman, which is said to have come down to him from heaven. It was a sealing ring, upon which was engraved “the most great name” of God [AL-ISMU ʾL-AʿZAM], and was partly composed of brass and partly of iron. With the brass he stamped his written commands to the good Jinn; with the iron (for a reason before mentioned) those to the evil Jinn or devils. Over both orders he had unlimited power, as well as over the birds and the winds, and, as is generally said, the wild beasts. His wazīr, Aṣaf the son of Bark͟hīyah, is also said to have been acquainted with “the most great name,” by uttering which the greatest miracles may be performed, even that of raising the dead. By virtue of this name, engraved on his ring, Sulaimān compelled the Jinn to assist in building the temple of Jerusalem, and in various other works. Many of the evil genii he converted to the true faith, and many others of this class, who remained obstinate in infidelity, he confined in prisons. He is said to have been monarch of the whole earth. Hence, perhaps, the name of Sulaimān is given to the universal monarchs of the preadamite Jinn; unless the story of his own universal dominion originated from confounding him with those kings of the Jinn.

The injuries related to have been inflicted upon human beings by evil genii are of various kinds. Genii are said to have often carried off beautiful women, whom they have forcibly kept as their wives or concubines. Malicious or disturbed genii are asserted often to station themselves on the roofs, or at the windows, of houses, and to throw down bricks and stones on persons passing by. When they take possession of an uninhabited house, they seldom fail to persecute terribly any person who goes to reside in it. They are also very apt to pilfer provisions, &c. Many learned and devout persons, to secure their property from such depredations, repeat the words, “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!” on locking the doors of their houses, rooms, or closets, and on covering the bread-basket, or anything containing food. During the month of Ramaẓān, the evil genii are believed to be confined in prison; and, therefore, on the last night of that month, with the same view, women sometimes repeat the words above mentioned, and sprinkle salt upon the floors of the apartments of their houses.

To complete this sketch of Arabian mythology, an account must be added of several creatures generally believed to be of inferior orders of the Jinn. One of these is the G͟hūl, which is commonly regarded as a kind of Shait̤ān, or evil genii, that eats men, and is also described by some as a Jinn, or an enchanter, who assumes various forms. The G͟hūls are said to appear in the forms of various animals, and of human beings, and in many monstrous shapes; to haunt burial-grounds and other sequestered spots; to feed upon dead human bodies; and to kill and devour any human creature who has the misfortune to fall in their way; whence the term “G͟hūl” is applied to any cannibal.

An opinion quoted by a celebrated author respecting the G͟hūl is, that it is a demoniacal animal, which passes a solitary existence in the deserts, resembling both man and brute; that it appears to a person travelling alone in the night and in solitary places, and, being supposed by him to be itself a traveller, lures him out of his way. Another opinion stated by him is this: that, when the Shait̤āns attempt to hear words by stealth [from the confines of the lowest heaven], they are struck by shooting stars, and some are burnt; some falling into a sea, or rather a large river (baḥr), become converted into crocodiles; and some, falling upon the land, become G͟hūls. The same author adds the following tradition: “The G͟hūl is any Jinn that is opposed to travels, assuming various forms and appearances; and affirms that several of the Companions of the Prophet saw G͟hūls in their travels; and that ʿUmar among them saw a G͟hūl while on a journey to Syria, before Islām, and struck it with his sword.”

It appears that “G͟hūl” is, properly speaking, a name only given to a female demon of the kind above described; the male is called “Qut̤rub.” It is said that these beings, and the G͟haddār, or G͟harrār, and other similar creatures, which will presently be mentioned, are the offspring of Iblīs and of a wife whom God created for him of the fire of the Samūm (which here signifies, as in an instance before mentioned, “a smokeless fire”); and that they sprang from an egg. The female G͟hūl, it is added, appears to men in the deserts, in various forms, converses with them, and sometimes prostitutes herself to them.

The Siʿlāt, or Siʿlāʾ, is another demoniacal creature, described by some [or rather, by most authors] as of the Jinn. It is said that it is mostly found in forests; and that when it captures a man, it makes him dance, and plays with him as the cat plays with the mouse. A man of Isfahan asserted that many beings of this kind abounded in his country; that sometime the wolf would hunt one of them by night, and devour it, and that, when it had seized it, the Siʿlāʾ would cry out, “Come to my help, for the wolf devoureth me!” or it would cry, “Who will liberate me? I have a hundred dīnārs, and he shall receive them!” But the people knowing that it was the cry of the Siʿlāʾ, no one would liberate it; and so the wolf would eat it.

An island in the sea of China (Ṣīn) is called “the island of the Siʿlāʾ,” by Arab geographers, from its being said to be inhabited by the demons so named; they are described as creatures of hideous forms, supposed to be Shait̤āns, the offspring of human beings and Jinn, who eat men.

The G͟haddār is another creature of a similar nature, described as being found in the borders of al-Yaman, and sometimes in Tihāmah, and in the upper parts of Egypt. It is said that it entices a man to it, and either tortures him in a manner not to be described, or merely terrifies him, and leaves him.

The Dalhān is also a demoniacal being, inhabiting the islands of the seas, having the form of a man, and riding on an ostrich. It eats the flesh of men whom the sea casts on the shore from wrecks. Some say that a Dalhān once attacked a ship on the sea, and desired to take the crew; but they contended with it; whereupon it uttered a cry which caused them to fall on their faces, and it took them.

The Shiqq is another demoniacal creature, having the form of half a human being (like a man divided longitudinally); and it is believed that the Nasnās is the offspring of a Shiqq and of a human being. The Shiqq appears to travellers; and it was a demon of this kind who killed, and was killed by ʿAlqamah, the son of Safwān, the son of Umaiyah, of whom it is well known that he was killed by a Jinn. So says al-Qazwīnī.

The Nasnās (above mentioned) is described as resembling half a human being; having half a head, half a body, one arm, and one leg, with which it hops with much agility; as being found in the woods of al-Yaman, and being endowed with speech; “but God,” it is added, “is all knowing.” It is said that it is found in Ḥaẓramaut as well as al-Yaman; and that one was brought alive to al-Mutawakkil. It resembled a man in form, excepting that it had but half a face, which was in its breast, and a tail like that of a sheep. The people of Ḥaẓramaut, it is added, eat it; and its flesh is sweet. It is only generated in their country. A man who went there asserted that he saw a captured Nasnās, which cried out for mercy, conjuring him by God and by himself.

A race of people whose head is in the breast, is described as inhabiting an island called Jabah (supposed to be Java), in the sea of Hind, or India. A kind of Nasnās is also described as inhabiting the island of Raij, in the sea of China, and having wings like those of the bat.

The Hātif is a being that is heard, but not seen; and is often mentioned by Arab writers. It is generally the communicator of some intelligence in the way of advice, or direction, or warning. (See Lane’s Modern Egyptians; Lane’s Notes on the Arabian Nights.)

GENTILES. Arabic Ummī (امى, from umm, “a mother”); pl. ummīyūn, lit. “Ignorant as new-born babes.” Hebrew גּוֹיִם. According to al-Baiẓāwī, all the people of the earth who do not possess a divine Book. In the Qurʾān, the term is specially applied to the idolators of Arabia.

G͟HADĪR (غدير). A festival of the Shīʿahs on the 18th of the month of Ẕū ʾl-Ḥijjah, when three images of dough filled with honey are made to represent Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUs̤mān, which are stuck with knives, and the honey is sipped as typical of the blood of the usurping K͟halīfahs. The festival is named from G͟hadīr, “a pool,” and the festival commemorates, it is said, Muḥammad having declared ʿAlī his successor at G͟hadīr K͟hūm, a watering place midway between Makkah and al-Madīnah.

G͟HAIRAH (غيرة). “Jealousy.” Muḥammad is related to have said, “There is a kind of jealousy (g͟hairah) which God likes, and there is a kind of jealousy which he abominates. The jealousy which God likes is when a man has suspicion that his wife or slave girl comes and sits by a stranger; the jealousy which God abominates is when, without cause, a man harbours in his heart a bad opinion of his wife.” (Mishkāt, book xiii. c. xv. pt. 2.)

G͟HAIR-I-MAHDĪ (غير مهدى). Lit. “Without Mahdī.” A small sect who believe that the Imām Mahdī will not reappear. They say that one Saiyid Muḥammad of Jeypore was the real Mahdī, the twelfth Imām, and that he has now gone never more to return. They venerate him as highly as they do the Prophet, and consider all other Muslims to be unbelievers. On the night called Lailatu ʾl-Qadr, in the month of Ramaẓān, they meet and repeat two rakʿah prayers. After that act of devotion is over, they say: “God is Almighty, Muḥammad is our Prophet, the Qurʾān and Mahdī are just and true. Imām Mahdī is come and gone. Whosoever disbelieves this is an infidel.” They are a very fanatical sect. (See Qānūn-i-Islām.)

G͟HAMARĀT (غمرات), plural of g͟hamrah, “abyss.” A word used to express the agonies of death. It occurs in the Qurʾān, Sūrah vi. 93: “But couldst thou see when the ungodly are in the floods of death (g͟hamarātu ʾl-maut), and the angels reach forth their hands, saying, ‘Yield up your souls:—this day shall ye be recompensed with a humiliating punishment.’ ”

AL-G͟HANĪ (الغنى). “The Independent One.” One of the ninety-nine special names or attributes of God, expressing the superiority of the Almighty over the necessities and requirements of mankind. The word occurs in the Qurʾān, Sūrah lx. 6, and is translated by Palmer, “He is rich.”

G͟haṣb, in its literal sense, means the forcibly taking a thing from another. In the language of the law it signifies the taking of the property of another which is valuable and sacred, without the consent of the proprietor, in such a manner as to destroy the proprietor’s possession of it, whence it is that usurpation is established by exacting service from the slave of another, or by putting a burden upon the quadruped of another, but not by sitting upon the carpet of another; because by the use of the slave of another, and by loading the quadruped of another, the possession of the proprietor is destroyed, whereas by sitting upon the carpet of another the possession of the proprietor is not destroyed. It is to be observed that if any person knowingly and wilfully usurp the property of another, he is held in law to be an offender, and becomes responsible for a compensation. If, on the contrary, he should not have made the usurpation knowingly and wilfully (as where a person destroys property on the supposition of its belonging to himself, and it afterwards proves the right of another), he is in that case also liable for a compensation, because a compensation is the right of men; but he is not an offender, as his erroneous offence is cancelled. (Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 522.)

G͟HAUS̤ (غوث). Lit. “One to whom we can cry for help.” A mediator. A title given to a Muḥammadan saint. Some hold it to be the highest order of sanctity, whilst others regard it as second in rank to that of Qut̤b. According to the G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hah it is an inferior rank of sanctity to that of Qut̤b.

G͟HĀZĪ (غازى). One who fights in the cause of Islām. A hero; a warrior. One who slays an infidel. It is also a title of distinction conferred by Muslim rulers upon generals and warriors of renown. In the Turkish Empire the title of G͟hāzī implies something similar to our “Field Marshal.” The Prophet is related to have said, “God is sponsor for him who goes forth to fight in the road of God, for His satisfaction and for that of His Prophet. He shall, if he be not killed, return to his home with plunder and rewards. And if he die, his reward is paradise.” (Mishkāt, book xvii. c. 1.)