The Jinn – The Culprit of the Arabic World

Abstract

The article attempts to ponder on the prevalent religious beliefs, urban (vernacular) legends, everyday customs and traditions related to the figure of the jinn and its origins. The study will discuss the mentioned from the point of view of official Sunni Islam, in order to better unweave the disposition Islam towards superstitions and vernacular beliefs. The aim of study is to provide the generic Islamic concept about the jinn and to place it into a context within the framework of individual interpretations of the interview subjects who reside in Kuwait, are Sunni Muslims, men, and women, between the age of 18-65. The applied resources were the Holy Quran, websites marked authentic for Quran interpretations, and contemporary and past literature written on the subject. Further, several interviews with the local Arabic community, blogs, articles of urban legends, and Ruqyah are the backbones of the present paper.

Keywords

• Jinn
• religious beliefs
• urban (vernacular) legends
• Sunni Islam
• Arabic community