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Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān / Spiritual Beings
Supernatural creatures, either benevolent or malevolent. Within the Islamic world the expression “spiritual beings” carries different significations, depending on whether reference is made to the theological sphere (Qurʾān and ḥadīth; see ḥadīth and the qurʾān ), or to the knowledge of the scholars or to local traditions. This wide world of chthonic spirits, that at first seems confused and undefined, consists of elements and cultural representations developed through the encounter with various ethnic groups and stratified throughout the course of history.
The belief in spiritual beings is already attested in the pre-Islamic period. The supernatural beings who survived the demise of Arab paganism, however, do not coincide with their status and significance in the animistic world of the Jāhiliyya (see age of ignorance; idolatry and idolaters; polytheism and atheism). At first, they were utilized by some in the early Muslim community as more approachable entities who could intercede with God. The charges of shafāʿa, “intercession” (q.v.), in various sūras of the Meccan period are an indication of this utilization ( q 6:94; 10:18; 30:13; see mecca ). Subsequently, they were firmly rejected as impotent, or even changed into shayāṭīn, evil beings (see devil; power and impotence). ¶
As these preliminary remarks indicate, from its beginning, Islam has accepted the existence of subtle, non-human beings as part of God's creation (q.v.). In various passages the Qurʾān makes matter a metaphor (q.v.) of the spirit (q.v.; q 42:49-53), whether this matter is fire (q.v.), air or light (q.v.; see also jinn; air and wind). Belonging to the world of the invisible ( ʿālam al-ghayb; see hidden and the hidden ), these spirits are characterized by their transient, volatile forms. They permeate the cosmos in order to direct the multifaceted variety of creation to the indivisible oneness of God (see god and his attributes ). But they are not thought to participate in God's transcendence; rather, the Qurʾān underscores their impotence and affords them a status not higher than humans (see angel ).
Qurʾānic and later references tend to distinguish malignant from benevolent spirits and to create a hierarchy within these categories. Whereas angels are considered to be benevolent, the scriptural conception of the jinn is somewhat more ambivalent. Angels ( malāʾika), devils ( shayāṭīn) and jinn, the largest gatherings of spiritual beings that appear in the Qurʾān, do not belong to the same cosmic sphere. All they share in common is being invisible; otherwise they are differentiated in terms of essence and nature, function, and place in the cosmos (see cosmology ). The merciful angels are made of nūr, which can be translated as “cold light,” while the angels of punishment are made of nār, “fire,” indicating distinctions of both density and weight (cf. q 66:6; Huart, Livre de la création, i, 169).
Whether they are “supervisors” (al- mudabbirāt), as in q 79:5 or, expressed differently, “agents of beings” ( mawkūlāt bi-l-kāʾināt), as al-Qazwīnī (d. 682/1283) says, or, again, spiritual entities ( rūḥāniyyūn), as mentioned by the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, they govern the three realms of nature, “managing the mysterious development of life through their clever delicate hands” (Qazwīnī, ʿAjāʾib, 62). ¶ Among these innumerable creatures, some have proper names: rūḥ? al-qudus ( q 16:102; see holy spirit ), Gabriel (q.v.; Jibrīl), Michael (q.v.; Mikāʾīl), Hārūt and Mārūt (q.v.; q 2:102), Iblīs (see devil ). Others are identified only by their functions. There are the ḥafaẓa, honorable scribes, who attend human beings and record impartially their good or evil actions (see good deeds; evil deeds; heavenly book; writing and writing materials). There are the kirām kātibīn, as they are identified in q 82:11 (cf. q 43:80), who sit on a human's shoulders to note down his or her thoughts, and are termed al-ḥafaẓa in q 6:61 or ḥāfiẓ in q 86:4 (cf. q 82:10). Their role is revealed by the epithets “observer” ( raqīb, q 50:18), “guide” ( sāʾiq) and “witness” ( shāhid, q 50:21; see witnessing and testifying ).
The muʿaqqibāt ( q 13:11), “those who follow one upon the other,” establish a continuous relationship between humankind and heaven (see heaven and sky ), coming down with divine grace and re-ascending ( ʿurūj) with human actions (cf. q 32:5; 34:2). This term has generated diverse interpretations and some commentators understood it to be a dual of the second verbal form ʿaqqaba, that here replaces the third form ʿāqaba (Ṭabarī, Tafsīr, xiii, 68). In function, however, these beings watch lovingly over every person: “Alike (to him) of you is he who conceals (his) words and he who speaks them openly, and he who hides himself by night and (who) goes forth by day (see day and night ). For his sake there are those who follow one another [muʿaqqibāt, angels, according to Ibn ʿAbbās], before him and behind him, who guard him by God's commandment” ( q 13:10-11).
The concept of “guardian angels” had already been developed throughout the Semitic world. ¶ We find angels in charge of human souls and recording human actions in Enoch's Book of secrets, as well as in Jubilees (4:6 and 17:5), and in Sabbat, Taʾanit, Hagigah and Berakot, where two angels standing near every human being are mentioned. These figures may have been inspired by Thot, the scribal god in the Egyptian pantheon, who appears in funeral processions as the one who notes down the past actions, both good and bad (cf. Dubler, L'ancient orient, 71, who considers q 101:5-8 to show a close resemblance to the Egyptian tradition concerning the last judgment). In reference to the judgment, q 50:17 hints at two entities, al- mutalaqqiyān, “receivers,” who are named munkar and nakīr in ḥadīth and the commentaries (see exegesis of the qurʾān: classical and medieval ). “The two delegated to receive” carry out the torment of the grave ( ʿadhāb al-qabr), repeatedly mentioned in the Qurʾān; it takes place after burial (q.v.). This idea recurs in rabbinic literature and its remote origins could be traced back to Iranian Mazdaism.
In the Qurʾān, as in other early sources, the angels are compared to the lightness of the wind. This is the element that best evokes the incorporeity of God but since it is still a substance it becomes identified with angels and spirits. q 77:1, like q 51:1, cites an oath by “those who have been sent one by one, and are blowing furiously,” which affirms the similitude between winds and heavenly messengers (cf. q 25:48; 27:63; 30:46). The connection of messenger and wind recurs in two lines of verse attributed to Umayya b. Abī l-Ṣalt, a contemporary of the Prophet and the linkage was maintained by the Islamic tradition, as the words of al-Maqdisī (d. 340/934) testify: “And we said that the wind is an angel as well as al- rūḥ” (cf. Huart, Livre de la creation, i, 176). Such angels are also equated with the nineteen al- zabāniya ( q 96:18; cf. 74:30), under the leadership of one mālik ( q 43:77, possibly to be interpreted as the “owner of the doors of hell”; see hell and hellfire ), but there are other spiritual beings whose provenance is unspecified. ¶ The root of the word qarīn connotes the idea of a “double” — it is an adjectival form that indicates being one of a pair. This human “double,” the companion or twin spirit, takes life upon the birth of a human being. q 41:25 and its mention of quranāʾ can be understood to contain reference to the tempting spirit or shayṭān — synonymous with muṣāḥib (cf. Lisān al-ʿArab, s.v.) or khidhn (cf. Bayḍāwī, Anwār, ad q 41:25) — to which q 4:38 may allude. Commenting on q 50:23, al-Ṣuyūṭī (d. 911/ 1505) wonders whether the wordqarīn denotes a shayṭān or an angel; but the author is sure that elsewhere in the same sūra ( q 50:27) it denotes a shayṭān (Ṣuyūṭī, Durr, iv, 124). Al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923), in his Tafsīr at q 43:36, reports the tradition according to which every human has a qarīn or shayṭān and an angel, inciting evil and good respectively. These two beings are not to be confused with the two recording angels.
While a benevolent spirit in the pre-Islamic period, in which period the word indicated the spirit which follows a poet and inspires his verse (see poetry and poets; rhymed prose), this entity changes within the monotheistic orientation of Islam to a sort of keeper-demon who leads humans into temptation. The Islamic statements about qarīn recall the ancient Egyptian beliefs about “ka,” the abstract individuality of every human being, which in turn goes back to the Babylonian idea of an undefined personal god “walking beside man” (see Blackmann, Karīn and karīneh; Hornblower, Traces of a ka-belief).
In the Qurʾān, those who believe in ṭāghūt, along with jibt (q.v.), are said to be those who have received only a part of the scriptures ( q 4:51; see book; people of the book; idols and images) and it contrasts belief in God with belief in the ṭāghūt, equating the latter with the leaders of the unfaithful ( q 2:257; see belief and unbelief ). ¶ The qurʾānic denunciation of those who “desire to go to judgment before the ṭāghūt, although they have been commanded not to believe in him; and Satan desired to seduce them into a wide error” (q.v.; q 4:60; see also astray ) indicates that ṭāghūt may refer to a spiritual entity or an idol (see also Atallah, Ǧibt and Ṭāghūt, for an interesting theory that relates these two words with magical practices in ancient Egypt). It is thus connected to the religious and political spheres of pre-Islamic society (see pre-islamic arabia and the qurʾān ). The meaning of the term ṭāghūt, however, remains a matter of speculation (for an Aramaic derivation — cf. Syr. ṭāʿyē, “planet/planet god” — see Köbert, Das koranische “ṭāġūt”; cf. Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, bk. 10, K. Adhān, 129 [faḍl al-sujūd], ed. Krehl, i, 207; trans. Houdas, i, 268: “Et il en est qui suivront le soleil, d'autres la lune, d'autres enfin les idoles”). Lexicographers and commentators have interpreted al- jibt and al-ṭāghūt as “everything that is adored instead of God,” without identifying the origins of these words (see Fahd, Le panthéon, 240). According to both Qurʾān and ḥadīth, the Prophet recognized the existence of the heathen gods, but classed them among the demons.
In the Qurʾān, the word jinn acquires a connotation that is definitely pejorative, particularly in Medinan passages (see medina ). The original meaning of this term is probably “covert” (from the Semitic root j-n-n); another word for it is jann (to which the Ethiopic ganen, “demon,” corresponds); it is sometimes used as a name of Iblīs (al- jānn, q 15:27), or with the meaning of serpent ( q 27:10; 28:31), or as a synonym to jinn ( q 55:39; see also insanity ). ¶
An examination of the qurʾānic data reveals identification between shayāṭīn and jinn, as is the case in the Solomon (q.v.) legend ( q 2:102; 21:82; 38:37) or the abduction of human beings through the agency of spirits ( q 6:71). There are also several passages in which shayāṭīn means “pagan idols” ( q 2:14; 4:76; 5:90; 19:44) and a similar meaning is assigned to the wordjinn in q 6:100 and 34:41. This interpretation of their identity is a consequence of superimposing two different demonologies, one the outcome of monotheism, the other, previously known in the Arab world, arising from polytheism (see south arabia, religions in pre-islamic ). Nevertheless, in the qurʾānic purview, they are God's creatures and never appear as God's enemies (q.v.) or as an anti-divine power. The Qurʾān refers to the army of Iblīs ( q 26:95) and to Satan's party ( q 58:19), but these expressions have no dualistic flavor (see troops; parties and factions; ranks and orders). M. Iqbāl (Reconstruction) even considers Iblīs and the devils to be a necessary force in life because only by fighting them can one grow into a perfect human being. Though the jinn and shayāṭīn have no individuality, they fall into various classes, and some of them are mentioned as particularly harmful.
The most dangerous kind of harmful being is the ghūl (a feminine noun). This word, which comes from a root signifying “to destroy,” does not appear in the Qurʾān except in the derivative form ghawl ( q 37:47), which refers to the dangerous effects of wine (q.v.). The ghūl is supposed to lie in wait at places where men are destined to perish; she entices them there, especially by night. Poets sometimes depict the ghūl as the daughter of the jinn (Qazwīnī, ʿAjāʾib, 370). Some words which are often understood as referring to demons actually have a different sense. ʿIfrīt (q.v.) in q 27:39 is an epithet of somewhat doubtful meaning (it seems to have the ¶ general value of “skillful” with a shade of “rebel”; see rebellion ), which is applied to a jinn, but it is not the name of a particular class of demons.
As with other aspects of belief, the qurʾānic account of spiritual beings has generated a wide range of variations at the local level. For a large group of believers these spiritual beings are, at best, of philosophical importance only and of little practical concern as a sensible representation of the spiritual world. Others consider the veracity of their possible interference only in rare circumstances. But recent ethnographic research has shown that belief in spiritual beings persists as a regular ingredient of everyday life in various parts of the Muslim world.
- Primary
Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ; trans. O. Houdas and W. Marçais, Les traditions islamiques, 4 vols., Paris 1977
Ibn al-ʿArabī, Muḥyi l-Dīn Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad b. ʿAlī, al-Futūḥāt al-makkiyya, 4 vols., Cairo 1911
al-Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, Rasāʾil Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, Beirut 1957
al-Qazwīnī, Abū Zakariyāʾ, ʿAjāʾib al-makhlūqāt wa-gharāʾib al-mawjūdāt, Cairo 1956
Ṣuyūṭī, Durr
id., al-Ḥabāʾik fī akhbār al-malāʾik, Cairo 1990
id., Laqṭ al-marjān fī aḥkām al-jānn, Cairo 1908
Ṭabarī, Tafsīr, ed. Shākir.
- Secondary
W. Atallah, Ǧibt and Ṭāghūt dans le Coran, in Arabica 17 (1970), 69-82
L. Berger, Esprits et microbes. L'interpretation des ǧinn-s dans quelques commentaries coraniques du XX siècle, in Arabica 47 (2000), 554-62
W.S. Blackman, The karīn and karīneh, in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 56 (1926), 163-9
C.E. Dubler, L'ancient orient dans l'Islam, in si 7 (1957), 47-75
T. Fahd, Angeli, demoni e ginn in Islam, in D. Meeks et al., Geni, angeli e demoni, Roma 1994, 129-80
id., Le panthéon de l'Arabie centrale à la veille de l'Hégire, Paris 1968
G. Fartacek, Begegnungen mit Jinn, in Anthropos 97 (2002), 469-86
A. Gingrich, Spirits of the border, in qsa 13 (1995), 199-212
J. Henninger, Geisterglaude bei den vorislamischen Arabern, in Festschrift Paul Schebesta zum 75. Geburtstag, Vienna 1963, 279-316
repr. J. Henninger, Arabica sacra,¶ Freiburg 1981, 118-69
G.D. Hornblower, Traces of a ka-belief in modern Egypt and old Arabia, in ic 1(1927), 426-30
Cl. Huart, Le livre de la création et de l'histoire, 2 vols., Paris 1901
M. Iqbāl, The reconstruction of religious thought in Islam, ed. and annot. M.S. Sheikh, Lahore 1986
A. Khadir, Mal, maladies, croyances et therapeutiques au Maroc, PhD diss, Université de Bordeaux 1998
R. Köbert, Das koranische “ṭāġūt”, in Orientalia n.s. 30 (1961), 415-16
repr. Paret (ed.), Koran, 281-2
G.J. Obermeyer, Ṭāghūt, manʿ, and sharīʿa. The realms of law in tribal Arabia, in W. al-Qādī (ed.), Studia Arabica et Islamica. Festschrift for Iḥsān ʿAbbas on his sixtieth birthday, Beirut 1981, 365-71
S.M. Zwemer, Animism in Islam (Hair, finger-nails and the hand), in mw 7 (1917), 245-55.
- Cite this page
Cunial, Stefania, “Spiritual Beings”, in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC. Consulted online on 07 January 2017 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1875-3922_q3_EQSIM_00402>
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