100 Preface وَجَعَلوا لِلَّهِ شُرَكاءَ الجِنَّ وَخَلَقَهُم ۖ وَخَرَقوا لَهُ بَنينَ وَبَناتٍ بِغَيرِ عِلمٍ ۚ سُبحانَهُ وَتَعالىٰ عَمّا يَصِفونَYusuf AliYet they make the Jinns equals1 with God, though God did create the Jinns; and they falsely, having no knowledge, attribute to Him sons and daughters. Praise and glory be to Him! (for He is) above what they attribute to Him!Jinns: who are they? In 18:50 we are told that Iblis was one of the Jinns, and it is suggested that that was why he disobeyed the Command of God. But in that passage and other similar passages, we are told that God commanded the angels to bow down to Adam, and they obeyed except Iblis. That implies that Iblis had been of the company of angels. In many passages Jinns and men are spoken of together. In 55:14-15, man is stated to have been created from clay, while Jinns from a flame of fire. The root meaning of junna, yujannu, is “to be covered or hidden,” and janna yajunnu, in the active voice, “to cover or hide,” as in 6:76- Some people say that jinn therefore means the hidden qualities or capacities in man; others that it means wild or jungle folk hidden in the hills or forests. I do not wish to be dogmatic, but I think, from a collation and study of the Quranic passages, that the meaning is simply “a spirit,” or an invisible or hidden force. In folklore stories and romances like the Arabian Nights they become personified into fantastic forms, but with them we are not concerned here. Both the Qur-ān and the Ḥadīth describe the Jinn as a definite species of living beings. They are created out of fire and are like man, may believe or disbelieve, accept or reject guidance. The authoritative Islamic texts show that they are not merely a hidden force, or a spirit. They are personalized beings who enjoy a certain amount of free will and thus will be called to account. (Eds.).