To this day, the people of the Arabian Peninsula still circulate the stories of the ancient Arabs in their travels, who divided the lands of the Arabian Peninsula, north and south, and said that the jinn have their own tribes, clans, and kings, and valleys, reefs, and mountains in which they inhabit and reproduce.
Jinn countries
The jinn are known to inhabit ruins, desolations, and places of impurity in “baths” and “qamim.” Therefore, the Noble Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, forbade these places, warned against them, and commanded us to protect ourselves with the correct legal rituals when descending there. It is also known that the jinn inhabit dark places, dens, lonely caves, and deserted places in cities and deserts, but their presence in deserts and wastelands is well known among Arabs and others. In fact, Arabs are aware of this due to the nature of their land and their frequent movement in deep deserts and desolate lands.
The land of Ad
Therefore, it was said that the jinn inhabited the land of “Wabar,” “Jabal Sawaj,” and “Abraq al-Hanan” from the Arabian Peninsula. They also inhabited “Jabal Harfa” in the Al-Namas Governorate, and “Yabrin,” which some believe was the land of Aad after their destruction in the south of the Arabian Peninsula. They also claimed that they inhabited Al-Hijr from the land of Thamud – which is different from the Al-Yamamah stone in the highlands of Najd, which currently includes the city of Riyadh. The scholar “Ibn Junaydal” mentioned that “Jabal Khanuqa” is a famous home for jinn musical instruments, and the Arabs mean by musical instruments the sounds, wailing, and whistling that are issued in the desert, which some interpreted as the sound of the wind on the coasts and sand dunes. Others saw it as the sound of the jinn wailing. He mentioned “Al-Jandil” describing “Mount Khanuqa” as a gray mountain whose western side is surmounted by a red sand dune, and whose eastern side is surrounded by a wide white patch called “Abraq Khanuqa,” and its location north of the town of Al-Bajadiya, west of the Dawadmi Governorate.
Jinn tribes
Al-Jandil predicted that the dwellings of Banu Malik and Banu al-Shayban would be “suffocated.” They are two tribes of the jinn. The first is Muslim and does not harm anyone, and the other is infidel from whose evil travelers and wanderers are not safe. There is no evidence of the jinn’s Islam or disbelief except the Almighty’s saying (And indeed, among us are the righteous, and apart from that we Qada), and the Arabs differed regarding the location of “Jinn al-Badi” which “Labid bin Rabi’a” referred to in his poetry. It was said that what was meant by it was the desert, meaning the deserts, and it was said that “Al-Badi” was a valley of Bani Amer. The Bani Amer are a nation of tribes united in their great-grandfather, Amer bin Sasa’a, and their homes are between Najd and the Tihama Mountains, which are closer to Najd as they are adjacent to the deserts of the Empty Quarter on the eastern side. Therefore, its people were described as brave, strong-willed, and helpful to the needy, despite their eloquence and the elegance of poetry, especially in the virginal ghazal that was mastered in that country by Qais bin Al-Malouh, “Majnun Bani Amer,” in the Jabal Al-Toubad theater in the current Al-Aflaj governorate.
Abqar Valley
The Arabs also referred to the “jinn of al-Baqar,” and they differed as to whether al-Baqar was a valley, a mountain, or a sand, but they agreed that Wadi Abqar is a valley inhabited by a nation of jinn. Therefore, it was mentioned frequently in their poems and novels, to the point that some of them mentioned that there was a village full of various types of jinn, to which they attribute every intelligent person. They say “Abqar” in reference to Wadi Abqar, which the narratives say is in the land of Yemen – contrary to some sayings that claimed that it is between the mountains of Hijaz and those that went to say that it is a valley in the Najd valley -. They also said that “the country of Al-Shahr” in Hadramaut is famous for the presence of jinn, and therefore they said: Among the jinn tribes are “Banu Ghazwan,” and that among their kings are “Al-Shanqaq” and “Al-Shayban.” It was narrated that some of them resided in the palace of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu’tadid. By God, he is in Baghdad and his people are terrified. Some poets also mentioned it, such as “Bashar bin Burd,” “Al-Shanfari,” “Al-Salik bin Salika,” “Tabat Shara,” and “Ibn Al-Ward,” and they often mentioned “Al-Awamir,” which are tribes of the jinn named that way. Because they inhabit houses, especially abandoned ones – that is, they inhabit them by inhabiting them – and therefore it is said that this house is haunted. As for the goblins, they are the stronger ones. However, they are all weak in their plotting and their ability to harm a human being if he protects himself from them with what God has legislated for him, such as reciting the Great Qur’an, protecting himself with the correct legal commandments, and seeking refuge in God from the jinn and their evils and plots.
Prophetic hadith
It was narrated on the authority of Abu Saeed Al-Khudri – may God be pleased with him – who said: The Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “In Medina there are people from Paradise who have converted to Islam. Whoever sees any of these commands, let him call to prayer three times, and if it appears to him after that, let him kill him, for he is a devil.” Narrated by Muslim. That is, if a person sees ghosts, snakes, or perhaps insects or other things that he suspects, he should order him to get out after seeking refuge with God, the Most High, the Great, from it. If he sees it after three days, he should kill it. There is no evidence of the weakness of the plot of the rebel jinn except their ignorance of the death of the Prophet Solomon, peace and blessings be upon him. The Almighty said: (And when We decreed for him death, what did he indicate to them? When he fell down, it became clear to the jinn that if they had known the unseen, they would not have remained in humiliating torment.)
Doubts and delusions
Also, most of what humans mention about their fears of the jinn is due to doubts and delusions, and this is what the Arabs claimed in some of their delusions. Until Islam came and corrected their beliefs, and sought refuge in God alone. The Almighty said: (And indeed, there were men from among mankind who sought refuge with men from among the jinn, but they increased their burden). He also revealed the weakness of mankind and jinn and challenged them, Glory be to Him, to traverse the regions of the heavens and the earth. God Almighty said: (O assembly of jinn and mankind, if you are able to reach the regions of the heavens and the earth, then You are executed only with authority (33) So which of the favors of your Lord will you deny? (34) He will send upon you thorns of fire and copper, but you will not be victorious.)
