Jinn
Exegesis

In Quranic interpretation, the term jinn can be used in two different ways:

Belief in jinn is not included among the six articles of Islamic faith, as belief in angels is. Nonetheless, many Muslim scholars, including the Hanbalī scholar ibn Taymiyya and the Ẓāhirī scholar ibn Hazm, believe they are essential to the Islamic faith since they are mentioned in the Quran. It is generally accepted by the majority of Muslim scholars that jinn can possess individuals. This is considered to be part of the doctrines (aqidah) of the " people of the Sunnah " (ahl as-sunnah wal-jammah'a) in the tradition of Ash'ari. The Atharī scholars ibn Taimiyya and ibn Qayyim agree on this matter. From among the Sunni schools of theology, only the Māturīdīs seems to debate possession. Al-Rustughfanī deemed jinn-possession impossible.

Al-Māturīdī focuses on the dynamics between jinn and humans based on Quran 72:6. He states that seeking refuge among the jinn increases fear and anxiety, however, not because of the jinn, but due to the psychological dependence of the individual towards external powers. By that, he refers to seeking refuge among the jinn as a form of širk, due to the reliance on a created thing instead of God.

The topic of Jinn was established as the central basis for Islamic Demonology curriculum. Ibn Kathir has recorded in his work al-Bidaya wa l-Nihaya, that Ibn 'Abd al-Barr has classified Jinn into different ranks. Several of them consisted of:

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani recorded in his work Fath al-Bari; that the attribution of the root of Ifrit being derived from Ifriya which means "rebellious demon"; from the tradition of Abu Bakr, the first Rashidun caliph. One example of the Ifrit Jinn was Sakhr, the demon who once usurped king Solomon.

Although jinn frequently appear in hagiographic Sufi literature and their existence is never doubted, they do not play any major role in Sufi cosmology. Because of their similarities to humans, they function neither as a model to follow (like angels) nor tempters of the lower self (like Satan) and mostly feature in poetic anecdotes.
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