See also colonialism; democracy; hindUism
and islam; ismaili shiism; politics and islam;
secUlarism.
Further reading: Akbar S. Ahmed, Jinnah, Pakistan,
and Islamic Identity (London: Routledge, 1997); Ainslie
Embree and Stephen Hay, eds., Sources of Indian Tradi-
tion. Vol. 2, Modern India and Pakistan. 2d ed. (New
York: Columbia University Press, 1988); Dominique
Lapierre and Larry Collins, Freedom at Midnight. 2d ed.
(New Delhi: Vikas Publishing, 1997); Stanley Wolpert,
Jinnah of Pakistan (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1984).
jinni (Arabic singular of jinn, or English
genie)
The jinn are intelligent beings capable of doing
good and evil. They were first known to the
inhabitants of pre-Islamic Arabia as a kind of
nature spirit or minor deity. Poets and seers were
believed to have magical powers in part owing to
being possessed by, or having a special relation
with, them. Indeed, mUhammad’s seventh-cen-
tury opponents accused him of being possessed
by these spirits rather than being in communion
with the one God, allah. The jinn are mentioned
frequently in the qUran, which even has a chap-
ter about them that bears their name (Q 72). As
creatures created from smokeless fire or vapor,
they stand in contrast to angels, who were created
from light, and humans, who were created from
clay. Iblis, or satan, is one of the jinn (Q 18:50),
but the Quran also portrays him as a rebellious
angel (Q 38:73–76), a belief that had arisen in
Judaism and Christianity previously. The jinn can
have human qualities; their knowledge is limited
and they have moral agency. They can either sub-
mit to God and become Muslims, or they can slan-
der and disobey him, for which God will judge
them. The demonic jinn are called satans (Arabic
shayatin). There are many tales about the jinn,
and some even hold that they can marry people
and have children. Unlike humans, however, they
can change shapes so that they can appear as ani-
mals such as cats, dogs, and goats. Belief in them
is an accepted aspect of official Islamic doctrine.
When Islam spread outside of Arabia, belief in
the jinn was assimilated with local beliefs about
deities and spirits, from Africa to iran, tUrkey,
india, and Southeast Asia. In folk religion, they
are spirits often held responsible for extraordinary
events, even miracles, as well as many kinds of
illness. Special amulets are made to control them
or keep them from doing harm. During the 19th
century, a Women’s religious movement known as
the Zar cult emerged in the Nile Valley and spread
to adjacent areas. Its purpose was to heal women
of psychoses and bodily ailments by identify-
ing and appeasing the jinn. Today scientifically
minded Muslims tend to deny the existence of
these extraordinary spirits or explain them in
psychological terms.
See also amUlets and talismans; arabian reli-
gions, pre-islamic; evil eye.
Patrick O’Donnell and Juan E. CampoFurther reading: Eleanor Abdella Doumato, Getting
God’s Ear: Women, Islam, and Healing in Saudi Arabia
and the Gulf (New York: Columbia University Press);
Edward Westermarck, Ritual and Belief in Morocco, 2
vols. (New York: University Books, 1968).jizya (Arabic: poll tax)
The jizya was a poll (or head) tax paid by non-
Muslim subjects (dhimmis) to Muslim govern-
ments. The legal basis for this tax (Q 9:29),
commands Muslims to “fight those who have
previously received revelation who do not believe
in God or in the Last Day and who do not forbid
that which God and his Prophet have forbidden
and who do not believe in the true religion, until
they agree to pay the jizya in humility.”
The legal texts that lay out the normative
definitions of jizya are all from a period postdat-
ing the first century of Islam (ca. eighth centuryK 402 jinni