Abstract

The belief in demonic beings (ǧinn) is widespread in the Islamic world. As these “djinn” are re¬peatedly mentioned by the Qurʾān and the sunna, it is considered kufr to deny their existence. The present contribution, being mostly based on Arabic and Persian written sour¬ces (until approx. 1500 A.D.), is concerned with a special issue of Muslim demonology. Several ḥadīṯ mention that pious ǧinn when listening to the Qurʾān asked the Prophet to assign food to them and their mounts. While their animals seem to have no special function according to these traditions, later authors are more thoroughly informed about them. They systematically use the idea of riding on, or being ridden by, demons as a metaphorical expression for different phenomena and activi¬ties attributed to the ǧinn (e.g. mental and physical illness, poetic inspiration, fortune-telling, exorcism). The article is partially based on unpublished materials on Islamic demonology collected by Fritz Meier (1912–1998) now held by the Universitätsbibliothek Basel (University Library Basle).