GINN. - An Arabic collective noun denoting a category of beings, spirits or imps, part of the pre-Islamic pagan beliefs, later accepted by Muḥammad and thus retained in Islamic dogma and folklore. Etymologically, the noun is linked by some to the root ghn (“to cover,” “to hide”), and by others, though more rarely in recent times, to the Latin genius.
According to the Qurʾān, the jinn are created from fire (15:27; 55:14); some are evil and will be condemned to Hell (6:128; 11:120), while others are good and Muslim: see in this regard the sūrah of the Qurʾān devoted to them (72), which recounts how a group of jinn converted after hearing Muḥammad’s preaching. In sūrah 27 (cf. vv. 17 ff.) it is said that the jinn formed part of Solomon’s army. Satan is called a jinn (18:48), though elsewhere (2:32) he is presented as an angel.
The jinn are generally anonymous. However, some are known by name; the most famous in popular belief, since pre-Islamic times, is the ghūl (female), a desert-dwelling ogress who preys on Bedouins.