Jinnyah is the female term for a Jinn, or Genie. Unlike Man, who is made from clay, or Sylfs made from air, Jinn are made from subtle fire and their form flows from thought to thought, from idea to idea. The book, The Thousand Nights and One Night (of which the Shop has a copy illustrated by Marc Chagall) teaches us on Sheherazade’s three hundred and third night that there are true-believing Jinn, and false-believing Jinn. The true-believing Jinn follow the tenents of Islam and believe that Mahomet is the Prophet. The false-believing Jinn owe their allegiance to Ibliss, King of all Amir, Shaytan, and Ifreet, who refused to bow down to Adam. This we are told in the second chapter of the Holy Qu'ran.

Now Jinn frequently appear as snakes, dogs or in any number of fantastical shapes. With the Qu'ran and the Sunnah forbidding the creation of images, how can we believe that such creatures who themselves are a flickering of multiple images could ever find favor in the eyes of Allah? The truth must be that there are either no true-believing Jinn, or that true-believing Jinn are allowed to exist because Allah is forgiving and all-merciful.

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