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- Title
GELENEKSEL İSLAM İNANCINDA MİTOLOJİK UNSURLARIN KRİTİĞİ: CİNLERLE İLGİLİ İNANIŞLAR BAĞLAMINDA BİR İNCELEME.
- Authors
MERDİN, Saadettin
- Abstract
In the present study named "Criticism Of Mythological Elements in Traditional Islamic Belief: A Study in The Context Of The Beliefs About Jinns", the historical development of jinn belief from the Sumerians to the Judaism have been examined, and then it is shown that the jinn belief of Muslims is substantially inherited from the semi-animist/spiritualist Jahiliyyah Arabs. Arabs of the Age of Ignorance designated half of the world of beings to the jinn. The Mesh Theory, in which they believed, allows these jinn and demons to take on any form they want. The snake comes in the first place among these [forms]. Jānn refers to both snake and demon/satan. That is why they are afraid of killing snakes. There are very few creatures that they have not described as demons and satan. This theory also explains the transformation of the Israelites into pigs and monkeys. They account for the natural events through jinn. Sandstorms are caused by the dust rising while the jinn tribes are fighting with each other. These mythological beings are also reasons for almost all biological and psychological disorders. The evil eye and the plague are always their work. Poets compose their poems, and the soothsayers perform their prophecy thanks to them. The jinn belief of the Arabs of the Age of Ignorance lasts considerably even after [the coming of] Islam since Islam did not introduce a new ontology and epistemology and invited people [to Islam] using the conversance of its addressees. In the last section, the Qur'an verses, in which the jinn and devils are mentioned, have been subjected to a new reading. The nature and objective reality of these hybrid creatures, which are believed to eat, drink, marry, live in tribes, bring messages from the sky to poets and clairvoyants, assume any form they want, cause many diseases and be active in the fields of magic and prophecy, have been studied. The reason why these mythic beings are mentioned in the Qur'an is to express the wrong beliefs of polytheists who worship the jinns, not to prove the existence of jinn contrary to the common belief. When the relevant verses of the Qur'an are analyzed utilizing the historical (asbab alnuzul) and textual (siyaq and sibaq) context, it is observed that the term "jinn" is also applied to "angels, demons and human beings". Since the word devil is an adjective as well, it is mostly used to describe the "human devils" (Makkah devils, Medina hypocrites, and Jewish leaders), and sometimes about the personality weaknesses such as "envy, megalomania, forgetfulness," and rarely regarding the abstract devil (Iblis). However, it has not been possible to interpret Suleiman's jinn and devils as "foreign workers and masters". In this respect, it can be suggested that the most reasonable solution is available in the approaches that consider the Qur'an to be a "literary text". The jinn belief is a natural extension of a conception of a mythological universe where the laws of nature are yet to be known. It is possible to argue that the perception of the universe of the first Muslims was also largely mythological and therefore the revelation (wahy) established a dialogue with its first addressees based on their acquaintance. It is emphasized that our description of universe should be purified from the mythological elements surrounding the jinn belief and the religious language should be updated by adapting the changing scientific data to issues of theology.
- Subjects
MECCA (Saudi Arabia); MEDINA (Saudi Arabia); DEVIL; HUMAN beings; FOREIGN workers; DEMONOLOGY; BELIEF &; doubt; ANIMISM
- Publication
KADER, 2019, Vol 17, Issue 2, p641
- ISSN
2602-2710
- Publication type
Article