Myths
Legends of the Djinn
(Paraphrased and edited from various online sources.)
Djinn: a race of spirits. A male spirit of the Djinn is called a “djinni”; a female djinni is called a “djinniye.”
The ancient Hebrews believed that the djinn were spirits of vanished peoples who acted during the night and disappeared at the first light of dawn. They could make themselves invisible and change their shape into animals at will. These spirits were commonly blamed for diseases of the body and mind; sufferers claimed that they were “tormented by the djinn.”
The ancient Arabs believed that the djinn were spirits of fire; the female djinn were also associated with succubi — demons who took the forms of beautiful women.
In the most common legends, the djinn are said to be creatures of smokeless fire created by God (in much the same way that humans were made of earth). Imbued with free will, the djinn can choose to perform both good and evil acts. In the Qu'ran, the djinn are mentioned frequently (Surat 72 is entirely about them), and Muhammad was said to have been sent as a prophet to both humans and djinn.
The djinn are assumed to be living in what can be described as a “parallel universe” within our space and time on Earth; they have communities much like human societies — they eat, marry, produce children, die, etc. They can see us, but we cannot see them — although they are able to make themselves visible when they choose.
The djinn were said to be controllable by magically binding them to objects; the Spirit of the Lamp in the fictitious story of Aladdin was such a djinni, bound to an oil lamp. In the West, the genie-in-the-oil-lamp myth took hold — as did the expectation that a released djinn would grant three wishes to the bearer of the lamp. It was also speculated that djinn could grant a single wish per day.