Comments on: Saudi Family Sues Djinn in Sharia Court http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/saudi_family_sues_djinn_in_sharia_court/ Online Journal of Politics and Foreign Affairs Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:13:06 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: John Burgess http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/saudi_family_sues_djinn_in_sharia_court/comment-page-1/#comment-1099002 John Burgess Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:37:22 +0000 http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/?p=39315#comment-1099002 The presence of jinns in the Quran really complicates things for a society that considers that book not only inerrant, but the literal word of God. It takes more than stones the size of Montana to gainsay that point. What most Saudis 'believe' is a matter of education and religious indoctrination. Those who lean toward the humanist/rationalist side tend to simply ignore it, seeing the verses about jinn as a reflection of 7th C. concepts of the world. Those who lean toward religious authoritarianism have to find ways to factor into their world views entities that stand between angels and man. Good jinns, bad jinns; male jinns, female jinns. All different and all posing different problems for the believer. I've done a couple of things on this story which you may find of interest, including comments: <a href="http://xrdarabia.org/2009/07/09/out-of-the-bottle/" rel="nofollow">Out of the Bottle</a> <a href="http://xrdarabia.org/2009/07/10/genies-and-the-saudi-courts-part-ii/" rel="nofollow">Genies and the Saudi Courts: Part II</a> The presence of jinns in the Quran really complicates things for a society that considers that book not only inerrant, but the literal word of God. It takes more than stones the size of Montana to gainsay that point.

What most Saudis 'believe' is a matter of education and religious indoctrination. Those who lean toward the humanist/rationalist side tend to simply ignore it, seeing the verses about jinn as a reflection of 7th C. concepts of the world. Those who lean toward religious authoritarianism have to find ways to factor into their world views entities that stand between angels and man. Good jinns, bad jinns; male jinns, female jinns. All different and all posing different problems for the believer.

I've done a couple of things on this story which you may find of interest, including comments:

Out of the Bottle

Genies and the Saudi Courts: Part II

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