Afreet
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Ifrit, also spelled as efreet, afrit, and afreet ( Arabic: ': , plural ': ), is a powerful type of
demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...
in Islamic mythology. The afarit are often associated with the underworld and identified with the spirits of the dead, and have been compared to evil ''geniī loci'' in European culture.Edward Westermarck ''Ritual and Belief in Morocco: Vol. I (Routledge Revivals)'' Routledge, 23 Apr 2014 p. 387 In Quran, hadith, and Mi'raj narrations the term is always followed by the phrase ''among the jinn''. In later folklore, they developed into independent entities, identified as powerful demons or spirits of the dead who sometimes inhabit desolate places such as ruins and temples. Their true habitat is the underworld.Chelhod, J., “ʿIfrīt”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 06 October 2019 First published online: 2012 First print edition: , 1960-2007


Etymology

The word ''ifrit'' derives from the Quran, but only as an
epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
and not to designate a specific type of demon. The term itself is not found in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, although variants such as ''ifriya'' and ''ifr'' are recorded prior to the Quran. Traditionally, Arab philologists trace the derivation of the word to (', "to rub with dust" or "to roll into dust").Chelhod, J., “ʿIfrīt”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 26 September 2019 First published online: 2012 First print edition: , 1960-2007 It is further used to describe sly, malicious, wicked and cunning characteristics. Some Western philologists suggest a foreign origin of the word and attribute it to Middle Persian ''afritan'' which corresponds to Modern Persian (to create), but this is regarded as unlikely by others. In folklore, the term developed into a designation of a specific class of demon, though most Islamic scholarly traditions regard the term as an adjective. These popular beliefs were elaborated in works such as in al-Ibshihi's ''Mustatraf''. They became identified either as a dangerous kind of demon (''
shayatin ' (; ''devils'' or ''demons''), singular: (شَيْطَان) are evil spirits in Islam, inciting humans (and jinn) to sin by "whispering" (وَسْوَسَة, “waswasah”) to their qalb, hearts (قَلْب ''qalb''). Folklore suggests that t ...
'') preying on women, or as spirits of the dead.


Islamic scriptures

In Islamic scriptures the term ''ifrit'' is always followed by the expression ''of the jinn''.Szombathy, Zoltan, "ʿIfrīt", in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', Vol. 3, edited by Kate Fleet, Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe, John Nawas, Everett Rowson. Consulted online on 06 October 2019. . First published online: 2018 First print edition: , 2018, 2018-3 Due to the ambiguous meaning of the term ''jinn'', which is applied to a wide range of different spirits, their relation towards the genus of jinn remains vague. However, within the Islamic scriptures themselves, the term is apparently used as an epithet to describe a powerful or malicious spirit of undefined nature. In the Quran itself, such an ifrit is mentioned in ( Q27:38–40). The ifrit offers to carry the throne of Bilqis (the Queen of Sheba) to
Solomon Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
: "An ifrit from the jinn said: 'I will bring it to you before you rise from your place. And verily, I am indeed strong, and trustworthy for such work." However, the duty is not given to him, but to somebody who is endowed with knowledge of the scripture. An "ifrit among the jinn" is mentioned in a ''hadith'' of Muhammad al-Bukhari, attempting to interrupt the prayers of the prophet Muhammed and in a narrative of Muhammad's night journey recorded in the 8th century by Malik ibn Anas. In the latter account, the "ifrit among the jinn" threatens Muhammad with a fiery presence, whereupon the archangel Gabriel taught Muhammad a '' Du'a'' (Islamic prayer) to defeat it. Muslim texts explain, God sent the ifrit on purpose in order that Gabriel might teach Muhammad and his '' ummah'' (Muslim community) to overcome their fear of demons at night.


Islamic folklore

In Islamic folklore, the afarit became a class of
chthonic The word chthonic (), or chthonian, is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''χθών, "khthon"'', meaning earth or soil. It translates more directly from χθόνιος or "in, under, or beneath the earth" which can be differentiated from Γῆ ...
spirits, inhabiting the layers of the
seven earths 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist * ...
, generally ruthless and wicked, formed out of smoke and fire. Nizami Ganjavi describes the ''ifrit'' tormenting Mahan, as created from "God's wrath", thus underpinning the ifrit's role secondary to God's will. But despite their negative depictions and affiliation to the nether regions, afarit are not fundamentally evil on a moral plane; they might even carry out God's purpose. Such obligations can nevertheless be ruthless, such as obligation to blood vengeance and avenging murder. Further, an ifrit can be compelled by a sorcerer, if summoned.


Egypt

Although afarit are not necessarily components of a person, but independent entities, a common belief in Islamic Egypt associates afarit with part of a human's soul. Probably influenced by the Ancient Egypt idea of ''Ka'', the afarit are often identified with the spirits of the dead, departing from the body at the moment of death. They live in cemeteries, wander around places the dead person frequently visited, or roam the earth close to the place of death, until the Day of Judgment. A person who died a natural death does not have a malevolent ifrit. Only people who are killed give rise to a dangerous and active ifrit, drawn to the blood of the victim. Driving an unused nail into the blood is supposed to stop their formation. Such afarit might scare and even kill the living or take revenge on the murderer. Martyrs,
saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...
and prophets do not have a ghost, and therefore no ifrit.


Morocco

In Moroccan belief, the afarit form a more powerful type of demon, compared to the jinn and other supernatural creatures. They have more substantial existence, and are greater in scale and capacity than other demons. Their physical appearance is often portrayed as having monstrous deformities, such as claw-like or thorny hands, flaming eyes or seven heads. Just as with jinn, an ifrit might possess an individual. Such persons gain some abilities from the ifrit, such as getting stronger and more brave, but the ifrit renders them insane. With the aid of a magical ring, the afarit might be forced to perform certain orders, such as carrying heavy stones.


Shabakism

A story circulates among the Shabak community in Northern Iraq about a certain ifrit who incensed Ali by his evil nature long before the creation of
Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
. Consequently, for the ifrit's wickedness, Ali chained the ifrit and left him alone. When the prophets arrived, he appeared to all of them and begged them for his release, but no prophet was able to break the chains of the ifrit. When Muhammad found the ifrit, he brought him to Ali. Ali had mercy with the ifrit. He decided to release him under the condition that he surrender to the will of god.


In fiction

Afarit appear already in early poems, such as those of Al-Maʿarri (973–1057), who describes his protagonist visiting a paradise with "narrow straits" and "dark valleys" for afarit, between heaven and hell. In later works, the afarit are mentioned among the narratives collected in ''
One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
''. In one tale called "The Porter and the Young Girls", a prince is attacked by pirates and takes refuge with a woodcutter. The prince finds an underground chamber in the forest leading to a beautiful woman who has been kidnapped by an ifrit. The prince sleeps with the woman and both are attacked by the jealous ifrit, who changes the prince into an ape. Later a princess restores the prince and fights a pitched battle with the ifrit, who changes shape into various animals, fruit, and fire until being reduced to cinders.Anne E. Duggan Ph.D., Donald Haase Ph.D., Helen J. Callow ''Folktales and Fairy Tales: Traditions and Texts from around the World, 2nd Edition volumes Traditions and Texts from around the World'' ABC-CLIO, 12.02.2016 volume 2 p. 402 In "
The Fisherman and the Jinni "The Fisherman and the Jinni" is the second top-level story told by Sheherazade in the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. Synopsis There is an old, poor fisherman who casts his net exactly four times a day. One day he goes to the shore and casts ...
" an ifrit, locked in a jar by the
Seal of Solomon The Seal of Solomon or Ring of Solomon ( he, חותם שלמה, '; ar, خاتم سليمان, ') is the legendary signet ring attributed to the Israelite king Solomon in medieval mystical traditions, from which it developed in parallel within ...
, is released but later tricked by the fisherman again into the jar. Under the condition that the ifrit aids him to achieve riches, he releases the ifrit again.Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock ''The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters'' Routledge, 01.04.2016 p. 166-169 The latter ifrit, however, might be substituted by a marid, another type of powerful demon easily tricked by the protagonist. The latter portrayal of an ifrit, as a wish-granting spirit released from a jar, became characteristic of Western depictions of jinn. Afarit feature frequently in
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and video games. In the '' Final Fantasy'' video game series, an ifrit appears as a summonable spirit and an enemy. Like its mythological counterpart, it is a spirit of fire and can use an iconic spell called ''Hell-Fire''. In the fifth season of '' True Blood'' (2012), an ifrit seeks vengeance for murder of Iraqi civilians by U.S soldiers. In both the novel ''
American Gods ''American Gods'' (2001) is a fantasy novel by British author Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on the mysterious and taciturn Shadow. The book was pub ...
'' (2001) and the
television adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...
by
Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
an ifrit disguised as a taxi-driver appears, trying to get used to his new role, seeking intimacy in a lonely world.Tara Prescott ''Neil Gaiman in the 21st Century: Essays on the Novels, Children's Stories, Online Writings, Comics and Other Works'' McFarland, 11.02.2015 p. 25.


See also

* Archdemon * Dybbuk *
Genie in popular culture Genies or djinns are supernatural creatures from pre-Islamic and Islamic mythology. They are associated with shapeshifting, possession and madness. In later Western popular representation, they became associated with wish-granting and often live ...
* Imp * Oni *
Yūrei are figures in Japanese folklore analogous to the Western model of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, (''yū''), meaning "faint" or "dim" and (''rei''), meaning "soul" or "spirit". Alternative names include , meaning ruined or depart ...
* Zabaniyya


Explanatory notes


References


External links

* {{Authority control Chthonic beings Demons in Islam Ghosts Jahannam Jinn