More on " What is a Jinn? " You say in one of your previous responses that; "it is also said that a man, by going through various exercises, can create interaction with this creation of God.", when referring to the Jinn. I was quite shocked to hear something like this because these kind of activities usually point to "black magic practices" that are looked upon as a "evil" probably all over the world. The wegi-board for example, attempting to contact "spirits" etc. Does not Islam prohibit these kind of thoughts and practices? Another interesting point that may help us understand what Jinn is more precisely is that if we look at the pre-Islamic Arabs' concept of the Jinn. This word (or concept) must have had significance to them because of the very fact it is mentioned in the Quran. And we have already established in other areas that the Quran must have used words that the Arabs already knew. So is it not possible, to derive a trustworthy explanation of the word "Jinn" by examining the way the Arabs used the word? I have also heard that an ancient Japanese (I think) army or a people were actually named "The Jinn". Do you think there could be a connection between the two? (pre-Islamic of course, since we know that Iblis is a Jinn and maybe Allah (swt) corrected the usage of the word). Regards, Essam Reply I fully agree with you that it has generally been discouraged to go through the exercises that are required to create an interaction with Jinn. I do not disagree with the view. In my referred writing, I had absolutely no intention of implying that attaining such interaction is something desirable. My reference to the attainment of such interaction was only a statement of fact. However, if any part of my answer gives the impression that I consider the attainment of such interaction desirable or even acceptable, it may kindly be corrected. As far as the connotation of the word Jinn in the environment in which the Qur'an was revealed is concerned, this is precisely the point that I have based my previous answer upon. The information given in my previous answer is actually based upon the Qur'an and the usage of the word in the Arabic language. As far as the name of the referred ancient Japanese Army is concerned, I am not really aware of that. However, a pertinent question to answer before considering any relationship between the name of the army with the usage in the Qur'an is whether the referred name was given in the Arabic language or not. If the answer is yes, then a relationship may be considered, otherwise there is no reason to believe that the two words are the same. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad Home Page