Ifrit, also spelled as efreet, afrit, and afreet (
Arabic: عفريت,
romanized: ʿifrīt,
lit. '[ʕifriːt]' (listenⓘ), plural عفاريتʿafārīt), is a powerful type of
demon in
Islamic culture. The ʿafārīt 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.[2] 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
Jahannam or underworld.[3]
Etymology
The word ifrit appears in Surah
an-Naml: 39 of the
Quran, but only as an
epithet and not to designate a specific type of demon.[2][4] The term itself is not found in
pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, although variants such as ifriya and ifr are recorded prior to the Quran.[4] Traditionally, Arab philologists trace the derivation of the word to عفر (ʻafara, "to rub with dust" or "to roll into dust").[3][5] It is further used to describe sly, malicious, wicked and cunning characteristics.[6]
Some Western philologists suggest a foreign origin of the word and attribute it to
Middle Persianafritan which corresponds to
Modern Persianآفريدن (to create), but this is regarded as unlikely by others.[4] Johnny Cheung argued that there is a
Zoroastrian spirit called an āfriti- in the
Avestan language. He suggests that this Avestan term might be the ultimate source of Arabic ‘ifrīt."[7]
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.[5][4] Popular beliefs were elaborated in works such as in
al-Ibshihi's Mustatraf. They became identified either as a dangerous kind of
demon (shayṭān) preying on women, or as spirits of the dead.[4] In
Turkish, the term is used for demons of the underworld.[8]
Islamic scriptures
In Islamic scriptures the term ifrit is always followed by the expression of the jinn.[10] 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.[3] However, within the Islamic scriptures themselves, the term is apparently used as an epithet to describe a powerful or malicious spirit of undefined nature.[11][4][3]
In the Quran itself, such an ifrit is mentioned in Quran 27:38-40. The ifrit offers to carry the throne of
Bilqis, the queen of Sheba, to
King Solomon: "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.[4] An "ifrit among the jinn" is mentioned in a hadith of
Muhammad al-Bukhari, attempting to interrupt the prayers of the prophet
Muhammad[12][a] and in a narrative of Muhammad's night journey recorded in the eighth 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 prayer to defeat it.[14][10] Muslim texts explain, God sent the ifrit on purpose so that Gabriel might teach Muhammad and his ummah (Muslim community) to overcome their fear of demons at night.[15]
Islamic folklore
In Islamic folklore, the afarit became a class of
chthonic spirits, inhabiting the layers of the
seven earths,[16][17] generally ruthless and wicked, formed out of smoke and fire.[b][18]Nizami Ganjavi describes the ifrit tormenting Mahan, as created from "God's wrath", thus underpinning the ifrit's role secondary to God's will.[19]
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.[3] Further, an ifrit can be compelled by a
sorcerer, if summoned.[10]
Egypt
Although afarit are not necessarily components of a person, but independent entities, a common belief in
Islamic Egypt[c]
associates afarit with part of a human's soul.[24](pp103–104)
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.[25] Such afarit might scare and even kill the living or take revenge on the murderer.[26][24](p153)Martyrs,
saints and
prophets do not have a ghost, and therefore no ifrit.[24](p153)
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[27] than other demons.[28] Their physical appearance is often portrayed as having monstrous deformities, such as claw-like or thorny hands, flaming eyes or seven heads.[28][10]
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.[27][28] With the aid of a magical ring, the afarit might be forced to perform certain orders, such as carrying heavy stones.[28]
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. 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 was merciful to the ifrit, and decided to release him under the condition that he surrender to the will of God.[29]
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.[30] In later works, the afarit are mentioned among the narratives collected in One Thousand and One Nights. 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.[31][3] In "
The Fisherman and the Jinni" an ifrit, locked in a jar by the
Seal of Solomon, 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.[32] The latter ifrit, however, might be substituted by a
marid, another type of powerful demon[31][3] easily tricked by the protagonist.[33] The latter portrayal of an ifrit, as a wish-granting spirit released from a jar, became characteristic of Western depictions of jinn.[32]
Afarit feature frequently in
film 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.[34] In the fifth season of True Blood (2012), an ifrit seeks vengeance for murder of Iraqi civilians by U.S soldiers.[35] In both the novel American Gods (2001) and the
television adaptation by
Neil Gaiman an ifrit disguised as a taxi-driver appears, trying to get used to his new role, seeking intimacy in a lonely world.[36]
^In
Shibli's (d. 1367) retelling, he calls the ifrit a shaitan, underlining the ambiguous nature of the afarit.[13]
^
The description "smoke and fire" is contrary to the jinn in Quranic traditions, who are created out of smokeless (clear) fire,[3] but is in accord with a common tradition depicting the devils (shayāṭīn), as created out of smoke.
^
Although the identification of afarit with
ghosts is usually associated with Muslims in Egypt, it is also attested among Muslims in India,
Syria, and
Javan Muslims in
Cirebon.[21][22][23]
References
^Sleigh, Tom (2018). The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees. Graywolf Press. pp. chapter: 1.11.
ISBN978-1-555-97986-7.
^
abEdward Westermarck Ritual and Belief in Morocco: Vol. I (Routledge Revivals) Routledge, 23 Apr 2014
ISBN9781317912682 p. 387
^
abcdefghChelhod, 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 <
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3502> First published online: 2012 First print edition:
ISBN9789004161214, 1960-2007
^
abcdefgMcAuliffe, Jane Dammen. Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. Vol. 3. Georgetown University, Washington DC. pp. 486–487.
^
abChelhod, 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
doi:
10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3502 First published online: 2012 First print edition:
ISBN9789004161214, 1960-2007
^de Lafayette, Maximillien (2017). Early & contemporary spirit artists, psychic artists, and medium painters from 5000 BC to the present day economy. p. 95.
ISBN978-1-365-97802-9.
^
abcdSzombathy, 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.
doi:
10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_32379. First published online: 2018 First print edition:
ISBN9789004356641, 2018, 2018-3
^Vincent Crapanzano The Ḥamadsha: A Study in Moroccan Ethnopsychiatry University of California Press 1973
ISBN9780520022416 p. 136
^Lebling, Robert (2010-07-30). Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and Genies from Arabia to Zanzibar. I.B.Tauris. pp. 141, 151–153.
ISBN978-0-857-73063-3.
^Nünlist, Tobias (2015). Dämonenglaube im Islam (in German). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 109.
ISBN978-3-110-33168-4.
^Brooke Olson Vuckovic Heavenly Journeys, Earthly Concerns: The Legacy of the Mi'raj in the Formation of Islam Routledge, 2004
ISBN9781135885243 p. 35-36
^Ürkmez, Ertan. "Türk-İslâm mitolojisi bağlamında Mi ‘râç motifi ve Türkiye kültür tarihine yansımaları." (2015).
^Günther, Sebastian; Pielow, Dorothee (18 October 2018). Die Geheimnisse der oberen und der unteren Welt: Magie im Islam zwischen Glaube und Wissenschaft [The Secrets of the Upper and Lower Worlds: Magic in Islam between faith and science] (in German). BRILL. p. 597.
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^Conermann, Stephan (2014). History and Society During the Mamluk Period (1250-1517). V&R unipress GmbH. p. 25.
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^
Hossein Nasr, Seyyed (2013). Islamic Life and Thought. Routledge. p. 135.
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^
Annabelle, Birgit; Böttcher, Krawietz (2021). Islam, Migration and Jinn: Spiritual Medicine in Muslim Health Management. Deutschland: Springer International Publishing. p. 30.
ISBN978-3-030-61247-4.
^Winkler, Hans Alexander (2009). Ghost Riders of Upper Egypt: A study of spirit possession. Cairo, EG: American University in Press. p. 29.
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^
Muhaimin, A.G. (2006). The Islamic Traditions of Cirebon: Ibadat and Adat among Javanese Muslims. ANU E Press. p. 38.
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^
Fartacek, Gebhard (2010). Unheil durch Dämonen?: Geschichten und Diskurse über das Wirken der Ǧinn; eine sozialanthropologische Spurensuche in Syrien [Evil from Demons?] (in German). Böhlau Verlag Wien. p. 68.
ISBN9783205784852. Stories and discourses on the works of the djinn; a socio-anthropological search for clues in Syria.
^
Smith, Frederick M. (2012). The Self Possessed: Deity and spirit possession in South Asian literature and civilization. Columbia University Press. p. 570.
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^
abcal-Aswad, el-Sayed (2002). Religion and Folk Cosmology: Scenarios of the visible and invisible in rural Egypt. Westport, CT: Praeger / Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 103–104, 153.
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^"Aeromancy". The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World. Harper Element. 2006. p. 10.
^Lebling, Robert (2010). Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and genies from Arabia to Zanzibar. I.B. Tauris. pp. 151–153.
ISBN978-0-85773-063-3.
^
abCrapanzano, Vincent (1973). The Ḥamadsha: A study in Moroccan ethnopsychiatry. University of California Press. p. 137.
ISBN9780520022416.
^
abcdWestermarck, Edward (23 April 2014). Ritual and Belief in Morocco. Routledge Revivals. Vol. I. Routledge. pp. 263–264.
ISBN9781317912682.
^Moosa, Matti (1987). Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat sects. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. p. 69.
ISBN978-0-815-62411-0.
^Islam, Arabs, and Intelligent World of the Jinn Amira El-Zein 2009
ISBN978-0-815-65070-6 page 20
^
abAnne E. Duggan Ph.D., Donald Haase Ph.D., Helen J. Callow Folktales and Fairy Tales: Traditions and Texts from around the World, 2nd Edition [4 volumes]: Traditions and Texts from around the World ABC-CLIO, 12.02.2016 volume 2
ISBN9781610692540 p. 402
^
abJeffrey Andrew Weinstock The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters Routledge, 01.04.2016
ISBN9781317044253 p. 166-169
^Leon Hale (January 13, 2002). "Arabic mythology is worth revisiting". Houston Chronicle.
^Ruth Ayaß, Cornelia Gerhardt The Appropriation of Media in Everyday Life John Benjamins Publishing 2012
ISBN9789027273376 p. 205
^Hudson, Dale. "'Of course there are Werewolves and Vampires': 'True Blood' and the Right to Rights for other Species." American Quarterly, vol. 65, no. 3, 2013, pp. 661–687., www.jstor.org/stable/43822924.
^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
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