Jinn & Curses

Chapter 7- Unravel

Chapter 7- Unravel

There was the word again, staring me in the face. It was almost always mentioned with men, like they were pairs. Jinn and Men.

 What does that mean? What are they?

 I’d never heard of that word before. I scanned through the pages of the online Koran and nearly every time I saw the word ‘Jinn’ I saw the words ‘men’ and ‘hell’.

 Sure I believed in God. My mother was a Christian after all. She became more religious when she met my father, in church as it turned out. But she stopped going when he died. She also stopped mentioning God in the house. Whenever she heard His name she used to flinch as though it burned. Since Abdul had joined the family, I noticed she was letting Him back in again.

 I knew about heaven and hell and I’d heard of angels and demons like any one else but not this word. I started to suspect it must have been another word for a demon like Sami had said, though she’d never referred to them as Jinn.

 I typed in Jinn in the search engine and Wikipedia came up. I clicked on the link and read.

“Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings which occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah.”

 Genies… like the blue guy in a lamp from Aladdin?

 “Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that Jinn are made of smokeless flame or 'scorching fire'.”

 I had a flashback of her hands as they grabbed my hair. She had burnt it off by her touch.

  

“Similar to humans, jinn have free will allowing them to do as they choose (such as follow any religion). They are usually invisible to humans, and humans do not appear clearly to them.”

So why could I see her?Maybe she wasn't one after all...?

“Jinn have the power to travel large distances at extreme speeds and are thought to live in remote areas, mountains, seas, trees, and the air, in their own communities...”

The vast amount of information overwhelmed me. After reading half a page I closed it down. The only comfort I had from what I’d read was one line.

“Like human beings, the Jinn can also be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent.”

*

“And who do you think you’re calling at this hour?” Abdul's hand was pressed on mine before I could dial.

 It felt hot and clammy on my skin, making me squirm. I wanted to snap his fingers as I tried to appear calm and reserved, looking at the clock behind his head. He noticed my glance and his brow furrowed.

 “It’s only nine o’clock. I was just calling Sami,” I replied with a sweet smile.

 He didn’t dispute with me though he clearly wanted to. I knew what he was thinking. As long as it wasn’t a guy I was calling, he couldn’t come up with an excuse to stop me.