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This is an article, not a magical ritual.
ETYMOLOGY
Jinn is an Arab collective noun deriving from the Semiticrooting j.n.n , whose primary meaning is " to hide " or " to conceal ". Some authors interpret the word to mean, literally, " beings that are concealed from the senses ". Cognates include the Arabic majnn("possessed", or generally "insane"),Jannah("garden", also heaven), and Jann("embryo").Jinnis properly treated as a plural, with the singular being jinn.
The origin of the word Jinn remains uncertain.Some scholars relate the Arabic term jinn to the Latin genius, as a result of syncretism during the reign of the Roman empire under Tiberius Augustus, but this derivation is also disputed. Another suggestion holds that jinn may be derived from Aramaic "ginnaya" (Classical Syriac:) with the meaning of "tutelary deity", or also "garden". Others claim a Persian origin of the word, in the form of the Avestic "Jaini", a wicked (female) spirit. Jaini were among various creatures in the possibly even pre-Zoroastrian mythology of peoples of Iran.
The Anglicized form genie is a borrowing of the French gnie,from the Latin genius, a guardian spirit of people and places in Roman religion. It first appeared in 18th-century translations of the Thousand and One Nights from the French, where it had been used owing to its rough similarity in sound and sense and further applies to benevolent intermediary spirits, in contrast to the malevolent spirits called demon and heavenly angels, in literature. In Assyrian art, creatures ontologically between humans and divinities are also called genie.
PREVALENCE OF BELIEF
According to a survey undertaken by the Pew Research Center in 2012, at least 86% in Morocco, 84% in Bangladesh, 63% in Turkey, 55% in Iraq, 53% in Indonesia, 47% in Thailand and 15% elsewhere in Central Asia, Muslims affirm the existence of jinn. The low rate in Central Asia might be influenced by Soviet religious oppression.
Sleep paralysis is conceptualized as a "Jinn attack" by many sleep paralysis sufferers in Egypt as discovered by Cambridge neuroscientist Baland Jalal. A scientific study found that as many as 48 per cents of those who experience sleep paralysis in Egypt believe it to be an assault by the jinn. Almost all of these sleep paralysis sufferers (95%) would recite verses from the Quran during sleep paralysis to prevent future "Jinn attacks". In addition, some (9%) would increase their daily Islamic prayer (Salah) to get rid of these attacks by jinn. [83] Sleep paralysis is generally associated with great fear in Egypt, especially if believed to be supernatural in origin.
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