The umbrella term and the ranks folklore built beneath it, kept separate from what scripture and hadith actually claim.
"Jinn" functions as the umbrella term, the way "spirit" does in English. Scripture, hadith literature, and centuries of oral folklore layer on more specific kinds beneath it — some theological, some purely folkloric. This page separates the two registers where sources allow it.
The general term for the species: a parallel society of beings with free will, capable of belief or disbelief, subject to the same moral accountability as humankind. Surah al-Jinn (Qur'an 72) is narrated from the perspective of a group of jinn who overheard a recitation and converted.
Not a separate species so much as a moral category: rebellious, tempting jinn (and, in some readings, a wider class including fallen entities). Iblis, the figure who refuses to bow to Adam, is described in the Qur'an as one of the jinn who took this path.
Named once in the Qur'an (27:39), where an ifrit among the jinn offers to bring the Queen of Sheba's throne to Solomon before the blink of an eye. Later tradition treats ifrit as a rank: powerful, cunning, and often associated with fire, smoke, and the underworld of ruins.
A "constant companion" jinn assigned to every human being at birth, described in hadith literature. Distinct from possession folklore, the qareen is closer to a whispering counterpart — a companion the individual is taught to resist, not exorcise.
These figures appear in folk narrative, One Thousand and One Nights, and regional oral tradition rather than the Qur'an itself — useful for understanding the popular imagination around jinn, distinct from scriptural claims.
| Name | Character | Common setting |
|---|---|---|
| Marid | Rebellious, immense, and often bound — the strongest folkloric rank, frequently imprisoned in vessels or wells by a seal. | Seas, deep wells, sealed vessels |
| Ghul (Ghoul) | Shape-shifting scavenger, associated with luring and devouring travelers. The English word "ghoul" descends directly from this figure. | Graveyards, deserts, ruins |
| Si'lat (Sila) | A female shape-shifter in folklore, sometimes overlapping with the ghul, known for elaborate disguise and deception of travelers. | Wilderness roads, remote wells |
| Hinn | A lesser, more animal-adjacent class in folk classification, sometimes linked in popular belief to dogs and household disturbances. | Domestic spaces, thresholds |
| Nasnas | A half-formed being — one eye, one arm, one leg — described in bestiary-style folklore as a partial or punished offshoot of the jinn. | Remote wilderness |