Hatif () is a voice that can be heard without one discovering the body that made it.

Al-Jahiz Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Basri (; ), commonly known as al-Jahiz (), was an Arab polymath and author of works of literature (including theory and criticism), theology, zoology, philosophy, grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, philology, lin ...

wrote that the

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

believed that important messages could be transmitted without a visible medium. The receiver would hear the message in realtime without seeing the speaker.

Al-Masudi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...

focused on the psychological backgrounds of this phenomenon, and explained the ''hatif'' as a

hallucination A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming ( REM sleep), which does not involve wakefulness; pse ...

caused by loneliness. However, according to al-Jahiz, belief in ''hatif'' was so widespread among the Bedouin, they were perplexed if people doubted their existence. Such ''hatif'' was also attributed to jinn by pre-Islamic Arabs. This way, they talk to humans or avenge murder on a fellow jinn by driving the murderer insane. ''Hatif'' doesn't necessarily come from humans or jinn, but also from ghosts, dwelling near graves to remind humans of their mortality or announce their death.Werner Diem, Marco Schöller ''The Living and the Dead in Islam: Epitaphs as texts'' Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2004 p. 158 In modern Arabic, the term ''hatif'' is also used for a

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

, due to invisible communication.

References

Arabian legendary creatures Jinn Ghosts {{Folklore-stub

See also

References