A marid ( ') is a type of

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

(''shayṭān'') in

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic tradition. The Arabic word, meaning "rebellious," is applied to such

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

beings. Hans Wehr's '' A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' defines ''marid'' as a "demon" or "giant." The term is directly mentioned once in the Quran in Surat As-Saffat (Q37:7). They are also identified with the Persian '' devan''.

Etymology

The word ''mārid'' (Arabic: مارد) is an active participle derived from the Arabic root ''m-r-d'' (), whose primary meaning is "recalcitrant" or "rebellious." '' Lisan al-Arab'', the encyclopedic dictionary of

Classical Arabic Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic () is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, e ...

compiled by Ibn Manzur, documents only forms of this general meaning. The term appears as an attribute of evil spirits in the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

ic verse Surah aṣ-Ṣāffāt (37:7), which references a "safeguard against every rebellious devil" (). Cognates from the same

Semitic root The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or " radicals" (hence the term consonantal root). Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the formation of actual words by adding the vowel ...

include the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

words for "rebellion" () and "rebel" (). The '' Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' lists secondary meanings of ''mārid'' as "demon" and "giant" (). Edward Lane's '' Arabic-English Lexicon'' cites a classical source describing the term as "applied to an evil jinnī of the most powerful class," though this distinction is not universally accepted. For example, the MacNaghten edition of '' One Thousand and One Nights'' uses ''marid'' and '' ifrit'' interchangeably (e.g., in ''The Story of the Fisherman''). A debated theory by historian Konstantin Jireček believed that ''mārid'' refers to the , referring to marauder mercenaries during the

Arab–Byzantine wars The Arab–Byzantine wars or Muslim–Byzantine wars were a series of wars from the 7th to 11th centuries between multiple Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire. The Muslim Arab Caliphates conquered large parts of the Christian Byzantine empir ...

, who were eponymously linked to the Albanian tribe of Mirdita.

Features

Amira El-Zein describes the ''mārid'' as a supernatural being that attempts to predict the future by ascending to the heavens and eavesdropping on angels.
The

references the ''mārid'' in Surah aṣ-Ṣāffāt (37:7), which states that "the lowest heaven is adorned with stars to ward off rebellious devils" (Arabic: شَيْطَانٍ مَارِدٍ, romanized: ''shayṭānin māridin''), and in Surah an-Nisa (4:117), which condemns the invocation of "none but a rebellious Satan." In Islamic tradition, similar to the '' ʿifrīt'', the ''mārid'' is associated with a distinct class of beings from the netherworld. A narration attributed to Ali, recorded by Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Qummi, states that when God resolved to create

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

, he punished humanity's predecessors by obliterating the '' nasnas'' (half-formed beings), erecting a veil between

jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...

and humans, and confined the "rebellious giants" (Arabic: مَارِدَة, romanized: ''māridah'') to the atmosphere. According to the

Maliki The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...

Athari scholar Ibn 'Abd al-Barr in his work ''Al-Tamhîd'', the ''mārid'' is a demonic entity more malevolent than ordinary '' shayṭān'' (devils) but less powerful than an ''ʿifrīt''. Al-Jahiz defines a spirit as an angel if it is entirely good, as a ''shayṭān'' if it is wicked, and as a ''mārid'' if the spirit succeeds in moving objects and listening at the doors of heaven. The ''mārid'' appears prominently in the '' Sirat Sayf ibn Dhi-Yazan'', a pre-Islamic epic. In the narrative, King Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan orders a ''mārid'' to lead him to King

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

's treasure. True to its rebellious nature, the mārid deliberately disobeys. Sayf later learns from the prophet Khidr that he must command the opposite of his true intent to manipulate the ''mārid''. A study on Muslim beliefs in Egypt notes that, according to tradition, humanity's survival depends on divine restraint of demons; if unchained, mārid would annihilate humankind. Though ''mārid'' and ''ʿifrīt'' are both classified as powerful devils, they differ in disposition. While the ''ʿifrīt'' is characterized as cunning, treacherous, and deceitful, the ''mārid'' is portrayed as less intellectually adept and susceptible to manipulation by humans.Fartacek, G. (2010). Unheil durch Dämonen? Geschichten und Diskurse über das Wirken der Ǧinn; eine sozialanthropologische Spurensuche in Syrien. Österreich: Böhlau. p. 68

References

{{Qur'anic people Arabian legendary creatures Demons in Islam Giants in Islam Jinn

Etymology

Features

See also

References