Akam al-Marjan fi Ahkam al-Jann
- Author died
- 769 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Qurʼān
Akam al-Marjan fi Ahkam al-Jann (Hills of Coral on the Rulings Concerning the Jinn) is a legal and traditional treatise on the nature, lore, and legal rulings pertaining to the jinn, authored by the Hanafi jurist and judge Badr al-Din al-Shibli (d. 769 AH / 1367 CE) .
Structure and Title
The work comprises a single volume arranged into 140 chapters on the reports and circumstances of the jinn, opening with the doxology: «الحمد لله خالق الإنس والجن» ("Praise be to God, Creator of humankind and jinn") . The title has also been recorded with the expanded phrasing Akam al-Marjan fi Ghara'ib al-Akhbar wa-Ahkam al-Jann . Commenting on the title, the Hanafi jurist Ahmad al-Hamawi noted that akam is the plural of akamah (a small hill or mountain), explaining that the author metaphorically likened his compilation to small hills of coral because of the precious legal questions it brought together .
Content and Legal Issues
The book gathers Quranic verses, prophetic traditions, historical narratives, and juridical rulings concerning the unseen world of the jinn . Among the primary theological and legal premises addressed in the work is that the jinn are morally and religiously accountable (mukallafun), with their believers entering Paradise and their disbelievers consigned to the Fire .
The treatise investigates several detailed legal rulings that involve the jinn, including:
- The validity of forming a congregational prayer (jama'ah) with jinn and the validity of praying behind a jinni as an imam, citing the narration of Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud concerning the night of the jinn .
- The theological debates regarding the nature of their creation from fire and their capacity to take various physical forms .
- The legal implications and rulings surrounding marriage between humans and jinn .
Reception and Transmission
Jurists frequently cited the work as one of the few dedicated treatments of the legal rulings concerning the jinn within the Hanafi school . Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti transmitted rulings from it in his legal maxim work al-Ashbah wa-l-Naza'ir, and later Hanafi authorities such as Ibn Nujaym, Ahmad al-Hamawi, and Ibn Abidin relayed al-Shibli's positions through al-Suyuti's citations .
In modern print, the text was edited by Ibrahim Muhammad al-Jamal . It was also marketed under an altered commercial title, Ghara'ib wa-'Aja'ib al-Jann kama Yusawwiruha al-Qur'an wa-l-Sunnah, which drew criticism from researchers for departing from the book's historical title .
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