I asked His Excellency for a source of more information about the djinn and he instructed me to read the Qur'an. He turned to Jack, said something in Arabic, and then looked at me once again, and said, "This conversation is over." His Excellency then spoke with a number of his other guests. Jack knew I wanted to ask more and before I opened my mouth he elbowed me in the ribs quite hard. This I took as a very strong hint to keep my mouth shutmy conversation time with His Excellency was over.
After dinner I asked Jack what the prince's cousin had said to him. Jack told me he was instructed to take me to a mosque at the edge of the city to meet a holy man who knew everything about the djinn. I was thrilled and asked when we could go. Jack responded that the trip could be made in the morning, but he would not be going and would send his assistant, the captain who picked me up at the airport. A car then pulled up and took me back to the villa.
Visit with the Holy Man
Morning came too soon, and I was again awakened with a knock on my door. It was the captain. He said that we must leave immediately and asked me to dress in the more traditional clothes of the Saudi people in order to attract less attention. He told me that the area of the city we would be visiting was not safe for westerners. I dressed as he instructed and found the clothing quite comfortable, made of the finest Egyptian cotton. I looked like someone who had just stepped out of Lawrence ofArabia.
It took us about a half hour to reach our destination: a rundown part of the city inhabited by people who were quite poor. We pulled up in front of a building the captain said was more than three hundred years old and a former worship center of some sort. We were greeted at the door and taken into a room where a very old man was sitting smoking a water pipe. The captain bowed and started speaking in Arabic. He turned to me and said, "Please sit down. I will translate. You may ask any questions about the djinn but nothing more. Also, you will only get one response to each question. Do not get into a discussion with him." I was taken aback. I regretted not preparing a list of questions since my knowledge of the djinn at that time was limited only to what most westerners knew. I had no tape recorder, but it didn't matter, anyway, because tape recording was not allowed. I did take notes. Even though the meeting was more than fifteen years ago, I still remember everything the man said word for word.
A DARK STORY
According to the holy man, Allah created three intelligent races in the multiverse: Angels, djinn, and physical beings that include humans and all other "alien" races in the universe. Angels were created first, then djinn, who were placed on earth as stewards and masters. They were most loved by God. The djinn are made of fire, and have long life spans and great power. They are able to manipulate matter and change form. As a djinni becomes older, it acquires more knowledge and power. No one knows how long they live, but like all things, they eventually die and are answerable to Allah at the Day of Judgment.
In their time in the physical universe, the djinn built great cities ruled by powerful kings. The number of djinn who existed during their time on earth is unknown, but it could have been in the billions. Each group of djinn belonged to clans rather than states or countries, neither of which they had. According to the holy man, the clans frequently fought, often going to war over trivial matters. The wars lasted for thousands of years and polluted the environment. Before the djinn wars, earth was a paradise but their conflicts were turning it into a wasteland.
The djinn grew more powerful, using great and terrible weapons, eventually reaching the point of irreversibly damaging the physical universe. Allah knew that unless the wars were stopped, the djinn were also in danger of destroying themselves. Allah ordered an army of angels to stop them, but the djinn gathered their armies and engaged the angels in a war that lasted a thousand years. As the war drew to an end, the older and more powerful djinn finally fell. The djinn were cast into a parallel world close to our own. It is said that most went willingly, but some did not. They remain in this parallel dimension today.
Some of the djinn were allowed to stay in the physical universe to help repair the damage done by their race so that Allah's new creation, Adam, could populate the earth. These remaining djinn were ordered to help humans in their early years, teaching them language, the sciences, and the will of Allah. These groups of djinn were known as amir to the human race and interacted with men and women quite frequently. As time passed, many of the djinn who were allowed to remain behind began to isolate themselves from humans and became resentful. After many centuries, their resentment turned into hate and instead of helping humankind, they set out to destroy us. The holy man said that these djinn were influenced by Iblis, an evil djinni who made it his mission to destroy all the beings in the physical universe who were not djinn. The amir were then quarantined (by angels) into certain geographic locations, where they remain today. These areas became their home, and is the reason why many places on the planet are thought to be haunted. These places are actually occupied by djinn who can shapeshift into almost any form they please. The amir djinn's main purpose is to keep humans out by terrifying them and preying upon their impressionable nature.
WHAT ABOUT THE ROLE OF IBLIS?
I asked the holy man how Iblis fit into the story he had just told me. The holy man replied, "Iblis was the most powerful of the djinn; he was ascended and even associated with the angels. After the djinn wars, Iblis took the side of his race and refused to help prepare the world for humankind. When he refused, Iblis was cast out of heaven and could no longer associate with angels or other ascended beings."
The holy man said the majority of djinn have never seen Iblis and often debate whether he exists or not. Some of the djinn actually worship Iblis and look upon him as a savior who will help them reclaim the world they were forced to leave. To humans, Iblis is the greatest threat humanity will ever face, but to many djinn, he is considered a hero and a Christ-like figure.
The old man said that Iblis, still fearing the wrath of the angels, often takes a human form to conceal himself and lead the armies of man against each other in the hope of making them destroy themselves, thus leaving him and other djinn blameless. In one example, prior to a great battle, Allah saw that the leader of the evil army of men was really Iblis. Allah then sent the angel Jibril against Iblis.3 When Iblis saw the powerful angel descending from the sky, he yelled out, "I have nothing to do with this! I am not part of this army and this war is of no fault of mine!" He praised Allah and fled. The great battle was stopped, and thousands of human lives were saved.
Iblis' ability to take on human form and become a great leader parallels the Christian prophecy of the coming of the Antichrist, a powerful being who is the devil incarnate that will lead the human race to a great war known as Armageddon. The holy man continued to talk of the djinn for several hours, after which he be came tired and asked us to leave. He mentioned a cave near Oman which the djinn use to enter our world.
The holy man also said there were a number of towns and small villages in Oman, Iraq, and Syria in which the djinn have established strongholds. To me, this behavior seems to indicate they were creating beachheads to mount an invasion on the human race. When I heard about a place in Oman where these beings could enter our world, I had to see it for myself. I was already in the area, and knew that unless I took advantage of my proximity to visit the cave, I might never get another chance to explore it.
Majlis al Djinn
The djinn enter our world through some kind of interdimensional portal. We have many cases in our files where wormhole-like openings have appeared, and strange creatures or beings have emerged. These dimensional travelers would be regarded as djinn in the Middle East, but here in the Western Hemisphere, they are called "aliens." Some Muslims believe there are locations on the planet in which a djinni or a djinn family exist and share our world. One of these locations is located in Oman on the Selma Plateau in a very remote area known as Majlis al Djinn-"the meeting place of the djinn." Although many citizens of Oman, especially in the nearby vi
llages, believe the cave is the home of djinn, the name was actually given by twentieth-century explorers who were fascinated with the locals' beliefs. The original Omani name of the cave was KhoshilatMaqandeli, which means "the place to harbor goats."
Majlis al Djinn is the eighth largest cave in the world and has the fifteenth largest chamber. The cave's main chamber is so huge, it could fit the Great Pyramid of Giza inside it and still have room. The cave was formed by water that slowly ate away at carbonate rocks in the Tertiary period.' The cave was not fully explored until 1983, but local residents knew of its existence for centuries and kept their distance because they believed a djinni had made its home there.
There are no visible lower exits or passages leading from the chamber to the ground above-only several openings in the ground leading straight down into the main chamber. Water entering the cave collects along the lowest part of the floor, then slowly infiltrates into the fine-grained, mud-cracked sediment. The entrances receive surface runoff from a small drainage area, so water never reaches most parts of the cave. While surface temperatures can exceed ninety degrees, air temperatures inside the chamber hover around sixty degrees. Access to the cavern is available only through a free descent of one of three vertical entrances in the ceiling, a drop of about 320 feet.
A TRIP TO OMAN
While still in Saudi Arabia, I asked my friend Jack if he could arrange passage into Oman for me to see this cave firsthand. Fortunately, the weather was still quite cool, and the trip would not be that taxing for a person like me who was more used to the temperate climate of New England. Jack arranged for his right-hand man, Captain Yarramish, to go with me. I was delighted, as I had come to trust and know this man and his family quite well. He didn't even seem to mind me mispronouncing his last name. His first name was so long that he agreed to let me call him "Yarr." He seemed to find it amusing, and told me, "This is something only an American could say and get away with."
Saudi Arabia borders Oman, and our trip that day was short, thanks to the small passenger jet Jack had arranged for us. After about a one-hour flight, we landed at Seeb International Airport (now called Muscat International Airport). Yarr told me a vehicle would be waiting for us and we would drive to a small town called Fins, close to the Gulf of Oman in a region called the Eastern Hajar Mountains. In Fins, we would meet a person who would show us to the cave.
The trip in the four-wheeled drive vehicle was quite beautiful. We drove south on a major road; the view of the vivid blue gulf on our left was breathtaking, as were the mountains to the right. What impressed me the most was that everything looked very cleanthere was not one piece of garbage or one sign of human irresponsibility. Oman was indeed a beautiful country, and I understood why so many statesmen in the Arab world fought as hard as they did to preserve their culture and home.
Yarr and I arrived in Fins early in the afternoon. Since we planned to make the trip the next morning, we spent the rest of the day enjoying meals, drinks, and a little sightseeing; I was even allowed to visit a mosque, a rarity in the Arabic-speaking world. Later, with Yarr as my translator, I asked some locals about the djinn. To my surprise, they were quite willing to talk to me, and I was able to gather a number of interesting legends. I was told over and over again that I should not study the djinn, as my curiosity would invite their attention and they would definitely investigate my intentions. The townspeople seemed convinced that the djinn were returning to our world and one day, if appropriate action was not taken, the djinn might rule human beings. However, it was the hope of all that the djinn would return and peaceably co-exist with us as they did a very long time ago.
I spoke with one person, a teacher, who said he always thought tales about the djinn were nothing but legends-until he had an encounter with one in the mountains, close to a town called Al Jaylah. Although the teacher refused to elaborate, he said that governments of Oman and the United States know about the djinn and are trying to deal with them. When I asked how he knew this, he replied that after his djinn encounter he ran into American, Saudi, and Omani "soldiers" who said they had been tracking a djinni for two days. He went with them to a base in the mountains where he was "interrogated" for several hours. According to the teacher, the "soldiers" told him not to give details about what he saw. He seemed more fearful of the soldiers then he was of the djinn. Despite my efforts at persuasion, he would not elaborate on his encounter.
I was eager to go to the area where the djinn have been seen and could hardly wait until morning came. We stayed at a small inn and I could not fall asleep that night-I was too excited about our trip into the mountains.
THE MEETING PLACE OF THE DJINN
The next morning, we got up early, had a quick breakfast, and met our guide at the four-wheel drive vehicle. I looked in the back and saw not only climbing gear, but two 9mm pistols. I asked about the gear and was told that in order to get into the cave, one had to rappel down about a hundred meters (three hundred feet). This was all right with me-I had a great deal of experience climbing mountains and exploring caves and mines. Yarr said he brought the pistols because the area is desolate and we might encounter bandits. He and the guide expected no trouble, but they wanted to be prepared. "Better to have the guns and not need them than to need them and not have them," he said. Our guide said the cave was about ten miles to the south and we would arrive in about forty minutes. There was only one path leading to the entrance, and the going would have to be slow, as it was very rocky.
A half hour later, we stopped and got out. Our guide said that we would have to walk about one kilometer to reach the entrance. It was a sunny day and the temperature was about seventy degrees, perfect for a hike in the desert mountains. We reached the top of a hill and I saw what appeared to be a large hole with a diameter of about ten feet. I leaned over, looked into the "hole," and was quite surprised-I had heard the cave's main chamber was large, but the sight was unbelievable. I was to discover later that this was one of three cave entrances. I shined a light into the opening and the beam didn't illuminate the cave floor. Only as the sun rose higher in the sky were we able to see the illuminated ground below. I looked in once again and saw a green mist I assumed must have been coming from the cave's water. The air coming out of the cave was very cold. From my past experience in exploring deep caves and mines, I knew this meant the cave was considerably deep.
Our guide then spoke his first words of English to me, "Are you ready, my friend? You must go alone. We (referring to himself and Yarr) do not go in." I knew Yarr wasn't going to go, but I hadn't expected our guide to decline as well. In retrospect, it was probably a sign that something truly sinister was down in that cave.
We anchored several clamps in the rock and hooked the rope on the rapelling harness. I began my slow descent into the cave. The only illumination was the light of the sun projecting almost straight down into the hole from above. As I was midway down, a mist began to rise up. I thought I heard echoes coming from the darkness of the cave. They sounded like a human voice speaking Arabic. I stopped my descent and the mist appeared to take on a large form just below me. I found this strange because this part of the mist was not illuminated by the sun, yet it glowed with a greenish hue. I heard the voice again, but this time it spoke English. Although there was quite a bit of echo, I was absolutely sure it was saying, "Leave. My place."
My two companions must have also witnessed the same thing because they spoke rapidly with each other and seemed quite agitated. Although I couldn't understand what they were saying, one word was clear-djinn. They ran away from the cave opening, leaving me hanging about seventy-five feet in the air. Fearing that they were going to leave altogether, I climbed out and saw them running toward the vehicle. I got out of my climbing gear and yelled for them not to leave. Yarr yelled back, "Hurry, my friend! It is the djinn!" I scrambled to catch up with them at the car. Breathlessly, I asked them both, "What the hell is going on?!" Yarr replied, "Didn't you see it?! It was a djinni taking form and telling us to get
out of this place at once!" Although I thought I heard a voice and saw a vague, cylindrical-shaped mist, both men insisted they saw the shape of a djinni and clearly heard a voice ordering us to leave.
Yarr and the guide refused to go back to the cave, insisting we leave the area immediately. I wasn't going to hang around in the mountains by myself, so I had no choice but to get in the car. On our way back to the village, both my companions said prayers to Allah in Arabic. Our guide refused to talk about the incident, but Yarr kept repeating, "I had heard they were real, but didn't think too much about it. They are real!"
The next day when I tried to get more information, Yarr informed me that some constable of the town had asked us to leave. Yarr said it would be a good idea to take his advice and leave as soon as possible. It was disappointing to be so close, yet so far from learning more about the djinn. Apparently, the people in the town thought I had awakened a nasty old djinni and they were afraid of reprisals. Yarr and I made our way back on to the road and to the airport to return to Saudi Arabia. Soon after, I spent a short amount of time in Syria to gather more information, and not too long after that, I returned to the United States.
Not long after my visit to Majlis al Djinn, the Omani government opened the cave to the public, and by 2007, it had seen more than a hundred thousand visitors. It became so famous that even a number of American and European commercials were filmed there. For some unknown reason, the Omani Ministry of Tourism closed the cave to all people in 2008 and now, no one is allowed to en ter. Their given reason was "safety concerns," but perhaps the djinn proved stubborn and unwilling to give up their "meeting place." I heard rumors from people in Oman, Syria, and Iraq that djinn have already infiltrated into our world and wield a great influence in a number of villages and cities in those countries. I will never forget the final warning I received from our guide when Yarr and I left Fins: "Watch closely, my friend-the djinn have returned to our world!"
The Vengeful Djinn: Unveiling the Hidden Agenda of Genies Page 5
