Editing Ifrit (section)

==Islamic scriptures==
[[File:Kitab al-Bulhan --- devils talking.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The ifrit Al-Malik al-Aswad (The Black King) sitting on the right listening to the complaints of jinn; from an Arabic manuscript in the late 14th&nbsp;century ''[[Book of Wonders]]''<ref>{{cite book |first=Maximillien |last=de Lafayette |title=Early & contemporary spirit artists, psychic artists, and medium painters from 5000&nbsp;BC to the present day economy |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-365-97802-9 |page=95|publisher=Lulu.com }}</ref>]]

In Islamic scriptures the term ''ifrit'' is always followed by the expression ''of the jinn''.<ref name="Szombathy">{{EI3 |last=Szombathy |first=Zoltan |title=ʿIfrīt |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_32379}}</ref> Due to the ambiguous meaning of the term ''jinn'', which is applied to a wide range of different spirits, their relation towards the genus of jinn remains vague.<ref name="Chelhod-2005" /> However, within the Islamic scriptures, the term is used as an epithet to describe a powerful or malicious spirit of an undefined nature.<ref>Vincent Crapanzano ''The Ḥamadsha: A Study in Moroccan Ethnopsychiatry'' University of California Press 1973 {{ISBN|9780520022416}} p. 136</ref><ref name="McAuliffe"/><ref name="Chelhod-2005"/>

In the Quran, such an ifrit is mentioned in [[an-Naml|surah al-Naml 27]]:38-40. The ifrit offers to carry the throne of [[Queen of Sheba|Bilqis, queen of Sheba]] to [[Solomon in Islam|King Solomon]]: "An ifrit from the jinn said: 'I will bring it to you before you rise from your place. And verily, I am indeed strong and trustworthy for such work." However, the duty is not given to him, but to somebody endowed with knowledge of the scripture.<ref name="McAuliffe"/> An "ifrit among the jinn" is mentioned in a ''hadith'' of [[Muhammad al-Bukhari]], attempting to interrupt the prayers of [[Muhammad]]<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Lebling
 | first = Robert 
 | title = Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and Genies from Arabia to Zanzibar
 | publisher = I.B.Tauris
 | date =2010-07-30
 | pages = 141, 151–153
 | isbn = 978-0-857-73063-3
 }}</ref>{{efn|In [[Shibli Badr al-Din Abu Muhammad ibn ʻAbd Allah|Shibli's]] (d. 1367) retelling, he calls the ifrit a ''shayṭān'', underlining the ambiguous nature of the afarit.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Nünlist 
 | first = Tobias 
 | title = Dämonenglaube im Islam
 | publisher = Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
 | date = 2015
 | pages = 109
 | language = de
 | isbn = 978-3-110-33168-4
 }}</ref>}} and in a narrative of Muhammad's night journey recorded in the eighth century by [[Malik ibn Anas]]. In the latter account, the "ifrit among the jinn" threatens Muhammad with a fiery presence, after which the [[Gabriel#Islam|Archangel Gabriel]] taught Muhammad a prayer to defeat it.<ref>{{cite book | last=Vuckovic | first=Brooke Olson | title=Heavenly Journeys, Earthly Concerns: The Legacy of the Mi'raj in the Formation of Islam | publisher=Routledge | date=March 2004 | isbn=978-1-135-88524-3 | page=35-36}}</ref><ref name="Szombathy"/> Muslim texts explain, God sent the ifrit on purpose so that Gabriel might teach Muhammad and his ''[[ummah]]'' (Muslim community) to overcome their fear of demons at night.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ürkmez |first1=Ertan |title=Türk-İslâm Mitolojisi Bağlamında Mi‘râç Motifi ve Türkiye Kültür Tarihine Yansımaları |date=2015 |url=https://openaccess.hacettepe.edu.tr/handle/11655/1404}}</ref>

''[[Tafsir|Tafsīr]]'' of [[Al-Anbiya|Surah al-Anbiya]], on the story of the [[Job in Islam|prophet Job]], mentions Job being tested by the torment of three ifrits. After [[Iblis]] gains permission to test Job, he descends to earth and summons his most powerful devils (''shaytan'') and ifrits. In order to torment the prophet, they turn into storms and whirlwinds of fire to destroy Job's properties.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Macdonald |first1=Duncan B. |title=Some External Evidence on the Original Form of the Legend of Job |journal=The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures |date=April 1898 |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=137–164 |doi=10.1086/369274}}</ref>