A family in Saudi Arabia has taken a genie to court, alleging theft and harassment. Yes, I said genie, as in “I dream of…”. Could this be so and what does it mean? Read on quickly, lest things disappear in a puff of smoke.
According to
news sources, a genie has been accused of leaving threatening voice mails, stealing cell phones and hurling rocks at a family who in turn filed a lawsuit in Shariah court against the unhappy spirit. Local officials will begin an investigation immediately, but whatever happened to those three wishes we have all heard about, and the affable genie who happily granted them to the owner of the lamp from whence he came?
In the words of the head of the court, Sheikh Amr Al Salmi:
“We have to verify the truthfulness of this case despite the difficulty of doing so. What makes this case and complaint more interesting is that it wasn't filed by just one person. Every member of the family is part of this case.”
The family, which has lived in the same house near the holy city of Medina for 15 years, has moved to a temporary residence while the court investigates their claims. According to them, this spirit has been wreaking havoc in their home and trying to drive them out for the past two years. A family spokesman said:
“We began hearing strange noises. In the beginning, we didn't take it seriously, but after that, stranger things started happening and the children got really scared when the genie began throwing stones”
A belief in genies, or jinns, is common in Islamic theology and genies have appeared down through the ages in both fiction such as
The Arabian Nights and also in the Quran. Many Saudis believe that invisible genies live among them and are capable of demonic possession and revenge.
Perhaps the real questions are:
Can a genie be summoned to appear before a judge?
How do you threaten a spirit with legal issues and how do you collect compensatory fees from one?
And where, oh, where is Miss Jeannie to clarify all this for us?
Floating on a Persian rug to mystical places with some adoring military man., I’ll bet!
What do YOU think about this?
