I have seen mentioned in various sources (e.g. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinn)) that the jinn are vulnerable to and/or afraid of iron, however I have not been able to find proper references to where this belief originates or how widely held it is among Muslims.
The closest thing to a reference I've been able to find myself to any supernatural properties of iron is that the barrier of Gog and Magog was forged of iron and impenetrable above and beyond the structural strength of the barrier, but that isn't indicative of anything in and of itself.
My main concern is that this belief of jinn fearing iron sounds very similar to the idea that faeries and other such supernatural creatures are vulnerable to [cold iron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_in_folklore#Cold_iron) , which is a common superstition found in a variety of ways throughout the world and apparently untied to any Islamic folklore at all.
Is this belief, that the jinn are afraid of iron, found anywhere in reliable (or even less reliable) Islamic resources, or is it perhaps derived from the Israeliyyat? Or is it more likely to just be a cultural belief carried over from the Jahiliyyah? Does this have any real Islamic basis beyond hearsay and superstition?
Asked by goldPseudo
(13346 rep)
Aug 2, 2022, 08:30 AM
Last activity: Aug 2, 2022, 03:46 PM
Last activity: Aug 2, 2022, 03:46 PM