Angelology and demonology are rife with numerous races and personalities and much ink has been spent enumerating them. This is to the extent that the races and personalities therein have become iconic, and many originally obscure or occult names appear in popular media. The angels of Enoch and the demons of Solomon are well known by people with superficial knowledge of religion or the occult. The angels and demons that have become ubiquitous in the minds of many far outside of the religious scope of the pieces they appear in are predominately derived from Jewish and Christian angelology and demonology. The subject of angels and jinn (or “genies”) constitutes much space in Islamic writings and folklore, yet they have attracted much less general attention than their Jewish and Christian counterpoints.
There are many reasons why less information is readily and concisely available about Islamic angels and jinn. Muslims themselves put less relative emphasis on angels and jinn. Islamic authors and lore of every sect and land mention and describe numerous angels and jinn, yet rarely did they really developed this lore into a more formalized angelology or demonology. Theologians debated over the nature and doctrine of angels and jinn throughout Islamic history, but for the most part, only so much was said about angels and jinn as individuals. The more developed casts of angels and jinn belong more to the realm of exorcism, magic, and folklore rather than the realm of mainstream theology. Furthermore, in the west and its sphere of influence, many elements of Jewish and Christian mysticism and the occult have become better known in the mainstream, familiarizing people with Jewish and Christian angels and demons further. The races and personalities of the angels and jinn of Islam similarly merit being compiled in a readily accessible and concise source.