A Marid (ar|مارد ) is a type of shaitan in Islamic tradition.[1] The Arabic word meaning rebellious is applied to such supernatural beings.
Hans Wehr's Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic defines Marid as demon or giant.[2] The term is directly mentioned once in the Quran in Surat As-Saffat.[3]
The word mārid is an active participle of the root m-r-d (Arabic: مرد), whose primary meaning is recalcitrant, rebellious. Lisan al-Arab, the encyclopedic dictionary of Classical Arabic compiled by Ibn Manzur, reports only forms of this general meaning.[4] It is found as an attribute of evil spirits in the Qur'an aṣ-Ṣāffāt (37:7), which speaks of a "safeguard against every rebellious devil" (ar|شيطان مارد|shayṭān mārid). From the same Semitic root come the Hebrew words for rebellion (he|מרד|mɛrɛḏ) and rebel (he|מוֹרֵד|moreḏ).
The Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic also gives secondary meanings of demon and giant[5] (fa|دیو|div). Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon cites a source where it "is said to be applied to an evil jinnee of the most powerful class",[6] but this distinction is not universal. For example, in the standard MacNaghten edition of One Thousand and One Nights one finds the words marid and ifrit used interchangeably (e.g., in The Story of the Fisherman).[7]
Konstantin Jireček believed that mārid refers to the el|Μαρδαϊται|Mardaitai, marauder mercenaries in the Arab–Byzantine wars, eponymous to the Albanian tribe of Mirdita.
Amira El-Zein describes the mārid as a creature who strives to predict the future by ascending to the heavens and spying on the angels.[8] The Quran mentions the mārid in aṣ-Ṣāffāt (37:7) stating that "the lower heavens are equipped with stars to protect against the rebellious devils (shaytan marid)"[8] and in an-Nisa (4:117) stating "they invoke none but a rebellious satan". In Islamic tradition, pretty much like the ʿifrīt, the mārid became associated with a particular being from the netherworld.[9]
Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Qummi recorded a narration attributed to Ali that when God intended to create Adam, he decided to punish human's predecessors. God obliterates the nasnas, created a veil between jinn and humans, and made "the rebellious giants" (māradah) inhabiting the atmosphere.[10] According to Maliki Athari scholar Ibn 'Abd al-Barr in his book, Al-Tamhîd, the mārid was a demon which more sinister than regular shayṭān, but less powerful than an ʿifrīt[11] A mārid is explicitly mentioned in the Sirat Sayf ibn Dhi-Yazan. Accordingly, the eponymous king Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan demands the mārid lead him to Solomon's hoard. Following his nature, the mārid does the exact opposite of what he was commanded. King Sayf later learned from Khidr that he must command the opposite of that he desires him to do.[12]
In a study of Muslim beliefs in Egypt, it is said that if God had not bound the demons, the mārids would have annihilated humanity.[13]
Meanwhile, both mārids and ʿifrīt are often considered as powerful devils, but the mārid is described the opposite of the cunning ʿifrīt: While the ʿifrīt is described as treacherous and deceitful, the mārid can be easily tricked by humans.[14]