THE UNSEEN

An important, if not the most crucial, tent of Islam is steadfast belief in the unseen: heaven, hell, angels, demons, spirits.

It is said that Allah created mankind from earthen clay on a Friday, but on Thursday, he created jinn, or spirit creatures. These spirits have different corporeal forms, some half-animal, half-man, some intangible, some deceptively humanlike. Their morality lies on a spectrum — some are sympathetic to humans, others revel in their misfortune or take delight in punishing them for misdeeds, and others yet help us if it is in their self-interest.

It seems to me that Allah made jinn and mankind in each other’s image.

Photography: Kaushik Kalidindi

Styling & Set Design: Reethika Kalidindi, Maryam Khan

Hair & Makeup: Payson Kelley, Riya Mandalapu

Modeling: Maryam Khan, Noura Abdi, Aarushi Panjwani

Writing: Safa Michigan