Majlis Al Jinn
Carmen Kalua
The Selma Plateau is a shallow syncline on the north-eastern limb of the Jabal Bani Jabir anticline. The cave was formed in fossiliferous carbonate rocks of the Middle Eocene Hadhramaut Group, Dammam Formation.[3][4] It is one of five vertical cave entrances on the Selma Plateau, but the only one with no lower exit.
Majlis al Jinn is a single chamber measuring about 310 metres by 225 metres, with a domed ceiling 120 metres high and three entrances in the roof. The totally free-standing roof is only about 40 metres thick over most of the cave. The deepest part of the cave is 178 metres below the top of the highest entrance. The volume of the chamber is approximately 4,000,000 cubic metres, and the floor area is 58,000 square metres.
When it was surveyed in 1985, Majlis al Jinn was the second largest known cave chamber in the world by volume.[3][5] However, more than 15 chambers larger than Majlis al Jinn have been surveyed since that time.[6]
Access to the cavern is only through a free descent of one of three vertical entrances in the ceiling, formed by water seeping through the weakened marly limestone in the zones of fracturing. The two largest entrances are called Asterisk (Khoshilat Beya Al Hiyool) and First Drop (Khoshilat Maqandeli), the smallest is Cheryl's Drop (Khoshilat Minqod).[4][7] Entrance depths:[3] Cheryl's Drop - 158.2 meters. Asterisk - 139.6 meters. First Drop - 118.0 meters.
Below the two larger entrances are high piles of rocks ("breakdown.") The remains of goats, birds, and snakes have been found on the floor of the chamber. The entrance openings in the ceiling provide ambient light in the chamber most of the day. There are only a few stalactites and draperies on the ceiling and walls, but moderate and fragile speleothems are common on the floor. Growth only occurs during times of seepage and drips following heavy rains.
Until fairly recently there had not been a way to reach the cave by car, so cavers had to hike in carrying their equipment or rent donkeys from a village a few hours walk from the cave entrance. The original explorers, Don and Cheryl, often flew into the area by helicopter. Now the cave can be reached on a rough track, which requires four-wheel drive.
Cavers entering Majlis al Jinn require about 200m of specialized rope and equipment to descend and ascend safely. For several years tourism companies had been providing caving trips into Majlis al Jinn, providing equipment and training.
Majlis al Jinn had grown in popularity as a BASE jumping site, particularly for special promotions. Felix Baumgartner is known to have BASE jumped in the cave. However the uncontrolled use of the cave for BASE jumping and the degradation of the area surrounding the cave seem to be the main reason behind the cave being placed off limits by the Oman government in 2008.[8][9]
In 2014, rock climbers Stefan Glowacz and Chris Sharma abseiled into the cave and climbed out via a very steeply overhanging route up the inside of the dome, which they claimed as the world's largest unclimbed roof.[12]
The entrances were discovered in June 1983 by Americans W. Don Davison, Jr. (nickname: D2) and his wife, Cheryl S. Jones. Don, a hydrogeologist, who was employed by the government of Oman's Public Authority for Water Resources (PAWR), which later became the Ministry of Water Resources. The cave was located and mapped as part of the PAWR's Karst Research Program.
Exploration of Majlis Al Jinn began on 23 June 1983, when Don rappelled down the 118m First Drop. Cheryl's Drop was first negotiated on 1 March 1984, by Cheryl Jones. The 158m drop is the deepest free rappel into any known cave in Oman or the Arabian Peninsula. Finally, Don descended the Asterisk on 22 April 1985.[3]
Don and Cheryl surveyed and photographed the cave in April and May, 1985. The map and cross sections they created, as well as photos, were originally published in the special PAWR report and have been reproduced many times since.
Omanis living in the area of the Selma Plateau told Don and Cheryl that they did not have names for any of the holes on the plateau that served as entrances to the caves. Thus, Cheryl gave the cave its name, referring to the Omani belief that jinn live in caves. Years later locals said they call the cave "Khoshilat Maqandeli" from the refuge for goats near one of the entrances. Nowadays locals refer to this cave as Khoshilat Maqandeli, while internationally it is known as Majlis al Jinn.[4]
While their nature is controversial, no one can deny the numerous accounts of experiences with jinn concentrated in and around Nizwa. Locals will tell stories of furniture and household items inexplicably shifted or meticulously placed in eerie designs. The stories get even more fantastical, including flying mosques and witches who make village girls disappear.
Dusty roads match the muted colors of the mud brick buildings in and around Nizwa. The central market, or souq, full of pottery and kitschy trinkets, barely has visitors as most tourists are here for the experience and not the souvenirs. Men in flowing, immaculate dresses commonly referred to as dishdashas don intricately embroidered brimless kuma hats of every color, or perfectly tied mussar turbans about their heads. They wander the streets, often hand-in-hand. The rare midday sighting of an Omani woman has her covered head-to-toe in a black, loose-fitting abaya and hijab. The setting is solemn and mysterious. The only color in the landscape is the blue onion dome atop a nearby mosque.
Whether you believe or not, jinn country will start to make you batty. Even if you are not supernaturally inclined, you come back telling tales of strange feelings and a sleepless night at a Nizwa hotel spent repeatedly checking inside the closet and under the bed. Your friends will howl at your stories and you will too, but you will also know deep inside that it was something else.
La Majlis al Jinn ou Majlis al-Jinn, en arabe مجلس الجن, place du djinn , est une grotte d'Oman. Constitue d'une simple chambre souterraine, elle est la neuvime plus grande au monde[1],[2] avec une longueur de 347 mtres pour une largeur de 245 mtres et une hauteur sous plafond de 120 mtres. Trois entres dans le plafond permettent d'y accder ; son endroit le plus mince, le plafond mesure 40 mtres d'paisseur.
Les entres ont t dcouvertes en juin 1983 par les Amricains W. Don Davison, Jr. et sa femme Cheryl S. Jones[3]. La premire descente de 118 m a eu lieu le 23 juin 1983[4]. La grotte a t photographie et tudie en avril et mai 1985. Les habitants appellent "Khoshilat Maqandeli" cette grotte.
After a heavy storm, some water can be found in the cave... If the climate outside was more temperate (or at least rainy), this cave could be an extremely big water reservoir or underground lake. No hole leads out, but one might exist, caved in under tons of rubble, allowing excess water to seep through.
In most Arabic legends, free Djinns live in this kind of gigantic caverns.
It is easy to imagine that a magic force has created these caves, because of their majesty, eerie size, and awe-inspiring proportions.
Majlis al Jinn cave. Caver descending by rope through a shaft of sunlight into Majlis al Jinn, one of the largest cave chambers in the world. This limestone cave is located on Oman's Selma Plateau. Entrance is through holes in the ceiling, with a drop of around 120 metres to the cave floor. The cave's name refers to local customs that the cave is a meeting place of spiritual creatures called jinns (genies). Photographed in 2010.
Historically, Oman was a slave destination country. East African slaves brought their voodoo practices with them, which mixed with the pre-Islamic, polythestic belief in spirits called jinn, or genies as they are known in the West. When these beliefs collided with Islam, the legend of Bahla was born.
She had done ruqya, an exorcism, already in the UAE, but the jinn possession continued, so she wanted me to fix a meeting between her and Moalim Salim as soon as possible. Despite my initial reluctance, my curiosity won out, and I agreed to make the necessary arrangements.
For her, this is a trip to find salvation. For me, an English teacher who could be deported at any time for any reason with no legal recourse, this is a huge risk. In the Gulf Cooperation Council states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman, people are not deported but rather imprisoned or even beheaded for dabbling in witchcraft or sorcery. A gawing pit of anxiety starts to sours my stomach.
Whizzing by outside, white villas become fewer and further in between spindly clusters of ghaf trees, clinging desperately to rocky hillsides. With high speed winds now gusting unexpectedly and the light of day being blotted out by the imminent sandstorm, my crackerbox of a car is getting battered around violently. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, I switch on the lights for safety.
As the wipers on my car go back and forth furiously to mix the dust and spattered rain on my windshield into mud, I nudge our way up the Sumail Gap, the dividing line between the Eastern and Western Hajar Mountains. Visibility has dropped to just about 150 feet.
This sense of levity and camaraderie was, unfortunately, short lived. While the jinn was exiled for a spell thanks to her visit to the Moalim, the nocturnal visits by a malevolent presence returned with a vengeful intensity that scared her enough to travel abroad again, this time further east to Indonesia for an exorcism that would involve blood and maggots.
Zafar jinn was appointed leader of Jinns in the battle of Bayr al Alam. He is the jinn who answered the call of Imam Hussain (as) on the day of Ashura, but of course like angels he wasn't given permission to fight either. He is supposed to have met Mir Anis.
"Late night on the 9th of Muharram some1 knocked on my door, i went to open it and saw a man . He told me that he arranged a majlis but the maulivi could not come, so he asked me to come and recite majlis-e-aza. I agreed and went with him. After a long journey we arrived in a isloted place. In the middle of large open place there was a minbar. But there was no1 except that man and me in that large place. He told me to sit on the minbar and start the majlis. I told him that there is no1 here, he replied: "Start the majlis, there are much more people here than you think". When i strated reading the majlis loud sounds of mourning started, although there was no1 besides me and that man in the place. From ther on i understood that it must be Jafar Jinn who has arranged the majlis."
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