“I was under the influence of a genie” is the latest excuse for administrative corruption in Saudi Arabia. According to the Saudi newspaper Okaz [Ar] [1], a judge in Al Madina was accused of corruption, taking bribes and taking over real estate. His defense was: “It was not me, I was under the influence of a genie!” It is therefore no a surprise, when Saudi netizens decided to have fun with the story. Soon enough, the hashtag #jinni -which refers to genie in Arabic- started trending on our Twitter timelines. Here are some of the reactions.
Ahmad Bagadood [2]explains why he crossed the traffic light:
والله يا عسكري مو أنا إللي قطعت الإشارة. هذا جني! #jinniI swear officer, it was not me who crossed the traffic light, it was a genie!
Fouad Hassan [3]calls for the genie:
الجني الذي دخل القاضي ماعنده حساب في تويتر نريده في حاله مستعجله ؟ #jinni من يعرف الطريق اليه يقول لنا بسرعهDoes the genie have a Twitter account? He is needed in an urgent case!
Khalid or @Mashi9a7 [4] made a few remarks on this:
للإشتراك في دورة تدريببة من 5 أيام:: مهارات اختيار الجني الكفؤ، المقاعد محدوده #JinniFive day workshop: “How to Pick a Genie Efficiently” subscribe now, limited number of seats
#jinni مطلوب للعمل: جني لإدارة استثمارات شركة خاصةNeeded: a genie to work for a private investment company
Wajd [5] announces a new movie:
#jinni ثمرة أول تعاون جني-سعودي الفيلم السينمائي~ ليلة القبض على جني المدينة-تصنيف الفيلم:خيال\أطفال\كوميدياFirst Saudi/Genie cinema production: “The Night the Medina Genie was Arrested” – Genre: Family / Fantasy / Comedy
As a follow up, Okaz published a story [Ar] [6] about a religious man named Fayez Al-Gothami who has made the genie “talk” to him in a setting attended by some members of the religious police. According to Al-Gothaimi, the court's judge Fahad Al-Muhaimeed, asked him to prepare a letter explaining all the details of the interrogation and the corruption scams the “genie” had confessed to.
Yaser Alrefai [7] justifies the genie's confessions:
عاجل: الجني المتهم يقول للراقي الذي استنطقه بأن هدفه الاساسي ليس المال بل هو لتسليط الضوء على أحوال الجن المحزنة بالسعودية #jinniBreaking news: the genie tells the man who talked to him that his main goal was not the money, but to shed the light on how the genie's community is treated in the kingdom
Shaker AlSufyani [8] thinks of taking advantage of the situation:
أنا جالس أفكر أسوي شركة مساهمة لإستقدام الجن وذلك لخدمة البلد في السرقة والإساد اسميها اختصارًا فسادجنكو :P #jinniI am thinking of starting a business for hiring genies to benefit the country in corruption. I'll call the business “Genierruption”:P
Essam Al-Zamel [9] remarks on Jeddah's crises:
اطلاق سراح جميع متهمي كارثة جدة بعد ثبوت تلبس الجن فيهم وقت توليهم للمناصب #JinniThe release of all people involved in Jeddah's crises, because they were under the spell of genies during the time they took up their positions
wasazib [10] would like to improve his work situation:
يا جماعة أبغى أزبط مديري الجديد….أحد يعرف جني فاضي من هنا و لا من هنا؟ #jinni
Guys I'd like to improve my working relation with my new manager, do you know any available genie?
Feras Aalam [11] asks to take a serious position on this regard:
#Jinni لابد من وقفة حازمة لمنع الجن من العبث بأمن الوطنWe must take a firm stand to prevent genies from corrupting the security of the country
Bader (Abu Jehad) [12]talks about the release of a new book:
قريبا في جرير حوار مع جني فاسد #JinniSoon in bookstores: Dialog with a Corrupted Genie
Okaz [Ar] [13] then published a story saying that the religious police denied witnessing the “genie's hearing session.”
MsSDigitaL [14] writes:
إذا هيئة الأمر نفت استنطاقها للجني إذا من قام بإستجواب الجني والتحقيق معه.. شكلهم ودو الجني الأن وراء الشمس #jinniIf the religious police denied hearing the genie, then who did? I believe the genie was made to disappear!
Finally, Manal Fahmy [15] comments:
Good Saudis are celebrating #halloween this year in their special way #Jinni