In Islam, jinn are beings made out of smokeless fire, created by God before he created humans. They are invisible, but some believe they can shapeshift and even possess people. Like humans, they can choose between obedience and disobedience to God’s will. Jinn are mentioned in the Qur’an, and thus are a required belief for Muslims. However, unlike other Islamic beliefs in which there are hard and fast rules, jinn’s abilities are often contested. Many Muslims have experiences with jinn or know stories about jinn that go way beyond the bounds of the Qur’an and the tradition of the Prophet. In this research paper I examine how Muslim Americans, both imams and lay people, discuss jinn. Subverting the popular American discourse on Islam, I observe modernity finding its champion in the imams, who are at pains to dismiss the everyday existence of jinn and see jinn as perfectly compatible with science. While on the other hand, lay Muslims, who identify as empiricists and find jinn as untranslatable into the language of science and empiricism, maintain the commonplace existence of jinn in life. My research provides an analysis on the American formation of Islam, as well as examines different ways of knowing and experiencing Islam.