R. Y. Abdulrehman’s debut poetic novel arrives Fall 2025. Join the haunting.
When a Western-trained psychologist returns to Zanzibar, the stories he once dismissed as superstition rise up to meet him—alive, layered, and rooted in blood.
Raised in Canada and shaped by science, he believed identity was a matter of will. But in the heat and hush of his ancestral island, whispers of jinn and witches begin to unearth a deeper truth—one carved by exile, memory, and spirits that do not forget.
Told in two intertwined timelines—“modernity” and “antiquity”—Jinn in the Family blends poetic fiction with cultural myth, weaving Arab, African, and Indian lineages into a haunting tapestry of inheritance. This novel asks what is lost when diasporic people abandon identity and the unseen, and what might be reclaimed when we finally listen to what was never gone.
More than folklore. More than horror. This is the story of what lives in the quiet—and what refuses to die.
R. Y. ABDULREHMAN is a clinical and consulting psychologist whose work explores the deep intersections of culture, identity, and social justice. He is the author of several books, includingDeveloping Anti-Racist Cultural Competence and co-author of Movies, Miniseries, and Multiculturalism: Using Films and Television to Understand Culture and Social Justice.
Dr. Abdulrehman is the host of Different People, a podcast that tackles the difficult conversations around racism, and his work has been recognized by the Society of Consulting Psychology for excellence in diversity, equity, and inclusion. His compelling TEDx talk, “But Where Are You Really From? Resolving Unconscious Bias,” challenged audiences to confront everyday racism and sparked wider conversations on identity, belonging, and the power of self-awareness.
The founder of tesbias.com, he believes that insight into our unconscious biases can be the beginning of meaningful change. He has served as a professor at the University of Manitoba, Zanzibar University, the State University of Zanzibar, and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences.
In 2024, he was named one of the 100 Most Fascinating Manitobans. Born to a Zanzibari family and having spent time practicing in the region, Dr. Abdulrehman was drawn into the rich lore and cultural storytelling of his ancestry. That journey inspired Jinn in the Family, his first poetic novel. When he isn’t writing or consulting, he can be found baking, cooking, or writing poetry.
“Jinn in the Family is a beautiful exploration of family, past and present. It’s engaging all the way through. A spiritual gourmet served up by our storyteller’s sumptuous family tree. The stories are so vivid that you feel like you, yourself, are a jinn watching the history unfold. As you delve into the pages, you will definitely start thinking about the strange moments from your own past that you explained away too easily. This book is like a great meal, savour it.”
– Anthony Q. Farrell, award-winning television writer (The Office, Little Mosque)
“In this masterpiece, Jinn in the Family, R.Y. Abdulrehman braids folklore that sings of ancestral wisdom, familial love and responsibility, and the rituals of food, song, and religion. He weaves the magic of food with such finesse that every spice—cardamom and cloves—feels like a prayer, pulling on the heart-and-soul strings of strangers without ever touching them. Throughout, there’s a constant tension between intuition and the obsession to explain it away using a language and a way of knowing completely unequipped to grasp the complexity of magic. This playful dance of cognitive dissonance—enchanting supernatural versus stubborn clinical—had my heart drumming. The seamless blend of ancestral wisdom and courage invites you to believe in yourself, in your own intuition, and in the rhythms of your own lineage.”
– Somia Sadiq, Founder of Narratives and Kahanee, Author of Gajarah.
