I am not an expert in Jinn magick, but I have worked some of it for a little while via Corwin Hargrove's book and some of Nineveh's materials. What I can say from theory and (a little practice) is that they are quite different than the usual spirits that western occultists work with. They are spirits that are typically regarded as "fiery" because of the whole smokeless flame stuff from the Quran and this is true to some degree, but they are also diverse in disposition as well. Some people even regard them as being closer to the different elemental spirits that we come to know such as Salamanders, Undines, etc. Considering that they predate Islam, the Quranic view of them is not always the best way to view them from the high level down, but the Sufi derived approaches to them do work.
As to the nature of their magick, it is powerful and fast when it works. I can attest to that. Even in Corwin Hargrove's book, he stresses that they are quite powerful when they actually do the work, but you need to be quite specific about your intention. Unlike systems with angels and a lot of demons, the Jinn can take the request and fulfil it to the letter in a very literal way or even throw curveballs along the way. I don't call them tricksters in their entirety, but it is worth keeping in mind to be careful with your requests (which should be a general rule in magick anyway). In terms of their supernatural effects, their magick relies on knowing individual names than on things like sigils. There are magical squares being a prominent feature in many cases, but the names alone hold the power to work with them when used correctly. Just keep that in mind when working with them. When I say a name of a jinn king I actually feel the presence of the king when doing it properly and that is not something I can say usually about spirit work in general.
As for how you approach them and their personalities, you should take the comment of them being close to humans as being quite true. Jinn are very diverse in nature and quite "human" in that diversity. Some are dangerous as hell, some are capricious, some are patient, and so it depends on who you choose. The general idea is that you go in with respect, confidence, and understanding. You should invest in understanding the different protections that exist against Jinn, both in the Islamic world and outside of it. The material of Nineveh Shadrach can help you with this and even researching certain duas + surahs of the Quran can greatly help with this. The general approach I prefer is to come respectful and ready to communicate, but come protected just in case. Make sure you pick the Jinn that you know you are ready to work with and understand the nature of the spirits you are calling.
For example, the Shayatin (or Shaitan) are regarding as Cthonic underworld Jinn that exist to deceive humans. In the Quran, these are the Jinn that originate with Iblis and his refusal to bow to man. So you might be cautious about calling these types of Jinn. Another example are the Ifrit / Ifreet, known as being prideful, fiery, and extremely powerful Jinn that are known for volatile and potentially dangerous to work with. There are also the Marid, Ghul, etc, and each have their own unique characteristics. You can't always trace which name is which type, but there should be enough info out there to have a basic grasp of the well known ones (e.g. the Jinn Kings, well known Ifrit, and the Jinn Elders). Regardless of the type you work with, you should always keep in mind the need for protection and the current general temperament for spirit work.
The nature of Jinn work itself is also quite interesting compared to western spirit work. Like with the grimoires, Arabic (especially Sufi style) magick involves the use of hierarchies in order to call upon the Jinn with authority. You move from divine names of god / Allah, to angels, to superior jinn, and finally to subordinate Jinn when you make the calls. Each preceding level gives you the authority to call the next level below. This is a common pattern that is also present in grimoires for demons, but with older Arabic magick there is also a "service" oriented aspect of it where you work in seclusion and a lot of repetition of various names / calls / surahs / etc in order to build "rapport" with the spirits you are calling. It is not uncommon to see requirements such as doing an invocation 1000 times over 40 days in complete isolation in order to be able to have a full "experience" with the Jinn. Some of this is for the ability to manifest the Jinn properly, but other parts of this are for protection and respect. You are paying service and time to those that you are calling to you and that is, in my eyes, a form of respect to the spirit. Of course, you cannot do this very easily in a modern setting, so some shortening and adaptation is required. Modern methods really omit this and to me that is okay in certain cases, but maybe not in others.
If you decide you are against the use of the Abrahamic view, then you could (maybe) omit the angelic and divine name aspects of calling Jinn. But the hierarchy part within the Jinn world (i.e. Elders > Kings > other Jinn) should be retained. This still respects the Jinn while also providing a strong framework of protective authority to work with. In this case, you will probably need to develop a relationship with the Elders and the Jinn kings when using this approach.
Anyway hope this helps. This represents my own current take on Jinn magick, but I am sure others may disagree with my points or expand upon them.
