You’ve all heard the terms “jihadi” and “mujahideen,” but maybe what you should have been hearing was “hirabah” and “mufsid.”
You’ve all heard the terms “jihadi” and “mujahideen,” but maybe what you should have been hearing was “hirabah” and “mufsid.”
The comment on The Torch is a Dhimmi plant in my opinion. Robert Spencer, from jihadwatch.org lays this particular misconception (that it’s all just a mental activity) to rest:
From Islamic sources I show that there are indeed many meanings of jihad in Islam, but that radical Muslim theorists like Hasan Al-Banna (founder of the Muslim Brotherhood) and Abdullah Azzam (Osama bin Laden’s intellectual mentor) reject the idea that jihad is a spiritual struggle on the grounds that its attestation in the Islamic sources is weak. Their arguments for jihad as holy war are firmly traditionalist: rooted in the Qur’an, the Hadith, the example of Muhammad, and Islamic history.
So, back to the trenches folks. We’re not just engaged in a mental exercise here.
Frank, the point is that if the bad guys have chosen a particular word to describe themselves and their fight, they’ve probably chosen it for the positive connotations. Why would we use the same term?
If they called themselves “freedom-fighters” in English, we wouldn’t copy the style, we’d fight the positively loaded term with a negatively loaded one like “terrorist.”
I’m no Arabic scholar, but I’d suggest that using terms that are negative to most Muslims would be more productive than using terms that are positive to the majority.
Excellent point. If terrorists are said to be doing the work of Allah then muslims will see them in a positive light.If on the other hand they are seen as doing the work of satan then their image changes into the negative.
We in the west need to convince muslims that the “jihadists” are doing the work of their devil, the very one they throw rocks at…casting out the devil… when they go to Mecca.
In a culture that fears hell as much as the muslims do, we only need to keep telling them that it is not paradise they are going to but the other direction.
So does this mean Western MSM should refer to Amedinijad and bin-Laden as “Mufsid-Fattan” fomenting “Fitna” in the Iraq and Afghanistan?
Hope Taliban Jack is ready to negotiate. Seems like the Taliban had laid out their groundrules very clearly. Can’t wait to see the look on his face when they declare, “No more talking, off with his head!”
On freedom of speech the Taliban charter, which is written in Pashto and Dari, is clear: “Every Afghan has the right to express his feelings through his views, writings or through other means in accordance with the law.”
However “un-Islamic thought” is strictly forbidden and “violators will be punished according to sharia” – under the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic teachings.
It provides for the education of women but only within the limits of sharia and stresses that the government will enforce compliance with Sharai Hejab – that women must fully cover themselves.
The document also stresses the importance of jihad as an obligation for every citizen. It offers the Taliban’s support for the United Nations and upholds human rights – “until it is contrary with the teachings of Islam”.
Damian is of course correct that the terrorist organizations will spin doctor their terms in a positive light.
If one wants to fight the political battle effectively, one needs to use terms that have a cultural resonance to the recipient of those terms.
It would only seem sensible to find terms that connote perjorative associations with Islamic extremism.
It is quite one thing to associate ‘jihad’ with ‘internal struggle’ it is another to connote
“hirabah” or unjustified aggression as practiced by ‘mufsid’ or corrupted people.
The messaging is of another order of magnitude.
…and here I thought ‘jihadi” and “mujahideen’ was a name for a piggie slaughter house.
What’s the Farsi word for terrorist?
Iranian lawmakers on Saturday labelled the US army and CIA as terrorist groups.
The parliament said in a statement that the US army has a record of terrorist operations citing bombardment of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapons and CIA has been involved in establishment of terror networks and training terrorists worldwide.
“Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic weapons and throwing depleted uranium bombs in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan, waging war on Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, and supporting Israel in its crackdown on Palestinian and Lebanese people are the record of the US army and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),” the statement said.
The statement further noted that they have also supported Iraq former dictator Saddam Hussein, and terrorist groups including Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO), Al Qaeda and Taliban, and established secret prisons in Europe. CIA has also record of degrading treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
The MPs added that practices of the US army and CIA are tantamount to terrorist acts in contravention of the international norms and conventions.
“We, the representatives of great Iranian great nation condemn the aggressions by the US army, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, and call on the United Nations to intervene in the global problem of US prisons in Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and secret jails in other countries.”
http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-22/0709294967195456.htm