Author: Jim Guirard -- TrueSpeak Institute
Source: FamilySecurityMatters.org -- September 6, 2006
As a promised sequel to the recent FSM article which proposed more than a dozen new words for inclusion in English language dictionaries and glossaries, here are an equal number of truthful Arabic and Islamic words which we should take time to learn and to use in ways which begin to demonize al Qaeda and Hizballah killers as effectively as they are currently demonizing us.
These words will serve as vital replacements for several patently false terms which now dominate the language -- namely, Osama bin Laden's so-called "jihad" (holy war) by alleged "mujahideen" and "jihadis" (self-anointed holy warriors) and supposed "shahiddin" (martyrs) destined for Paradise as a proper reward for killing all of us accused "kuffr" (infidels).
The insidious element of this language of so-called "Jihadi martyrdom" lies in the fact that when we parrot such positive labels for people and practices which are anything but "holy," we place ourselves in the role of the Great Satan. For who, indeed, other than the Great Satan would go about killing a bunch of holy guys on their way to Paradise?
Here are more than a dozen of the words we will need to break out of the habit-of-language box which currently makes us the bad guys and anoints the al Qaeda-style Terrorists as the jihadi "holy guys." The ubiquitous (it's everywhere!) word Jihad is entered four times in order to more clearly define its several meanings.
irhab (eer-HAB) -- Arabic for terrorism, thus enabling us to call the al Qaeda-style killers irhabis, irhabists and irhabiyoun rather than the so-called "jihadis" and "jihadists" and "mujahiddin" they want to be called. (Here we are, five years into a Global War on Terrorism, and most of us do not even know the Arabic word for terrorism.)
Hirabah (hee-RAH-bah) -- Unholy War and forbidden "war against society" or what we would today call crimes against humanity. Among the many al Qaeda-style crimes and sins which constitute this most "unholy war" are such willful, and unrepented transgressions as those listed in the final paragraphs of this essay.
Jihad al Akbar (gee-HAHD ahl AHK-bar) -- this "Greater Jihad" is a personal and spiritual struggle or striving to become closer and more faithful to Allah and his teachings as set forth in the Qur'an.
Jihad al Saghir (gee-HAHD ahl Sahg-HEER) -- "Lesser Jihad" is a physical struggle to protect or to free Muslims and non-Muslims from oppression, but only in strict accordance with reasonable and non-terroristic standards set forth in the Qur'an. Example: the 1980s liberation of Afghanistan from Soviet atheism, colonialism and fascist-Left tyranny.
Jihad al Kabir (gee-HAHD ahl kha-BEER) -- the spiritual and intellectual quest to promote common knowledge of Divine Revelation through all of God's Prophets and to carry out ijtihad (consultative efforts throughout the Umma) in applying both Revelation and Natural Law to human affairs.
"Jihad" (gee-HAHD, so called) -- al Qaeda's false label for Hirabah, which is at heart an anti-Islamic, apostate and forbidden "war against society" and a satanic assortment of "crimes against humanity," such as the many ruthless and willful violations of Qur'anic standards listed below.
mufsiduun (moof-see-DOON) -- Islam's word for evildoers, sinners and corrupters whose criminality and sinfulness, unless ended and sincerely repented, will incur Allah's ultimate condemnation on Judgment Day; Islam's optimum antonym for "mujahideen."
muharibuun (moo-hah-ree-BOON) -- barbarians and ruthless transgressors who are guilty of the heinous crimes and mortal sins of irhab and Hirabah (terrorism and forbidden "war against society").
munafiquun (moon-ah-fee-KOON) - hypocrites to Islam who pretend to be faithful to the Qur'an but who willfully violate many of its basic rules, mandates and prohibitions. Once again, please refer to the ten AQ-style transgressions listed below.
hizb (hizb) - a political party, as in Hizballah (Party of God), or as the senior Saudi cleric Sheik Jafar Hawali recently called this radical and arguably apostate Shi'a organization Hizb al-Shaitan (Party of Satan, Party of the Devil).
Jahannam (jyah-HAH-nahm) -- Islam's antonym for Paradise and meaning the Eternal Hellfire to which Allah on Judgment Day condemns unrepentant, unforgiven evildoers and hypocrites of the unholy war variety.
khawarij (kha-WAH-reej) -- outside-the-religion and outside-the-community individuals and activities; derived from the ancient al Qaeda-like militant Khawar or Kharajite sect, eventually suppressed and expelled as apostates and enemies of authentic, Qur'anic Islam.
istihlal (eesh-tee-LAHL) -- Islam's cardinal sin of "playing God," as Osama bin Laden is doing when he attempts to pervert Islam into his own suicide mass murderous image, and turning it into nothing but a perpetual killing machine.
murtadd (muur-TAHD) -- apostasy, a certifiably correct conviction for which is punishable by death in this life and by Allah's eternal damnation in the next, with al Qaeda's murderous extremism eventually to be labeled "The al Qaeda Apostasy."
takfir (takh-FEER) -- the Wahhabi and al Qaeda-style practice of making wholesale (and largely false and baseless) accusations of apostasy and disbelief toward Allah and the Qur'an. Those who engage in this divisive practice of false witness are referred to as the "takfiri".
Shaitan and shaitaniyah (shy-TAHN and shy-TAHN-ee-yah) -- Islam's Arabic words for Satan and satanic [example: Osama Abd' al-Shaitan, Osama Slave or Servant of Satan]
So, what is the point of this new and improved lexicon of Arabic and Islamic words and frames of reference? In terms of the vital hearts, minds and souls aspects of the Long War on AQ-style Terrorism, the rewards could be great, indeed.
Rather than being falsely perceived as the embodiment of the Will of Allah and as the legitimate voice of the Qur'an, al Qaeda and its clones will become defined by the sinful criminality of their "works" -- which on close examination reflect the antithesis of the "99 Names of Allah" by which the "peaceful, compassionate, merciful and just" God of Abraham describes Himself in the Qur'an. These plainly satanic practices include:
With these multiple evidences of Apostasy so clearly established, imagine how much more difficult it will become for al Qaeda, Hizballah and their murderous clones to inspire and to sustain the suicidal zealotry of religiously motivated young Muslims.
And imagine their difficulty in winning the approval of any truly devout and faithful Muslims whatever once these genocidal irhabis (terrorists) come to be viewed by the Umma (the Muslim World) as mufsidoon (evildoers) engaged in Hirabah (unholy war) and in murtadd (apostasy) against the Qur'an's God of Abraham and, therefore, on their way to Jahannam (Eternal Hellfire), instead.
A Washington DC-area writer, public speaker and anti-Terrorism strategist, Jim Guirard was longtime Chief of Staff to former US Senators Allen Ellender and Russell Long. His new TrueSpeak Institute is devoted to truth-in-language and truth-in-history in public discourse. Justcauses@aol.com 703-768-0957