Raymond Ibrahim explains why we must use the word “jihad” to help infidels understand “why do they hate us”
New York Times article: “If we want to say what we mean, what terms better describe [al]Qaeda members and other violent extremists? ‘Muharib’ or the more colloquial ‘hirabi’ or ‘hirabist’ would be good places to start. ‘Hirabah’, the base word, is a term for barbarism or piracy. Unlike ‘jihad’, which grants honor, ‘hirabah’ brings condemnation; it involves unlawful violence and disorder.”
Raymond Ibrahim: “Now, as a native Arabic speaker, I regret to say that usage of these terms — that is, Americans trying to be at once politically-correct and descriptive in, of all languages, Arabic — is, alas, somewhat comedic. I further suspect that Arabs, especially al-Qaeda types, would find it HILARIOUS AND CONSISTENT WITH THEIR INTERPRETATIONS OF WISHY-WASHY AMERICANS, who go to great lengths to learn a language only to censor themselves and COMPROMISE THEIR PRECISION IN THAT SAME LANGUAGE, ALL SO THEY CAN APPEAR THE ‘NICE GUY.’ “
“Which leads to a final point: ARABS AND MUSLIMS ARE NOT WAITING AROUND FOR AMERICANS OR THEIR GOVERNMENT — THAT IS, INFIDELS — TO DEFINE ISLAM FOR THEM, MUCH LESS TO CONFER *ISLAMIC* LEGITIMACY OR CONDEMNATION ON AL-QAEDA THROUGH THE USE OF SUBTLE WORD-GAMES. Calling this or that a ‘hirabi’ or ‘jihadi’ is not about to make any great impression on them, SINCE ONLY AN AUTHORITATIVE ISLAMIC ENTITY (E.G. CAIRO’S AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY) IS QUALIFIED TO DETERMINE SUCH MATTERS. Thus the US government would do wwell to w rry less about which words will better humor the Arab/Muslim world, and WORRY MORE ABOUT PROVIDING ITS CITIZENRY WITH ACCURATE AND MEANINGFUL TERMINOLOGY.”
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“.. The world’s Muslims aren’t holding their breath to hear what sort of *ISLAMIC* legitimacy the US government is about to confer on al-Qaeda, since IT IS NOT FOR NON-MUSLIMS TO DECIDE WHAT IS AND IS NOT ISLAMIC IN THE FIRST PLACE. AMERICANS, ON THE OTHER HAND, WHO ARE STILL ASKING ‘WHY DO THEY HATE US’, ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF UNDERSTANDING. USING ACCURATE TERMINOLOGY IS THE FIRST STEP.” — Raymond Ibrahim.