Politics and the Arabic Language

Submitted by George McFadden (United States), Nov 4, 2002 at 01:04

This is a masterful piece of scholarship that puts the lie to those who twist language to political ends. I would hope someone in the Arabic-speaking world would pen the Arabic equivalent of George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" to expose the deliberate obfuscations used by those who are driven by a political agenda in their efforts in lexicography. Read the literature sold in many Islamic bookstores -- much of it printed in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in a dozen languages -- and there is no doubt about the meaning of the term Jihad. "Inner struggle" is a canard that is eagerly promoted by those whose 'confit' is provided through funding sources who are engaging in the other front of Jihad. Walk into any cafe between Rabat and Mindanao and use the word Jihad. The modern connotation is the meaning as used by militant Islam -- more "Kill the Infidels".

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