Guest AuthorLast week in South Florida I participated in a forum on terrorism, held in a beautifully landscaped gated country club community.
Both Christians and Jews participated. The consensus was that the United States and Western democracies will have to cope with terrorism for a long time. Many expressed the fear that Muslim extremists would try to impose sharia – the religious law of Islam — on the United States.
It was clear that “sharia” was the only Arabic word the audience knew. I believe that it’s unwise to know nothing about the people who you fear.
So, here are 12 Arabic words and idioms you should understand:
1. ALLAHU AKBAR!: God is great! Terrorists often shout Allahu Akbar while detonating their vests. If you hear someone screaming this, be alert.
2. KORAN: Literally: the Book that must be read. Alas, my Florida interlocutors have never held a Koran in their hands and have seen one only on the TV news. So, please, the least you can do is visit your library and browse. The Koran has a handy index to find subjects that matter, such as “women,” “jihad,” etc.
3. INSHALLAH!: God willing!
4. HAMDULALLAH!: Thank God!
5. ASSALAMU ALEIKUM: Peace be unto you. Also, hello, welcome and, like the Hebrew “Shalom,” many meanings that all have to do with greeting someone.
6. ARABIC NAMES: For example: PLO President Mahmoud Abbas is also known as ABU MAZEN, which means that his firstborn son is called Mazen. If man has no sons, he will call himself “son of.” For example, “Mahmoud bin” means son of his father “Mahmoud.” Although Osama bin Laden had sons, he still called himself bin Laden, to honor his father.
7. FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM:
— shahada — the Testimony: I declare that there is no God except Allah and Mohammed is His Messenger. This compares to the Jewish “sh’ma”: Hear oh Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is one.
— charity
— fasting
— prayer
— Hajj – This is the pilgrimage to Mecca, which every Muslim is expected to make at least once. The pilgrims may add the word Hajj to their names.
8. KA’ABA: The Black Rock in Mecca that the pilgrims circle seven times.
9. HEJERA: Mohammed’s flight from Medina to Mecca in 622 A.D. and the official beginning of the Muslim faith.
10. JIHAD or THE SIXTH PILLAR: Added later and meaning “struggle.” This may be an inner struggle to attain purity, or the warfare against infidels.
11. SHIITES and SUNNIS: The two primary sects of Islam. Roughly 15 percent of the world’s Muslims are Shiites; 85 percent are Sunni. Islam split in 682 A.D., 50 years after Mohammed’s death. His heirs embarked on a war of succession, creating martyrs and their much-worshipped graves. The rulers of Saudi Arabia are Sunnis; Shiites control Iran. File this for future reference.
12. NAQBA: Means “catastrophe.” Palestinians use this word when referring to the establishment of the State of Israel.
Rachel Patron is a former opinion columnist for the Sun-Sentinel. She resides in Boca Raton and is at work on a contemporary American novel. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
