U.S. Officials Urged to Quit using “Islam” in Terrorism Talk
Posted on May 7, 2008 by Bushra
Filed Under Uncategorized |
There is a guide going around in government circles by the National Counter-Terrorism Center that U.S. officials need to cease and desist using “Islam” and other words associated with the religion when talking about terrorists. For instance, they are not to mention Al-Qaeda as a Muslim or Islamic group.
The guide being passed around for this matter explains the need to keep this language out of discussion.
By employing the language the extremists use about themselves, the guide warns, officials can inadvertently help legitimize them in the eyes of Muslims.
“Never use the terms ‘jihadist’ or ‘mujahedin’ … to describe the terrorists,” instructs the guide. “A mujahed, a holy warrior, is a positive characterization in the context of a just war. In Arabic, jihad means ’striving in the path of God’ and is used in many contexts beyond warfare. Calling our enemies Jihadis and their movement a global Jihad unintentionally legitimizes their actions.”
This guide sounds like a good thing. Let’s hope it catches on. Check out the full article here.
Comments
One Response to “U.S. Officials Urged to Quit using “Islam” in Terrorism Talk”
Leave a Reply
About
Media and Islam is the blog of Muslim Media Activists. We strive to promote media interaction with the Muslim community in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Subscribe to the Media Committee mailing list
Links
Admin
Whoa! Let’s not be too hasty to endorse or adopt any guide other than The Qur’an and Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (saw)or else we will find ourselves plotting with the real enemies of Islam. On the surface, American Muslims getting together with America’s Homeland Security Team to come up with the appropriate language to use in referring to terrorists appears innocent, but beneath the surface, the idea is suspect at best.
I agree that in reference to Al-Islam the language used by the west has been nothing but derogatory. In fact, the word terrorism has become synonomous with Islam and a key component of the fear tactic used by the west. But, guest what? The damage has been done, changing the language (Shaitaan’s whispers) now further implements his trickery. We call it sticking the knife in twelve inches and pulling it out six to give the person an imaginary sense of relief.
After reading the article it occurred to me that the language used to depict terrorism and Islam in the west has always been defined and implemented by the west. To add a few American Muslims to the process is a token jester, but it doesn’t really change the image of Islam in the minds of the die-hard advocates of Homeland Security. The American leaders know exactly what they are doing when they start these language campaigns in the media to vilify other nations, usually for some sort of political gain. They make up words in English or define words from other languages in English and put them out to see what type of reaction that they get. They are home free when people from other countries accept and use the made up words and definitions. In most cases like the examples in the article, people don’t really know the root meanings of the words and just go along with whatever is popular. A study of history shows why the American people today are not clear on the the distinction between “freedom fighters” and “terrorists,” but you don’t see the U.S. Officials putting out a guide for understanding that. Although I’m sure it’s coming! America and Great Britian are the authors of Mission Impossible, Delta Force, (007)James Bond, Terminator and all of the other covert activity concepts that conjures up fear and this idea of terrorism in our minds. It’s not about peace, it’s all about wanting to control the world.