A Glossary for Reading Zawahiri's Letter

Iraqi Bloggers Central ^ | 10/12/05 | CMAR II

[Crush T Velour]

...I thought I ought to provide an explanation for terms that Westerners are not familiar with [in Zawahiri's recently translated letter]:

[...]

Sunna of His Prophet The religion of Islam. It is also the supposed religion of the "turncoat deviants" (see below).

Levant Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan; all the regions to the east of the Mediterranian between Turkey and Egypt. Also, a type of leather, but I don't think Zawhiri means that since I don't think he cares whether his dreamed caliphate is founded in heavy coarse-grained leather. It also means "to leave hurriedly with unpaid debts" which is more likely what Raed did when sneaked off to live in one of America's swankiest cities.

Hijaz Essentially, Saudi Arabia around Mecca and Medina. Let his reference to this area be instructive to those who say OBL's only initial beef with the US was the troops protecting SA from Saddam. Israel is also too darned close to those holy cities and for some reason that is the US's doing.

Idolatrous Infidels Westerners, and I suppose the teensy Christian communities in Iraq. We'll have no truck with this "People of the Book" nonsense. I mean, we we're not crazy about the theologically error-prone majority of Muslims. Nope. It's safer just to sort them all in the pile of bodies labeled "Kaffirs" and move on.

Traitorous Apostates Sunni Muslims (whether Kurd or Arab) working with the Idolatrous Infidels to build a free, stable democracy in Iraq.

Turncoat Deviants Iraqi Shi'a.

[FormerACLUmember]

Islam: A psychopathic death cult spread for 1400 years only by terror, degadation of women, enslavement, and mass murder.

[nutmeg]

ping!