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The word "jihad"...is it a name also?


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The word "jihad"...is it a name also?
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2004-08-25, 09:54

A friend of mine is currently working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at a hospital for the next 18 months or so. She left in March and we've stayed in touch via postcards and e-mails.

Anyway, she's planning a trip home in late September and I get an e-mail from her this morning that she's bringing this guy she's met, and his name is Jihad.

The gist of the e-mail is that she and her Mom are going at it because her Mom said he's not welcome in her home (kinda lame, but you hear that name and can't help but go..."uh oh").



Not sure if it was the name, his background, etc. Her mom thinks she's "being used" and doesn't want any part of it. Doesn't sound like her Mom, from what I remember, but things change I guess.

So anyway, my friend and Jihad are staying with her sister in Atlanta. I'll visit them during that week, I'm sure. I don't know if they're dating or what (her e-mail could've been taken either way...she speaks of how happy she is, but also just calls him her "friend"). He is a devout Muslim and all. I'm not sure how that works, because my friend isn't and I'm not sure of how all that goes.

Anyway, will be nice to see my friend again (she's a Mariska Hargitay-looking vixen ) and meet her friend.

But is Jihad also a common name, as well as what we all know and hear it as? Would that be like someone here naming their kid Lynch or Crusade?



The word itself, is there a positive or negative connotation to it? I've never heard it in anything but a negative light. Jihad. When I hear it, it's like "oh no...", but I'm not sure if there's another meaning or slant to it? Or maybe there isn't? I don't think it's his nickname or the Muslim equivalent to "dude".

When I read her e-mail this morning, I was just taken aback by the name (figuring that's why her mom might've freaked).

Jihad. I only found one small listing for it in Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary, and it says "a holy war fought by Moslems against unbelievers". Would that name, perhaps, reflect on his parents more than anything? I mean, you can't control what your parents name you.

I've just never heard the word used as anything other than the definition above. Wasn't sure if it was also a common, popular name in that part of the world/culture?

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709
¡Damned!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
 
2004-08-25, 10:01

I believe Jihad also means to internally work on some religious truth or meaning...sometimes with doubt and strife...but still trying to overcome.

I relate it to naming a kid 'Faith' here in the US.


[edit]: "a holy struggle or striving by a Muslim for a moral or spiritual or political goal."

Dictionary.com.

So it goes.
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Matvei
Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-08-25, 10:04

If i may, Jihad also refers to the inner battle one faces to better him/herself. Like the "big" jihad that seeks to protect and nourish cultural/political islam, "small" jihad seeks to make the individual more like allah wishes. The inner struggle, in short.

This is my take on it. It might sound stupid and wrong to a muslim though.

Anybody else?
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Moogs
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Join Date: May 2004
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2004-08-25, 10:06

I don't know, but anyone with that name who plans on living in this country may want to obtain a name change requisition form.


Especially if George somehow stumbles to victory again in November. The DoHS probably already has them on a watch list.

...into the light of a dark black night.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2004-08-25, 10:08

Ah, yes...I see. Webster's should put that in their dictionary as well, shouldn't they?

Taken in that way, that's a neat name. I know a Faith, so yeah...now it makes sense.

I just didn't know that other meaning, which is why I asked.

I think her Mom is being irrational about it all. My friend is mature and wise beyond her years and isn't known for making stupid decisions or having less-than-quality friends (hell, I'M her friend so that speaks volumes to her taste and character!)

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usurp
High Monarch of MacDebate
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Kuwait
 
2004-08-25, 10:45

Jihad is a common arabic name.
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Hassan i Sabbah
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: london and københavn
 
2004-08-25, 12:21

'Jihad' is a name, yes. There've been a few famous Jihads. Off the top of my head I can think of a Palestinian leader (Jihad Ahmed Jibril).

Oh. That's it.

I have an acquaintance called Jihad who is a chemist.

While I won't argue that the word sort of deserves its bad press, Sufi people have always meant 'a struggle' by it.

Edit: this is what you should attain through the 'inner jihad':

Quote:
to control oneself from acting out one's anger or gratifying addictions,
to negate the thought that one will find fulfillment through these means,
to negate the sense that one cannot escape one's depression, and
to give up imagining that God is absent.
I think the name's acquired its current associations in the past couple of decades, which isn't to say that it's never been a sort of fiery name, only that it didn't used to mean 'killing innocent people because we detest their government'.

Um.

This is a bit over the top, though.

gibberish
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torifile
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2004-08-25, 12:23

You have to understand how the arabic language works in order to appreciate names and their meaning.

Arabic words all (generally) come from a 3 letter root. Each word in the language is derived from a conjugation of that three letter root word. Jihad actually comes from the root "ja ha da." Multiple words that you may know come from that root. For example "jihad". Also "mujahid" (as in the mujahideen of the Afghan war against the Soviet Union).

Another example is the name Muhammad. It comes from the root "ha ma da". Associated words (and common names) are Ahmad, Mahmoud, etc. HTH.

I've never known a person with the name Jihad and I know a lot of Arabs. It may just be a mispronunciation of a different word. Who knows?
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2004-08-25, 12:26

I kinda wondered that myself, a little while ago. I mean, she knows this guy so I just assumed she knew how to spell his name. But maybe his name is something similar and she jst spelled it the way it sounded...and this thread is all for nothing.

Oops...
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staph
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2004-08-25, 13:10

Sounds like an excellent name!

Besides, if 17th century Calvinists could acceptably name their children things like Sword-of-the-Lord, I'm sure Muslims can call their kids something akin to Edification (I may be getting mixed up with my doctrine here, but I'm pretty sure that that would the most analogous Christian doctrine).
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Wrao
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2004-08-25, 13:20

I am SO naming my kid Sword of the Lord!
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stevegong
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2004-08-25, 14:09

If I'm not mistaken. I learned in my Islamic history class that Jihad actually means "doing a little extra" as in doing something extra for Allah, such as giving to charity. Most people seem to think that Jihad means the holy wars, and killing off the Christians and hat not.

I think it's lame that people think he should have a name change in order to not come off like a terrorist to Americans. I'm not an expert on Islam or the Middle East, but I get the feeling that what many people in the US know about the middle east is from the news media, which can sometimes be unfair.

If I was named Jihad and was from the Middle east, I would definitely keep my name, and clear misconceptions about Islam and the Middle East. I definitely would not try to blend in, change my name, forget about my mother country and just become American.
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Windswept
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2004-08-25, 15:55

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrao
I am SO naming my kid Sword of the Lord!


Hey, Wrao! Thanks for a great laugh!
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Luca
ಠ_ರೃ
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
 
2004-08-25, 16:25

Quote:
Originally Posted by stevegong
I think it's lame that people think he should have a name change in order to not come off like a terrorist to Americans. I'm not an expert on Islam or the Middle East, but I get the feeling that what many people in the US know about the middle east is from the news media, which can sometimes be unfair.

If I was named Jihad and was from the Middle east, I would definitely keep my name, and clear misconceptions about Islam and the Middle East. I definitely would not try to blend in, change my name, forget about my mother country and just become American.
I think it's lame that people think all Americans think the same way. Just your typical lump-em-all-together post from Steve.



BTW, I DO agree that people are silly for thinking he's a "terrorist" for having that name.
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stevegong
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2004-08-25, 17:13

Quote:
Originally Posted by Luca
I think it's lame that people think all Americans think the same way. Just your typical lump-em-all-together post from Steve.



BTW, I DO agree that people are silly for thinking he's a "terrorist" for having that name.

I use the word many. I never talk about clumping them all together. Do I say I think ALL americans think like this? I know many people who are americans, and I'm not posting from the point of view of some kid who has never gone out of his den. Quit assuming I say all americans are like this, cause I'm not even attacking americans clearly.
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curiousuburb
Antimatter Man
 
Join Date: May 2004
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2004-08-25, 18:58

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moogs
I don't know, but anyone with that name who plans on living in this country may want to obtain a name change requisition form.


Especially if George somehow stumbles to victory again in November. The DoHS probably already has them on a watch list.
Imagine the look on the faces of the INS folks (or the airlines). Must have wet themselves.
A Saudi male named Jihad flying to the US? "Down the hall to proctology, please."
Had he been flying alone, or with male friends, methinks he'd be in Gitmo not at dinner.
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curiousuburb
Antimatter Man
 
Join Date: May 2004
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2004-08-25, 19:08

If Zappa was President, maybe more kids would be named Moon Unit or Dweezil. WTF is a Dweezil?
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Wrao
Yarp
 
Join Date: May 2004
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2004-08-26, 01:45

"talking about music is like fishing about architecture"

say what you will about zappa, but that's an awesome quote.
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noleli2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Chicago
 
2004-08-26, 07:18

Quote:
Originally Posted by staph
Sounds like an excellent name!

Besides, if 17th century Calvinists could acceptably name their children things like Sword-of-the-Lord, I'm sure Muslims can call their kids something akin to Edification (I may be getting mixed up with my doctrine here, but I'm pretty sure that that would the most analogous Christian doctrine).
Actually, with my minute knowledge of Arabic, and slightly greater knowledge of Hebrew (the two languages are closely related), I can tell you that the name Abdul ('Eved El' would be a hebrew translation) means Servant of God. I'm sure there are many other examples, as well.
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Windswept
On Pacific time
 
Join Date: May 2004
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2004-08-26, 08:30

Quote:
Originally Posted by noleli2
Actually, with my minute knowledge of Arabic, and slightly greater knowledge of Hebrew (the two languages are closely related), I can tell you that the name Abdul ('Eved El' would be a hebrew translation) means Servant of God. I'm sure there are many other examples, as well.
What would 'Abdullah' mean then?
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709
¡Damned!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
 
2004-08-26, 08:33

Servant of Allah.
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Chinney
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Ottawa, ON
 
2004-08-26, 08:47

Yup, it is a name.

G. (Gerry) Hadd - Played for the Cubbies (or maybe it was Philly) back in the mid-70s.
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