06-14-2006, 05:11 AM
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Europe carefully chooses its words on Islam and terrorism
BRUSSELS: The European Union is refining a communication strategy in an effort to help stop disenchanted Muslim youths turning to terrorism.
How is the word âIslamistâ understood in Muslim countries? What does the term âjihadâ really mean? These are just some of the questions the EU is trying to answer with its dictionary on issues sensitive among civilisations. Yet even before the row over the cartoons, first published in Denmark last year and which triggered Muslim protests, the 25-member grouping was trying to define a âcommon vocabularyâ for talking about radical Islam.
Since taking over the EUâs rotating presidency in January, Austria has hosted conferences involving experts on Islam, religion and linguistics and has drawn up a first document which it hopes will be finalised by December. âUnintended stigmatisation resulting from an ill-considered choice of words may have serious negative psychological effects and thus contribute to the process of radicalisation,â the textâs preamble says. It urges EU governments to âensure that they do not inadvertently and inappropriately impose a sense of identity solely linked to religious affiliation.â
European governments and officials are also warned not use religious language or interfere in any religious debate âas it may discredit the efforts of mainstream Muslims to curb extremist interpretations of Islam.â The common lexicon, for the moment, consists of just three terms: âIslamistâ, âfundamentalismâ and âjihadâ.
Rather than dictionary-style definitions, the lexicon tries to place the words in their cultural, historical and political context to inform users and give them a better idea of how their use could be misunderstood. So âIslamist terrorismâ should be used instead of âIslamic terrorismâ, because the -ist âlinks terrorism to a distinct political ideology, not to a religion as a whole, and might therefore be preferableâ. As for the word âfundamentalismâ: avoid it. The term refers to beliefs and convictions which do not always have immediate political repercussions and when it is coupled into âIslamic fundamentalismâ could be offensive to Muslims.
Finally, âjihadâ - commonly used in the media to mean âholy warâ - is based on contested interpretations of classical Islamic texts which legitimise the use of war against the state. âMujahideenâ is used to describe those who fight this war. But the lexicon explains that it is an intellectual, social or other kind of personal exercise - âgreat jihadâ - or to describe a war in defence of the Muslim community; âlittle jihadâ. afp
Europe carefully chooses its words on Islam and terrorism
BRUSSELS: The European Union is refining a communication strategy in an effort to help stop disenchanted Muslim youths turning to terrorism.
How is the word âIslamistâ understood in Muslim countries? What does the term âjihadâ really mean? These are just some of the questions the EU is trying to answer with its dictionary on issues sensitive among civilisations. Yet even before the row over the cartoons, first published in Denmark last year and which triggered Muslim protests, the 25-member grouping was trying to define a âcommon vocabularyâ for talking about radical Islam.
Since taking over the EUâs rotating presidency in January, Austria has hosted conferences involving experts on Islam, religion and linguistics and has drawn up a first document which it hopes will be finalised by December. âUnintended stigmatisation resulting from an ill-considered choice of words may have serious negative psychological effects and thus contribute to the process of radicalisation,â the textâs preamble says. It urges EU governments to âensure that they do not inadvertently and inappropriately impose a sense of identity solely linked to religious affiliation.â
European governments and officials are also warned not use religious language or interfere in any religious debate âas it may discredit the efforts of mainstream Muslims to curb extremist interpretations of Islam.â The common lexicon, for the moment, consists of just three terms: âIslamistâ, âfundamentalismâ and âjihadâ.
Rather than dictionary-style definitions, the lexicon tries to place the words in their cultural, historical and political context to inform users and give them a better idea of how their use could be misunderstood. So âIslamist terrorismâ should be used instead of âIslamic terrorismâ, because the -ist âlinks terrorism to a distinct political ideology, not to a religion as a whole, and might therefore be preferableâ. As for the word âfundamentalismâ: avoid it. The term refers to beliefs and convictions which do not always have immediate political repercussions and when it is coupled into âIslamic fundamentalismâ could be offensive to Muslims.
Finally, âjihadâ - commonly used in the media to mean âholy warâ - is based on contested interpretations of classical Islamic texts which legitimise the use of war against the state. âMujahideenâ is used to describe those who fight this war. But the lexicon explains that it is an intellectual, social or other kind of personal exercise - âgreat jihadâ - or to describe a war in defence of the Muslim community; âlittle jihadâ. afp