The British Government and Jihad — Page xii
xii Avatar : A word that has been adopted in English from Sanskrit and which, literally translated, means incarnation. The Prom- ised Messiah as used the word very strictly in the sense of a spiritual reappearance or second advent. The Islamic belief concerning these concepts does not contain any sense of phys- ical re-birth or transmigration of souls. Bur u z : A re-advent, second coming or spiritual reappearance. Dajj a l : An Arabic word literally meaning “the great deceiver. ” In Islamic terminology “ dajj a l ” refers to those satanic forces which would be unleashed in the Latter Days to oppose the Promised Messiah as and al-Im a m al-Mahd i. A similar prophecy in the Christian faith about the appearance of the Antichrist refers to the same phenomenon and we have there- fore translated the term “ dajj a l ” as “Antichrist”. D a r - ul - H arb and D a r - ul - Islam : According to certain mull a hs, the world is divided into a “zone of war” ( d a r-ul- h arb ) and a “zone of Islam” ( d a r-ul-Islam ). A country is considered d a r-ul- Islam only when it is ruled by Muslims. The Promised Messi- ah as points out in this booklet that there is no basis for such a division in the Holy Qur’ a n or H ad i th. Fatwa : A legal ruling issued by an Islamic scholar. The plural is fat a w a. Frontier Region : In this booklet the term Frontier Region refers to the North Western Frontier Province of India (now Pakistan) and contiguous regions of Afghanistan. Gh a z i : One who has participated in and survived a religious war. According to Islamic belief, such service earns one Paradise.