The British Government and Jihad — Page xii
xii THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND JIHAD Avatar: A word that has been adopted in English from Sanskrit and which, literally translated, means incarnation. The Prom- ised Messiahas 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. Burūz: A re-advent, second coming or spiritual reappearance. Dajjal: An Arabic word literally meaning "the great deceiver. " In Islamic terminology "dajjal" refers to those satanic forces which would be unleashed in the Latter Days to oppose the Promised Messiahas and al-Imam al-Mahdi. 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 "dajjal" as "Antichrist". Dar-ul-Harb and Dar-ul-Islam: According to certain mullāhs, the world is divided into a "zone of war" (dār-ul-harb) and a "zone of Islam" (dār-ul-Islam). A country is considered dār-ul- Islam only when it is ruled by Muslims. The Promised Messi- ahas points out in this booklet that there is no basis for such a division in the Holy Qur'an or Hadith. Fatwa: A legal ruling issued by an Islamic scholar. The plural is fatāwā. 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. Ghāzi: One who has participated in and survived a religious war. According to Islamic belief, such service earns one Paradise.