here is the response for which you awaited

Submitted by z (United States), Jul 27, 2006 at 20:31

I find it very funny when ignorant people in the West (and around the world for that matter) pretend to know Islam and come up with funny definitions of a very stable and beautiful way of life.

1) Islam does come from the root word in Arabic meaning peace, but that root also can mean "submission" or "surrender". Islam itself (for those who follow it!!!!!) is very peaceful, and Islam (to submit [to the command of Allah]) teaches that. the Muslim (one who has submitted [his will/desires]) is at peace with his/her self. so it's not so funny for the one who actually lives Islam and follows it.

2) Jihad: linguistically, it was a word that existed before Islam. in the linguistic sense, it implies a struggle. so it could mean "struggle in the path of God" or "struggle in the path of Satan" or "struggle in the path of this world", etc. however, after Islam, the word was given another meaning. the word, unless EXPLICITELY used in a linguistic sense, has come to mean fighting (qitaal in Arabic).

take, for example, in english, the word GAY. in the dictionary, its meaning is "happy", "jolly", etc. however, as cultural meanings have changed it, it means today "homosexual", and no it is not slang. it is used endlessly on a professional level (i.e. the government level..."gay marriage?!"), and the meaning has therefore been changed. the same thing happened with the word Jihad in Islam.

on the Arabic level, the word "salah" is another example. before islam, it meant "supplication". today, the Muslims know it as the prayer they offer 5 times a day. the meaning has changed.

a Mujahid in a linguistic sense is "one who strives" (root word, jihad)...just as a Muslim is "one who is at peace" (root word, "salim" or "slm"). in Islam, it has come to mean a person who fights in the way of Allah (root word, the islamic Jihad). one cannot take the words out of context. the word Mujahid IN AN ISLAMIC SENSE comes from the word Jihad IN AN ISLAMIC SENSE!

3) Actually, Kafir is "one who covers up the truth" from the root Kufr (covering up the truth.). but yes, my friend, for once you are correct. no one said that a kafir cannot have CALLED him/herself a Muslim (i.e. be a Muslim legally), so no argument there. actually, the Western media puts down the Muslims today for killing "other Muslims" and they try to make it sound as if they dont know what they are doing. YOU HAVE JUST PROVED THAT THE MUSLIM MUJAHIDEEN KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE DOING, IN THAT THE KUFFAAR (plural for kafir) CAN IN FACT HAVE PROCLAIMED THEMSELVES MUSLIMS (i.e. be legal muslims). YOU HAVE PROVED THAT THE MUJAHIDEED ARE NOT DISORGANIZED, THEY ARE NOT CORRUPT, AND THAT THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO WHAT THEY ARE DOING!. many "Muslims" today are guilty of Kufr. so your argument only hurts you.

in regards to deen, the word DEEN means ruling, authority, subjigation, THE METHOD AND THE HABIT)------http://www.islamonline.com/cgi-bin/news_service/spot_full_story.asp?service_id=903

Wikipedia (nonbiased to Islam) also gives the meaning of Deen as i have put it, not as "religion."----------------http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deen_(Arabic_term)

my regards

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".