It literally means "the rising," referring to the land where the sun rises. If you're in France, in the western Mediterranean, that would make sense as a way to describe the eastern Mediterranean.
Levant was also used in English from at least It's kind of archaic, but still used by scholars in English, though more widely in French. The Germans have a similar term for the same region: Morgenland, or "the land of the morning. It carries a perjorative meaning as an acronym, and the they've vowed to cut out the tongue of anyone using it. I understand why, in the first three instances, journalists want to present the insurgency's name in a bland and familiar English, but I also see why none of the names has entirely caught on.
To call the insurgency "the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" suggests that, at some level, the jihadis are operating within the normal parameters of modern states. But everyone knows that jihadis are anti-normal. The names "Greater Syria" and "the Levant" which President Obama seems to favor have the virtue at least of suggesting that something in the jihadi program reaches beyond the state borders. But "Greater Syria" is a Syrian nationalist idea from the mid-twentieth century, and "the Levant" is a French name for the eastern Mediterranean.
In the early centuries of Islam, "Sham" meant Damascus and surrounding territories, from which some of the early caliphs ruled their enormous Islamic empire. And the name "Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham," unlike any of its more reader-friendly alternatives, brings us to the heart of the jihadi doctrine, which is precisely the idea of resurrecting those ancient times.
And why resurrect? A still earlier name of the same jihadi movement answers this question. The earlier name, back when the movement was led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq, was "Tawhid and Jihad"—which is usually translated as "Monotheism and Jihad. The idea of the One and its emanations is Plotinus's, and it has lent itself to any number of creative adaptations over the millennia: Islamic, Jewish, Christian, and post-Christian philosophical.
The variation currently in front of us comes from the Islamist theoreticians of modern times, and it is religious and semi-political both. We will forward your request to your library as soon as possible.
OpenEdition is a web platform for electronic publishing and academic communication in the humanities and social sciences. Desktop version Mobile version. Introduction to Chapter four. Atlas of Jordan Myriam Ababsa. Search inside the book. Table of contents.
Cite Share. Cited by. Text Author. Full text. Zoom in Original jpeg, k. List of illustrations Title Figure IV. As mentioned before, Shaam and Yemen were connected by their ancestor, Saba. Incredibly, Saba himself was a Muslim who had hoped to support the Prophet saw!
The blessed lands were historically important, and they will continue to be important in the future, as shown in the following hadith:. But if you do not wish to go there, then go to your Yemen and drink from your streams. In the above hadith, the Prophet saw singled out Shaam and Yemen as lands to travel to near the end of time, as they are divinely chosen and blessed.
Moreover, the Prophet saw said that there would be other signs of the Last Hour which appeared in Shaam and Yemen. Once again, we can see how Allah and His Messenger saw singled out Shaam and Yemen, not only historically but also at the end of time.
It is thus vital that we pay attention to these 'elite' lands:. O Allah bless us in our Yemen! Moreover, he saw also used to pray for these lands. Of course, the Prophet saw used to pray for his entire Ummah, but he singled out Iraq, Shaam and Yemen for a special du'a:. Consider this beautiful relationship between these blessed lands and the Prophet saw.
They were a support and a relief to him, helping him to carry the message of Islam, and he saw loved them so much that he directly asked Allah to bless them. The Muslims of today have the opportunity to support the people the Prophet saw himself prayed for.
There are so many ways you can support the blessed lands, and we urge you to get involved.
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