As we all know, ISIS is wreaking havoc around the world, killing innocent people whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim. They are responsible for the upheaval of Syrians from their homeland along with the most recent attacks in Paris and Beirut.
Unfortunately, this terrorist group is tainting the image of Muslims around the world and the religion, Islam, due to their title - the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. They are also referred to as ISIL - the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” or simply, IS - the Islamic State. All of these titles contain the words “Islamic State” thus, seeming to represent Islam. The Foreign Minister of France, Laurent Fabius pointed out this inaccuracy in his statement:
“This is a terrorist group and not a state. I do not recommend using the term Islamic State because it blurs the lines between Islam, Muslims, and Islamists.”
Instead, the French President Francois Hollande, along with President Barack Obama, and the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, are using the word “Daesh” to refer to this terrorist group. Although, Daesh refers to the same thing as ISIS in Arabic -al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham, it also has a negative connotation since it sounds like the Arabic word “Dais” which refers to “one who crushes something underfoot,” or Dahes, which refers to “one who sows discord.” Apparently, the terrorist group hates being referred to by this word and has already threatened “to cut out the tongues” of anyone who uses this term. The reason why they hate this new term is because propaganda on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube play a big role in increasing their power and influence. As a result, anyone who uses the term ISIS, ISIL, or IS, is actually giving into the terrorist group’s power by using the terminology they wish to be referred to as. This terminology however is a misrepresentation of Islam and is, thus, breeding hate towards Muslims around the world and causing division - something Daesh wants.
To fight this terrorist group, we can begin by merely choosing the right words.
The Muslim Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah pointed out the importance of words and discourse as a weapon to defeat such terrorist groups in his statement:
“The problem is that even if you defeat these ideas militarily by killing people, if you don’t defeat the ideas intellectually, then the ideas will reemerge.”
This is not just a battle of guns, this is an intellectual war. We need to reframe the dialogue around this terrorist group. We need to defeat Daesh’s attempts to portray Islam as a violent religion. We can start by removing the words Islamic State from our dictionaries, and using alternative words instead.
YOU can do this by referring to them as Daesh instead of ISIS, ISIL, or IS.
Along with the term, Daesh, we can also use the term NISIS, or the Non-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. This idea has been promoted by Abdallah Jasim, a comedian, who made Snapchat videos emphasizing the importance of “reframing the narrative.” With a touch of humor, he gets his message across here.
Rosa Kim, from CBS news, responded to his video on Twitter, asking for his permission to use it. His tweet has generated around 500 retweets with the hashtag #ChangeISIStoNISIS
We may not have the power to stop the horrendous acts done by this terrorist group, but we have the simplest tool - words. Used correctly, our words have the power to defeat this terrorist group's propaganda and brain-washing. Take this small, yet crucial, step and #ChangeISIStoNISIS.
