I am an American college student, studying Arabic and History, particularly Islamic History. In doing research for a presentation on Iraq in early 2007, I discovered that there exists a whole other Internet inhabited by potential mujahidin, extremists, and terrorists. When I read translations of some of what I had found to the class, they were absolutely shocked. I've found that most people, though aware of the threat of militant Islamic fundamentalism, have no idea that the Internet is saturated with hate speech and militant Islamist rhetoric. Many of the web sites crawled for this blog have several thousand users viewing and posting at a given moment.
An important note: This is not a political blog. Commentary will be kept to a minimum, used only to identify persons or organizations in the translations. Of my own character, I will say only that I am not an Islamophobe. I've learned too much of the beauty of the Islamic religion and the glories of Islamic civilization to embrace such a narrow view. However, I do not blind myself to the reality of extremism.
Glossary
Ansar al-Sunnah: "Helpers/Protectors of the Prophet's precedent". An umbrella Sunni Islamist group in the northeast of Iraq. Their relationship with DII and al-Qaeda is indeterminate.
Apostates: Those who have rejected Islam; usually refers to Shi'a.
Caliphate: Literally, "deputyship". In the absence of the Prophet Muhammad, Sunni Muslims believe that a successor is to be chosen by the concensus of the community to rule by the precedent set by the Prophet. This deputy is called a "khaalifa" or Caliph. The office is called "khilaafa" or Caliphate.
Crusaders: See Romans.
Dhimmi: One of the protected "peoples of the Book". Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians are allowed to live in an Islamic Caliphate if they pay the jizya.
DII: al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi al-'Iraq. A Sunni Islamist umbrella organization headed by a man with the nom d'guerre "Abu Omar al-Baghdadi".
Furqan Media: The media wing of the DII. They are responsible for most video recordings and propaganda from the insurgency.
Jizya: Poll tax paid by non-Muslim monotheist subjects of an Islamic state
Land of the Two Rivers: Iraq.
Romans: Poetic label for American soldiers.
Ruwafad: Derogatory collective term for Shi'a Muslims. Literally, "those who refuse".
