[IslamCity] Difference between MASJID and MOSQUE

Tue, 15 Feb 2005 07:45:54 -0800

 
         Assalaamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barakaatuhu
 
        A brother wrote this message advising .........
Difference between MASJID and MOSQUE

Please read this and pass it on to as many people as you can.
It contains vital and important information.

Muslims should now refrain from using the term "Mosque".
I was flipping through this book the other day called:

"THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING ISLAM"

(They call themselves idiots) and it is filled with fun facts.
One of them concerns the word Mosque."

We will be totally wrong to assume that the word "Mosque"
is the English translation of the word  "Masjid".

I am sure none of us ever wondered how this term came into being when
it really had little in common with how it sounded compared to 'Masjid'.

(We were very young when we were taught this English word.  
Our minds then were not critical nor analytical, so we didn't dare
to ask or challenge our teachers. Right?)  

Anyway this book pointed out that the term 'mosque' is derived from the
Spanish word for "mosquito." It was termed as such because during the
Crusades, King Ferdinand said they were going to go and swat the Muslims
like mosquitoes".

(Where else can they find Muslims in large number to be swatted if
not in a Masjid?). So, they cheekily termed "Masjid" as "Mosque".

So, my dear Muslim brothers and sisters, refrain from using this word, which is
obviously a disgusting slap in the face to the Ummah. Let us  Educate our brothers
and sisters to the history and etymology of this word.

And let us replace it with the word, which is MEANT to be used: Masjid!
The Place of Prostration!! Not Mosque: the place to be swatted!

Was Salamualaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu.
====================================================================================
 
Assalaamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barakaatuhu
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 
When I received this story from the respected brother, I immediately shared three articles with him (see below) that completely refutes the myth that Mosque comes from Mosquito. I awaited his response hoping to receive confirmation from him that he had forwarded my three (3) articles to those who received his article. Three days expired and not a word from him so I sent him another email enquiring if he had received my email. Again no response was forthcoming. And to my dismay, I received today from another source who unwittingly forwarded his advice, to almost fourteen (14) yahoogroups. So this is the reason why you are now reading my communique.
 
This Mosque/Mosquito story is a misconception which has been circulating for the past 3-4 years mostly by well-meaning Muslims and posted by Islamic websites.  In shaa'Allaah after reading the following three (3) articles below, please remember not to forward this untruth should you ever receive it. If you happen to receive the same, then share the three (3) articles with the senders. It just reflects badly on our understanding of our own Islamic terminology which may open Muslims to ridicule. It's baffling why the author Yahiya A. Emerick would include this misconception in his book “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Islam.”  A spoof ... a gimmick - at the expense of Islam - surely not? I'd like him to be given the benefit of the doubt that he was sincerely unaware when he quoted it in his book. If so, then it begs the question, who are the originators of this misconception? Bears giving this some thought, don't you think? In shaa'Allaah, through our joint efforts, this ridiculous misconception will  be made known to everyone and eventually find itself classified in the www.truthorfiction.com and www.urbanlegends.com websites under the category: fiction/hoax! And Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala knows best.
 
 
Fi Amman Allaah,
Your sister,
K a r i m a
 
====================================================================================
 

From T. Mourad:

I was flipping through this book the other day called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam and it is filled with interesting facts. Some stuff I didn't even know. One of them concerns the term mosque. According to the author of this book the English term mosque is derived from the Spanish word for mosquito and came into use during the Christian invasion of Muslim Spain in the 15th century. The forces of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella boasted they would swat out Muslim prayer houses like mosquitoes.

Well, the "Complete Idiot" in the title is the writer, not the reader.  How disappointing that such so-called etymology could make it into print.  First, the Spanish for mosquito is mosquito.  It means "little fly", mosca being "fly" and -ito being a diminutive suffix.

Mosque first came to English in the late 14th or early 15th century from French mosquée, and the French got it from Italian moschea.  The Italians got it from Arabic masgid, which derived from sagada "to worship".  

Interestingly, the Arabic form masgid or masjid was occasionally used in English in the 19th and 20th centuries, and one can find masjid in English language sites on the Web today.

By the way, we think that this spurious etymology you presented qualifies as Netymology as it has now been published on the Web!

====================================================================================
 

WORD For WORD: Is ‘mosque’ derived from ‘mosquito’?

 by Khaled Ahmed

In these days of paranoia, one hears Muslims say that the English word “mosque” should be laid aside because it has been derived from “mosquito”. Nothing could be farther from the truth

A reader asked from the wonderful Lahore journal “Renaissance” if the English word mosque was derived insultingly from mosquito. He had read it in a book titled “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Islam”.

The book said that during the Crusades, King Ferdinand of Spain had said that he would swat the Muslims like mosquitoes, and that was the origin of the word mosque, the place where the “mosquitoes” prayed.

As the title suggests the book was a spoof. The definition given there is also a spoof and anyone taking it seriously runs the risk of being an idiot. Adnan Zulfiqar of “Renaissance” gave a very appropriate reply: the word had come from Spanish mezquita meaning mosque and became current long after King Ferdinand had had his day.

The Spanish-Portuguese civilisation that confronted the Arab conquest twisted the Arab words around quite a lot. Spain saw some of the most beautiful mosques being built on its soil. The place was called masjid by the conquerors and was taken as mesquita by the locals, which is mezquita in modern Spanish.

There is something to be said about the way Arabs themselves pronounce the sound “j”. We are told that Arabic doesn’t have the “g” sound. We have two versions of the word Gilani. The Arabs will say Jilani. Golan Heights are Jolan Heights in Arabic.

But there are Arabs that naturally convert “j” into “g”. For instance, Jemal Nasser is Gemal Nasser in Egypt. How would the Egyptians say masjid? While the spelling remains the same, the word will come out masgid. That’s not difficult to convert into mesquita.

English etymology makes it clear that mosque came into English in the 17th century from Italian moschea and French mosquee. The resemblance with mosquito is accidental. Mosquito came from Spanish as a derivative of mosca (fly).

Look at what we have done to masjid in Punjabi. The word is maseet and there is classical Punjabi poetry which you can read only if you pronounce masjid as maseet. After that you can’t blame the Russians when they call it mechet.

For the Russian version you have to blame the Turks who coined their version of it as mescit. Of course the Turkish “c” has to be pronounced “j” but you can’t control how others adapt to the pronunciation. The Turks themselves convert “d” to “t” in Muslim names: Najmuddin is Necmettin.

If the Americans have an idiot’s dictionary about mosque, we too have our idiot’s dictionary saying picnic is actually pick a nigger, explaining how in the South the whites hanged blacks while having an open-air snack. The word in fact has come from French pique-nique.

The Spanish gave us another word by twisting the Arabic original. (In fact there are hundreds of such words.) The word for Muslim is moro, which is how we label the Muslims of the old Spanish-owned Philippines. The origin was Moravidun, the North African Muslim dynasty that ruled Spain.

In fact the moravids were old inhabitants of North Africa. We find the Greeks also calling them mauros, the word from which the name of the country Mauritania (and probably also Morocco) is derived. English word moor for North Africans has been applied to describe all Muslims. Morris dance in English is actually moorish dance and the dark-skinned cherry morello also comes from there. Proper name Maurice indicates origin from Africa.

From specific to generic is a natural trend in languages. Look what we did to Franks, the inhabitants of France, out on their first crusade to the Middle East. We made Farangi out of Frank in Persian and then applied farangi to all white men, including the British. Farang is not France but all the West. *

==================================================================================
 
Etymology of the English word 'mosque'
 
Question: There is a book entitled The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Islam. It discusses within it many things, including the etymology of the word “mosque”. It says that this word is derived from the Spanish word for “mosquito”. It claims that the word was first used during the Christian invasion of Muslim Spain in the 15th century when the forces of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella boasted they would swat out Muslim prayer houses like so many mosquitoes. Is this true? 

Answered by the Scientific Research Committee - IslamToday.net
http://www.islamtoday.com/fat_archives/show_detail.cfm?q_id=676&main_cat_id=20
 
This etymology is incorrect.

The Spanish word for "mosquito" is mosquito and literally means “little fly”. This is a case where the English language borrowed the word directly from the Spanish.

The word for “fly” in Spanish is mosca, which is derived from the Latin musca. The diminutive suffix “-ito” is attached to it to form the word mosquito or “little fly”.

The Spanish term for “mosque” is mezquita, derived from the old Spanish mesquita. This word was most certainly derived from the Arabic word masjid, which many Arabs then and now pronounce as masgid.

In Spain during the era of Muslim rule – and this was before the time of King Ferdinand – Spanish speakers were using the word mosquito for the insect and the word mesquita for the Muslim place of worship. The two words are not related to one another in any way.

The word “mosque” was introduced into the English language in the late 14th or early 15th century from the French. It comes from the French word mosquée from the old French word mousquaie. The French, in turn, derived the word from the Italian word moschea from moscheta. The Italians got it either directly from the Arabic word masjid or from the old Spanish mesquita.

References:

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition; © 2000 Houghton Mifflin Company.

Online Etymology Dictionary, ETYMOLOGY Moo-Muc
http://www.etymonline.com/m8etym.htm

====================================================================================
 
----- Original Message -----
From: xxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 10:56 PM
Subject: Difference between MASJID and MOSQUE
 
===============
 
----- Original Message -----
From: xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 10:58 AM
Subject: [islam-way] Fwd: Give yourself a chance to know ... PLEASE CALL OUR MASJID "MASJID"! Not "MOSQUE"!


 <xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: laila sultan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 10:43:07 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Give yourself a chance to know ... Fwd: [ALISALM] Re: PLEASE CALL OUR MASJID "MASJID"! Not "MOSQUE"!!
Hai,
      Here, is a mail which I had got and which I think the contents are true , so I have forwarded to you , please read it .
 
with love,
 
Sahal
 
 
PLEASE CALL OUR MASJID "MASJID"! Not
"MOSQUE"!!

Please read this and pass it on to many Muslims, as much as you can. It is a vital and important information. Muslims should now refrain from using the term "Mosque". I was flipping through this book the other day called "THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING ISLAM" and it is filled with fun facts. One of them concerns the term "Mosque".So many of us think that this is the English translation of Masjid. I'm sure none of us ever wondered how this term came into being when it really had little in common with how it sounded compared to 'Masjid'. (We were very young when we were taught this English word. Our mind then were not critical & analytical, so didn't dare to ask/challenge our teachers, right?). Anyway this book pointed out that the term 'mosque' is derived from the Spanish word for "mosquito". It was termed as such because during the Crusad! es, King Ferdinand said they were going to go and swat the muslims like "mosquitoes". (Where else can they find Muslims in large number to be swatted if not in a Masjid?). So, they cheaply termed "Masjid" as "Mosque". So dear Muslim brothers and sisters, refrain from using this term which is obviously a disgusting slap on the face of the Ummah. Educate our brothers and sisters to the history and etymology of this word.

And let us replace it with the word which is MEANT to be used: Masjid! The Place of Prostration!! Not Mosque: the place to be swatted! If any of you have doubts about this, then please `go look for the book and read it .


 

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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)

{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)

The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]

The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)  also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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