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mujahideen

mujahideen

12 9.9
Muslim people who fight in a holy war
  • noun
  • /ˌmuːdʒəˈhiːdɪn/
translation icon : muyahidín
  • The mujahideen are pinned down.
  • mujahideen fighters
  • mujahideen commander
  • Afghan Mujahideen

There's this, there's this misconception that bin Laden was one of the Afghan Mujahideen that we had funded during the war against the Soviets.

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Examples

  • Al-Qaeda also supported the Mujahideen, which made the U.S. a brief ally.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The story of U.S. aid to the Afghan mujahideen in the 1980s is well known.

    Academic text (2011)
  • We sent some weapons, but the Mujahideen did most of it on their own.

    Blog text (4)
  • When his tour was over, he stayed behind, and joined the Mujahideen.

  • The CIA is arming the mujahideen.

  • After the Soviets had withdrawn from Afghanistan, the mujahideen interpreted it as a great victory from Allah.

    Blog text (3)
  • In the mid-'80s... ...if you remember, we and the United States... ...were supporting the mujahideen... ...to liberate Afghanistan from the Soviets.

  • The CIA spent $5 billion arming Afghan mujahideen, then lost interest when the Soviets left in 1989.

    Academic text (2000)
  • There's this, there's this misconception that bin Laden was one of the Afghan Mujahideen that we had funded during the war against the Soviets.

  • Many young men joined the mujahideen to fight for their beliefs during the conflict.

Synonyms

guerrilla
vsmujahideen
136 7.7

A fighter in a small armed group who attacks a larger army using surprise attacks

adds a religious motive to that irregular combat role
militant
vsmujahideen
58 6.7

Actively taking part in armed fighting or war

is narrower, indicating irregular fighters with a religious cause
jihadist
vsmujahideen
  • NSFW
49 9.4

A Muslim person who uses or supports violence for a religious cause

refers to the group of fighters rather than a single supporter
jihadi
vsmujahideen
  • NSFW
8 8.9

Relating to people who take part in or support violent religious fighting

is the specific collective term for armed religious fighters
fedayeen
vsmujahideen
  • Literature
1 9.9

Armed Arab fighters who use surprise attacks, often against Israel

shares guerrilla features but is narrower in regional and target focus
mujahadeen
vsmujahideen
1 9.9

A group of Muslim fighters who use surprise attacks for religious or political reasons

is the standard name form rather than this alternate spelling
mujahedin
vsmujahideen
1 9.9

A group of Muslim fighters who fight in a religious war

is the broader term for similar fighters across contexts
mujahedeen
vsmujahideen
9.9

Armed Muslim fighters who fight an army or government for religious reasons

is the more common or canonical spelling form

Surface Forms

mujahideen singular
mujahideens plural

Etymology

Mujahideen comes from the Arabic mujāhid, meaning 'one who struggles', and is related to jihad, meaning 'struggle' or 'effort' and often used to mean 'holy war'. The Arabic -een ending makes it plural, so mujahideen means 'those who struggle', which is why today the word usually refers to Muslim fighters taking part in a jihad.