muj

n. among (Anglophone) foreigners in Middle Eastern or Islamic nations, a guerrilla fighter or fighters. Subjects: Arabic, Military

Editorial Note: Muj is used both in the singular and plural. Etymological Note: Clipped form of Persian and Arabic mujahideen, plural for mujahid ‘one who fights in a jihad or holy war.’

1 Comment | Cites | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Citations: 1986 John Gray @ Peshawar, Pakistan Globe and Mail (Toronto, Can.) (Nov. 17) “City in exile: a world of intrigue, hope” p. A11: A Canadian film-maker’s neatly pressed grey flannels and tweed jacket contrast with his week’s rough growth of beard. “I’m going in a few days,” he says, rubbing the beard. “Do you think I look like a Muj?” 1995 [Pyotr Filipivich] Usent: misc.activism.militia (Aug. 18) “Afghanis & mountian people in general”: The “muj” have three things they know and there are four things that seperate them from the heathen: 1) they are Agfhani 2) they are Muslims 3) they are from here, 4) the Russians (Or Brits, or whomever) are none of the above. 2001 [Habshi] Usenet: soc.culture.indian (July 12) “Re: There is no solution to Kashmir problem”: India should accept the Pakistan no war pact . Much of the army can then be removed from the Rajasthan and Punjab borders and sent to the valley to finish off the Muj once and for all . 2004 Steve Coll Ghost Wars (Feb. 1) p. 131: A parade of well-tailored “Gucci muj,” as the CIA Near East officers derisively called them, began to fly in from Pakistan and march from office to office in Washington. 2005 Popbitch (U.K.) (Jan. 12) no. 240,: US soldiers refer to the insurgents as “Muj.” When captured they get the Muj to pose for photos with the phrase, “Say one, two, three—Jihad!”

Posted 14 Jan 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

This one was coined by the same people who use Bill for UBL (Usama Bin Laden) and AMZ for Zarqawi. I mean analysts who need an acronym for everything so the can keep it sorted in their tiny brains. It’s not that hard to tell middle easter names apart. Really.

by andrew 12 Jun 06, 0251 GMT