Answer
Asalamu Alaikum,
Thank you for contacting About Islam with your question.
Dr. Shabir Ally addresses this question in the video below:
Transcript:
Aisha Khaja: Dr. Shabir, the question that we have is related to ISIS. Someone’s asking, how, what does DAESH mean because apparently that’s now a terminology that’s being used?
Dr. Shabir Ally: Yeah, recently U.S. President Barack Obama used the term. And the French Prime Minister François Fillon also used it. So, that sparked interest [about] what is DAESH.
Well, we say “ISIS” in English, which actually stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Now, to say that in Arabic, it gives us the acronym in Arabic of DAESH. So, it’s al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham.
So, the term now, rather than say this long name, it’s shortened with just the initial letters that spell those words in the Arabic language. So, we get ISIS in English. We get DAESH in Arabic.
Aisha Khaja: I’ve also heard ISIL. So, what does that stand for?
Dr. Shabir Ally: ISIL still stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, referring to that area that includes Syria. But obviously, what is now calling itself the Islamic state has tried to call itself different things not being sure at different times what exactly they are.
But definitely, they do not like to be called DAESH. They want to hear that “Islamic” in their name. And when people say DAESH in Arabic, they’re not hearing that “Islamic”. So, they don’t like that too much.
For that same reason, I don’t use the term Islamic state in reference to them. I just say ISIS. That avoids my calling them “Islamic” because I don’t think they’re really Islamic.
I hope this helps answer your question. Please keep in touch.
Walaikum Asalam.
Please continue feeding your curiosity, and find more info in the following links:
BBC Comedy Sketch ‘Real Housewives of ISIS’ – A Muslim View