Origin of the Word ‘Mosque’
Question: 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’. 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’. Please let me know.
Answer: From my research, I
have found that there are four possible origins for the word ‘mosque’ in
the English language. The first possibility is that it derives from the
French word ‘mosquee’ that existed during the period in French linguistic
history known as ‘Middle French’. The second possibility is that it is a
derivative of the Arabic word ‘masjid’. The third possibility is
that it derives from the Old Italian word ‘moschea’ and the final
possibility is that it comes from the Old Spanish word ‘mezquita’. These
various words were used to describe the Muslim place of worship in the
various languages mentioned.
My research found no indication that mosque was
derived from the word ‘mosquito’. Regarding the appearance of the term
mosque in the English language, scholars suggest it was around 1711 AD.
This is far after King Ferdinand and the Crusades. It might be that the
term ‘mezquita,’ used to describe a masjid in old Spanish, came
from the word ‘mosquito’ and then subsequently the term ‘mezquita’ was
used to form the term mosque. However, this would not mean that the term
mosque was developed as a result of the story you related.
With the above in mind, I believe it
is important to keep a sensible perspective when approaching the origin of
words. Words are dynamic and over time often change their meanings from
what they originally may have been intended for. It is likely that there
are many words in all languages that result from the ignorance or hatred
that may have once existed between peoples, races, tribes or religions. We
should consider contemporary usage of words and the intention of their
current meanings as most important.
Two examples of this might help give a better
perspective. The term ‘picnic’ in the English language came under fire
some years back when certain scholars suggested that it was actually a
shortened version of ‘pick a nigger’. Some decades ago, in the US, there
was a racist and vulgar practice known as lynching, where a mob of white
people would torture and mutilate a black person (then derogatively called
a ‘nigger’), often under the false pretext that this person was guilty of
a crime. This lynching often involved an entire event where people brought
food and family to a park and watched the lynching. Subsequent to the
lynching they would take pictures next to the mutilated body! Some
scholars contend that the concept of a picnic, and the actual term,
resulted from this practice of ‘picking a nigger’ to lynch and having a
small feast at the event. Now despite the possibility of a treacherous
background to this word, its usage in common times connotes nothing of the
sort.
Similarly, the
Arabic term ‘ajami has commonly been used, throughout Islamic
history, to refer to non-Arabs or those who did not speak Arabic. The
meaning of this word is actually in reference to those animals, like goats
and cows, that make one syllable sounds. Hence, the term contains cultural
superiority and a arrogant insult towards non-Arabic speakers. However,
now this term has become synonymous with non-Arabic speaking peoples,
forsaking its original background.
(Adnan Zulfiqar)