You may notice when looking at Reuters, New York Times, or Associated Press stories that some locations are spelled differently. It's not that one entity is a better speller, it's just that there can be various English spellings of Arabic names. Some organizations use more extended, formal names (i.e. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti), but most agreed on Saddam Hussein (with Saddam on second reference). Knowing a bit about Arabic helps one understand what can seem to be long, convoluted text: For example, the Arabic prefix "al" translates to "the" and often precedes where a person was born (deceased terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was born in the Jordanian city of Zarqa).
The cheat sheet offered here leans on Associated Press style and generally accepted norms for Arabic translations, as well as offering key information to give writers a base knowledge of the Middle East and the Arab world.
ISLAM
The news has been full of Sunni vs. Shiite -- what's the difference? Belief in succession. Sunnis believe that Muhammad died without appointing a successor, and elected Abu Bakr as the first caliph. Shiites believe Muhammad appointed Ali to lead after his death as the first imam, a hereditary line of succession to end (along with the world) at the twelfth imam. Recent estimates put the world's Sunni population at about 85 percent of Muslims, and 15 percent Shiite. (There are more than a billion Muslims in the world.) Within Sunni and Shiite there are several sects, and these are broken down further by movements within these sects.
- Sunni: The only spelling you should see.
- Shiite: Sometimes seen spelled as Shi'a; most news agencies use Shiite.
- Wahhabism: Dominant form of Sunni Islam in Saudi Arabia, marked by restoration of Islam from Western influences (banning listening to music, for example). Osama bin Laden ascribes to this movement.
- Imam: An Arabic word meaning "leader," often used in the clerical sense.
- Ayatollah: A high-ranking Shiite cleric.
- Sharia: Islamic law.
IRAQ
Here are cities often seen in Iraq copy: Amarah, Baghdad, Basra, Fallujah, Kirkuk, Kufa, Kut, Mosul, Najaf, Nasiriyah, Sadr City (Shiite slum in Baghdad), Irbil (capital of Kurdish territory in the north).
- Saddam Hussein: Secular Sunni president, held office July 16, 1979, to April 9, 2003. Leader of Baath Party (Baathist).
Captured Dec. 13, 2003, in Adwar; convicted Nov. 5, 2006, in deaths of 148 Shiites in Dujail, 1982, executed by hanging Dec. 30, 2006.
- Jalal Talabani: President (Kurdish)
- Nouri al-Maliki: Prime minister (Shiite)
- Adil Abdul-Mahdi: Vice president (Shiite)
- Tariq al-Hashimi: Vice president (Sunni)
(Notice the power-sharing setup between the Arab-Kurd ethnic groups and Sunni-Shiite sects)
- Sunni Triangle: A densely populated region of Sunnis marked by Baghdad on the east, Ramadi on the west and Tikrit on the north.
- Baath Party: Radical, secular Arab nationalist party; schism after 1947 founding left separate Baath parties in Syria and Iraq. Saddam was Baathist; Syrian President Bashar Assad is a Baathist.
- Mahdi Army: Shiite militia led by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
- Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani: Iraq’s top Shiite cleric (al-Sistani on second reference).
- Abu Hamza al-Muhajir: Leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.
AFGHANISTAN
Composed of many ethnic groups; official languages are Pashto and Persian. Cities often seen in copy: Kabul (capital and largest city), Kandahar (second-largest city), Mazar-e-Sharif (northern city).
- Afghan: A person from Afghanistan.
- Afghani: Currency used in Afghanistan.
- Hamid Karzai: President (ethnic Pashtun).
- Mullah Mohammed Omar: Wanted Taliban leader.
- Mullah Mohammed Hasan Akhund: Deputy Taliban leader.
- Osama bin Laden: Al-Qaida, bin Laden’s group, means “the base” in Arabic (if beginning a sentence, the "B" in bin Laden is capitalized).
- Waziristan: Tribal region of northwest Pakistan bordering Afghanistan; believed to be where bin Laden is hiding.
- Ayman al-Zawahri: Top bin Laden aide (No. 2 in al-Qaida hierarchy), considered Egypt’s most wanted militant, sentenced to death in abstensia for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
Note: Many Afghans use only one name, like former Foreign Minister Abdullah