Fitnas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A state or condition of discord, turmoil, or civil strife characterized by internal conflict within a community or group
2. An episode or period marked by causing division, sedition, or disturbance among people, often leading to chaos or rebellion
3. A contentious or turbulent situation involving agitation, discord, or uprising that disrupts social or political harmony

Etymology: "Fitnas" is the plural of "fitna," an Arabic noun meaning sedition or strife, and the plural form is the one English readers most often meet. The word has a deeper pull than its dictionary gloss suggests: in Arabic it derives from a root meaning to test or tempt, so the earliest sense is closer to a trial that exposes what lies beneath the surface than to open rebellion. Strife, in this view, is what happens when a community's hidden fault lines are put under pressure. That older sense of testing is still visible in the way Arabic speakers and scholars have used the term. Over time it came to name the disorder that follows when believers turn against one another, and the plural "fitnas" usually refers to a series of such outbreaks rather than a single conflict.

Synonyms: sedition, rebellion, discord, strife, uproar

Antonyms: peace, harmony, order, calm, agreement