Fitna (or ', pl. '; : "temptation, trial; sedition, civil strife, conflict") is an Arabic term that denotes concepts such as temptation, trial, sedition, civil strife, and conflict. The term encompasses a broad range of connotations, including trial, affliction, and distress. While it holds significant historical importance, the word is also widely used in modern Arabic, often without reference to its historical connotations.
A distinction can be observed between the meanings of ' as used in Classical Arabic and its meanings as used in Modern Standard Arabic and various colloquial dialects. Given the conceptual significance of fitna in the Quran, its Quranic usage warrants separate consideration from, though in addition to, its broader lexical meaning in Classical Arabic.
In Islamic historiography, fitna specifically refers to civil wars within a Muslim polity, notably the five civil wars of the Islamic Caliphate between the 7th and 9th centuries CE starting with the First Fitna.
Root and forms
Arabic, in common with other Semitic languages like Hebrew, employs a system of root letters combined with vowel patterns to constitute its whole range of vocabulary. As such, identification of the root letters of any word might bring a better understanding the word's full semantic range.
Fitna has the triliteral root fā'-tā'-nūn (). In addition to the feminine noun fitna, fitan, this root forms, in particular, a Form I active verb fatana, yaftinu (), a Form I passive verb futina, yuftanu (), a Form I maṣdar futūn (), a Form I active participle fātin (), a Form I passive participle maftūn (), and so on.
Lexical meanings
Classical Arabic
Edward William Lane, in his Arabic-English Lexicon compiled from various traditional Arabic lexicographical sources available in Cairo in the mid-19th-century, reported that "to burn" is the "primary signification" of the verb. The verb then came to be applied to the smelting of gold and silver. It was extended to mean causing one to enter into fire and into a state of punishment or affliction. Thus, one says that something caused one to enter al-fitna, i.e. trial, affliction, etc., or more generally, an affliction whereby some good or evil quality is put to the test.
The definitions offered by Lane match those suggested by Badawi and Haleem in their dictionary of Quranic usage. They gloss the triliteral root as having the following meanings: "to purify gold and silver by smelting them; to burn; to put to the test, to afflict (in particular as a means of testing someone's endurance); to disrupt the peace of a community; to tempt, to seduce, to allure, to infatuate."
Modern Standard Arabic
The meanings of fitna as found in Classical Arabic largely carry over into Modern Standard Arabic, as evidenced by the recitation of the same set of meanings in Hans Wehr's Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic. In addition, Wehr glosses the noun fitna as also meaning "charm, charmingness, attractiveness; enchantment, captivation, fascination, enticement, temptation; infatuation, intrigue; sedition, riot, discord, dissension, civil strife."
Nakhla Raid (first mention of fitna in Quran)
The first Quran verse about fitna was supposedly revealed during the Nakhla Raid. After his return from the first Badr encounter (Battle of Safwan), Muhammad sent Abdullah ibn Jahsh in Rajab with 12 men on a fact-finding operation. Abdullah ibn Jahsh was a maternal cousin of Muhammad. He took along with him Abu Haudhayfa, Abdullah ibn Jahsh, Ukkash ibn Mihsan, Utba b. Ghazwan, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, Amir ibn Rabia, Waqid ibn Abdullah and Khalid ibn al-Bukayr. Muhammad gave Abdullah ibn Jahsh a letter, but not to be read until he had traveled for two days and then to do what he was instructed to do in the letter without putting pressure on his companions. Abdullah proceeded for two days, then he opened the letter; it told him to proceed until he reached Nakhla, between Mecca and Taif, to lie in wait for the Quraysh, and to observe what they were doing. In the short battle that took place, Waqid ibn Abdullah killed Amr ibn Hadrami, the leader of the Quraysh caravan, with an arrow. The Muslims captured two Quraysh tribe members. Nawfal ibn Abdullah managed to escape. The Muslims took Uthman ibn Abdullah and al-Hakam ibn Kaysan as captives. Abdullah ibn Jahsh returned to Medina with the booty and with the two captured Quraysh tribe members. The followers planned to give one-fifth of the booty to Muhammad.). This idle talk brought about a painful headache for Muhammad's companions, until at last they were relieved when Muhammad revealed a verse regarding fighting in the sacred months
The Muslim Mufassir Ibn Kathir's commentary on this verse in his book Tafsir ibn Kathir is as follows:
means, trying to force the Muslims to revert from their religion and re-embrace Kufr after they had believed, is worse with Allah than killing.' Allah said: