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Fitna
/fitnah/
Arabic term meaning trial, temptation; sedition, rebellion; social unrest or strife.
How this term should be used
Because the word “Fitna” is liable to so many interpretations, it is best avoided in journalistic output unless referring to the civil wars of the early Islamic caliphates. These include the First Fitna (656-661), the Second Fitna (680-92), the Third Fitna (744-47), the Fourth Fitna (809-827)) and the Fitna of Andalus (1009-1031).
‘Fitna’ is a complex term with a number of connotations. In the Oxford Dictionary of Islam, it is defined as follows:
Trial or testing, temptation; by extension, treachery, persecution, seduction, enchantment, or disorder resulting from these things. A hadith states that the greatest fitnah for men is women. Though the term fitnah is generally negative, a girl may be named Fatin or Fitnah in the hope she will not be a seductress and in recognition of her beauty. In modern political terminology, allegation of fitnah can be used to discredit the actions of opponents.
Unsurprisingly, therefore, given that the word has so many different connotations, it has also been utilised in a number of different contexts. In English, it is often used to refer to the First Fitna (656-661), the civil war that marked the end of the Rashidun Caliphate and the beginning of the Umayyad Dynasty. After the First Fitna the term “was later applied to any period of disturbances inspired by schools or sects that broke away from the majority of believers.”