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I have been told by an elder not to use the word Mosque as in the past some non believers called the Masjid a Mosque which comes from the word Mosquito. They said it can be crushed like a Mosquito. Sorry I can't remember the full story but I thought I would still ask the Imam Sahib to clear this for me. |
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The term "Mosque" is indeed derived from the Arabic "Masjid" (pronounced "Masjid" in medieval North Africa as it still is in Egypt today). Your reference is to King Ferdinand of Spain's saying that he would swat the Muslims like mosquitoes. I dont know if that story is true, but if so, Ferdinand was making use of a word already in existence in Spanish that merely happened to resemble the word "mosquito." The word "mosque" was already being used in English in 1400, before Ferdinand's time, as the Oxford English Dictionary says. The OED derives the word from "Masjid" and gives several alternative forms such as moseak, moseache, muskey, muskaye, mosquee, moskuee, all appearing in English. The Spanish form from which they are derived is "mezquita," which may appear like "mosquito" but is also obviously closer to "masgid." "Mosquito" is a totally different word, a Spanish diminutive of "mosca" (meaning 'fly'). Despite this myth, it is still better to use the word Masjid as it’s proven from both Quran and Sunnah as a word used for a place of worship and therefore will avoid misunderstanding. | |||
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