Arabic word for christian. The plural is nasara.
It comes from the name of the Palestinian city Nazareth (el Nasira in Arabic). Although there's nothing inherently wrong with the origin of the word, it can be considered very offensive by some arabic-speaking christians in places like Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon. Especially after the rise of ISIS/daesh, which used this word to label christians for genocide. It's also the more (Islamic) religious word, thus the Daesh connection. Another offensive name in Egypt would be kooftis (kafatisa in plural).
The alternative word, which is neutral and more "official", is masee7i, which means a follower of the messiah (masee7 in arabic)
On the other hand, it is not considered offensive in some north african countries like Morocco, where it is actually the default word and moreover is a very common word for white people or westerners in general. In this sense it's similar to the word "gaouri"
It comes from the name of the Palestinian city Nazareth (el Nasira in Arabic). Although there's nothing inherently wrong with the origin of the word, it can be considered very offensive by some arabic-speaking christians in places like Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon. Especially after the rise of ISIS/daesh, which used this word to label christians for genocide. It's also the more (Islamic) religious word, thus the Daesh connection. Another offensive name in Egypt would be kooftis (kafatisa in plural).
The alternative word, which is neutral and more "official", is masee7i, which means a follower of the messiah (masee7 in arabic)
On the other hand, it is not considered offensive in some north african countries like Morocco, where it is actually the default word and moreover is a very common word for white people or westerners in general. In this sense it's similar to the word "gaouri"
A: Embare7 shuft wa7ed nasrani mashi fel share3 (yesterday I saw a christian guy walking down the street)
B: Mish lazem tesammihom el nasara ya ragol, esmohom el masee7iyeen (you shouldn't call them nasara man, they're called Masihi)
B: Mish lazem tesammihom el nasara ya ragol, esmohom el masee7iyeen (you shouldn't call them nasara man, they're called Masihi)
by rachel dolezal December 04, 2023