Great Satan
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The Great Satan (Persian شيطان بزرگ Shaytan Bozorg, Arabic الشيطان الأكبر Al-Shaytan Al-Akbar) is a common epithet for the United States of America in Iranian foreign policy statements. Ayatollah Khomeini used the terms Iblis and Shaitan, both Islamic terms for the devil, or Satan.
Khomeini is quoted as saying on November 5, 1979, "[Americans] are the great Satan, the wounded snake." During and after the Iranian Revolution similar appellations (to "The Great Satan") were used for the Western World and to a lesser extent the Soviet Union, which was labeled as the Small Satan. Israel is these days sometimes depicted as "The Little Satan".
The term was extensively during and after the Iranian Revolution, but it continues to be in use in some Iranian political circles. Use of the term at rallies is often accompanied by shouts of Marg bar Amrika! ("Death to America!"). The term has also found use in political statements of non-Iranian Islamic fundamentalist political, criminal gangs, or guerilla groups.
The idea of the US as Satanic seducer is thought to derive from the 1950s writings of Islamist ideologue Sayyid Qutb, who is an icon amongst many Islamists. Qutb spent 2 years in the United States (in the 1950s) on a study mission on behalf of the Egyptian government.
He returned to write disdainfully United States and western culture. Of church hall dances “where people of both sexes meet, mix and touch”, he noted that these were held under the very eyes of ministers “who even go so far as to dim the lights to facilitate the fury of the dance … (T)he dance is inflamed by the notes of a gramophone (and) the dance hall becomes a whirl of heels and thighs, arms enfold hips, lips and breasts meet, and the air is full of lust.”
The terms “a good time” and “fun” are cited untranslated in Qutb's work as the shameless ideals most sought by Americans and those catered for by their churches.
The term has been discussed extensively and addressed within the context of US-Iranian relations by some members of the United States foreign policy establishment. Former US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, argued: "Far from being the great Satan, I would say we are the great protector. The United States rebuilt Europe and Japan after World War II, defeated Communism and fascism and the only land we ever asked for was enough land to bury our dead."[1]
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[edit] External links
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The following external sites may not have verifiable information. Wikipedia makes no effort to verify the contents of external sites, and the following sites may not be reliable sources. |
- The Great Satan by Kavitha Rao, April 26, 2000
- 'Great Satan' warned of a burning hell by Ian Black, The Guardian, February 16, 2005
