majus

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Majūs (Arabic: مجوس) or Magūs (Persian: مگوش) is a term that originally referred to the Magi, the Zoroastrian priestly caste of ancient Persia. In Arabic usage, it was soon generalized to denote all Zoroastrians. The term was borrowed into Arabic via Imperial Aramaic (Imperial Aramaic: 𐡌𐡂𐡅𐡔𐡀⁩, romanized: mḡušā) from the Old Persian (Old Persian: 𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁, romanized: maguš). The same Old Persian root was independently borrowed into Ancient Greek as mágoi (μάγοι), the term that appears in the Gospel of Matthew. In early Islamic texts, Majūs was a technical term that initially had no pejorative implications. In the Quran, verse 22:17 lists "the Magians" (al-majūs) alongside Jews, Christians, and Sabians as a distinct religious community that will be subject to God's judgment. Some Islamic scholars have held the theological position that pre-Islamic Arabs were closer to the Abrahamic tradition than the Majūs, whose dualistic theology was seen as fundamentally different. The term was also used in a polemical context by writers such as ibn al-Jawzi, who framed Zoroastrian beliefs as deviations from an Islamic perspective. The New Persian term gabr, likely derived from the Aramaic gabrā ("man"), was used as a synonym for Majūs in early texts. Over time, gabr acquired pejorative connotations and is now considered an offensive slur in Persian; the respectful term for a Zoroastrian is Zardoshti. The label "fire-worshipper" is a common but inaccurate description applied to Zoroastrians by non-adherents, based on a misinterpretation of the central role of fire in their rituals. Historically, the application of the term expanded. Chroniclers in al-Andalus used al-Majūs to describe Viking raiders, likely because Norse practices such as cremation were misinterpreted as fire-worship. In the 20th century, the term was revived for political purposes. During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the Ba'athist government of Iraq used majūs in its...