Fitna (word)

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Principles of Islamic jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh)
Fiqh
Ijazah Ijma Ijtihad Ikhtilaf Istihlal Istihsan Istishab Madhhab Madrasah Maslaha Qiyas Taqlid Taqwa Urf
Ahkam
Fard Mustahabb Halal Mubah Makruh Haram Baligh Batil Bid'ah Fahisha Fasiq Fitna Fasad Ghibah Gunah Haya Hirabah Islah Istighfar Istishhad Jihad Qasd Sunnah Tafsir Taghut Taqiyya Tawbah Tazkiah Thawab Wasat
Legal vocations and titles
Caliph Shaykh al-Islām Sayyid Sharif Ashraf Hadrat Ulama Faqeeh Allamah Mohyeddin Mufti Grand Mufti Hujjat al-Islam Mujtahid Ayatollah Seghatoleslam Marja' Hafiz Hujja Hakim Imam Mullah Mahdi Mawlawi Khatib Khawaja Mawlānā Mawla Mufassir Murshid Pir Wali Akhund Muhaddith Mujaddid Qadi Sheikh Marabout Ulu'l-amr Ustad Mu'azzin Murid Mujahideen Ghazi Shaheed Martyrdom in Islam Hajji Ansar Salaf Sahabah Tabi'un Tabi' al-Tabi'in Da'i al-Mutlaq al-Dawla
v t e

Fitna (or fitnah, pl. fitan; Arabic: فتنة , فتن: "temptation, trial; sedition, civil strife, conflict"^[1]) is an Arabic term that denotes concepts such as temptation, trial, sedition, civil strife, and conflict. The term encompasses a broad range of connotations, including trial, affliction, and distress. While it holds significant historical importance, the word is also widely used in modern Arabic, often without reference to its historical connotations.

A distinction can be observed between the meanings of fitna as used in Classical Arabic and its meanings as used in Modern Standard Arabic and various colloquial dialects. Given the conceptual significance of fitna in the Qur’an, its Qur’anic usage warrants separate consideration from, though in addition to, its broader lexical meaning in Classical Arabic.

In Islamic historiography, fitna specifically refers to civil wars within a Muslim polity, notably the five civil wars of the Islamic Caliphate between the 7th and 9th centuries CE starting with the First Fitna.