Fedayeen (from the Arabic fida'i, "one who is ready to sacrifice his life for the cause") describes several distinct Muslim groups at different times in history.

The first fedayeen were active from the 8th to the 14th? century and described by their enemies as hashshashin.

The second group was a Marxist-Islamist radical guerrilla grouping founded in 1971 and based in Tehran, Iran. Operating between 1971 and 1983, the Fedayeen carried out a number of political assassinations in the course of the struggle that culminated in the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

The third group was a link of support between the Palestinian communities who had been forced to flee their country during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Fedayeen were based in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. The Israeli view is that the Fedayeen were recruited, armed and trained mainly by Egypt's security forces under the control of Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser to kill as many Israeli civilians as they could ambush on roads and in isolated communities.

The fourth group was selected by Saddam Hussein, his Fedayeen Saddam, to fight against the Coalition Forces in Iraq after the overthrow of Hussein in 2003. The name may have been chosen to imply a connection to the Palestinian resistance.

External links

• Origins of Fedayeen, Zionist view
• 1949-1956 Fedayeen raids as seen by Israel
• Fedayeen killings of Israelis contributes to 1956 War with Egypt
• Jewish and Israeli fears of Fedayeen activity