Fedayeen is the Arabic term used for various armed groups and individuals across the Arab world, including groups that fought Israel. The 2010 opening described fedayeen as "a term used to describe several distinct, militant groups and individuals in the Arab world at different times in history." Today's opening calls fedayeen "various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign," dropping militant; the word survives 3 times elsewhere in the article. A reader arriving at the opening today learns fedayeen groups sacrificed themselves for a campaign, and not that Wikipedia's own opening once classed them as militant rather than military.
Read line by line and written up by hand.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01. “militant” appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 3.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2010 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2010
Fedayeen ( , fidā'ī , plural fidā'īyīn : meaning, " freedom fighter (s)" or "self-sacrificer(s)" ) is a term used to describe several distinct, militant groups and individuals in the Arab world at different times in history. It is sometimes used colloquially to refer to suicide squads, especially those who are not bombers.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 366166043.
The opening as it stood in 2005
Fedayeen (from the Arabic fida'i , "one who is ready to sacrifice his life for the cause") describes several distinct, primarily Arab 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 (whence derives the English word "assassin"). The second 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 third 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 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.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 16066957.
The opening as it stood in 2015 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Fedayeen فِدائيّين fidāʼīyīn Arabic, فدائیان Persian, "those who sacrifice themselves" ; are a type of voluntary militant group found in Persian culture extending to countries which (historically speaking) were, or are, Persian influenced.Fedayeen are not normally connected to an organized government or military and often operate in areas with little or no government control.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668374794.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign "Fidai" redirects here.Fedayeen ( fidāʼīyīn ; ) is a term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 960045935.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Arabic term for irregular militia troops "Fidai" redirects here.Fedayeen ( fidāʼīyīn "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1176050685.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Arabic term for irregular militia troops "Fidai" redirects here. Fedayeen ( Arabic : فدائيون fidāʻiyyūn Arabic pronunciation: [fɪ.daːʔɪj.juːn] "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1294689171. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
“militant” appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 3. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
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2020
Oct '23
2025
militant
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islamist
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Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2005 and 2015.
Then
ready to sacrifice his life for the cause") describes several distinct
Now
type of voluntary militant group found in persian culture extending to countries which
Sections that no longer exist
Present on 6 October 2023, absent today. A heading can vanish because the section was deleted or because it was renamed or merged, and we have not separated those here, so treat this as a list of what to check rather than a verdict.
Palestinians1,158 characters
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
