Arabic word for the collective goal of a group journeying together?

August 11, 2021 3:38 PM

I read about a word, I'm pretty sure in Arabic, for the collective goal or vision of a group journeying together. Anybody remember it?

I believe it mentioned in the context of US political divisions - that users of the word understood that groups tended to lose cohesion when they didn't have such a collective goal.

posted by lbergstr to Writing & Language (6 answers total)

Could it be cafila (from Arabic qāfilah)?
posted by Ryon at 4:05 PM on August 11, 2021

Any chance it was “karass” from Kurt Vonnegut’s book Cat’s Cradle?

“karass: a team of individuals who do God's will without ever discovering what they are doing; every person belongs to one.“
posted by ejs at 7:55 PM on August 11, 2021

Similarly, could it be ka-tet, from Stephen King's Dark Tower series?
posted by jquinby at 8:08 AM on August 12, 2021

Hadj ?
posted by travertina at 9:27 AM on August 12, 2021

I guess this is most likely Ibn Khaldun's concept of Assabiyah.
posted by atrazine at 4:46 AM on August 13, 2021

persian, but caravan at least is a term for a group travelling together.
posted by meijusa at 9:15 AM on August 13, 2021