Majus

Majūs (مجوس) or Magūs was originally a term meaning Zoroastrians, specifically priests.

It was a technical term for the magi, and like its synonym gabr (of uncertain etymology) originally had no pejorative implications. It is also translated as "fire worshipper".

This term was borrowed via 𐡌𐡂𐡅𐡔𐡀⁩ from. It was also borrowed from Old Persian into ancient Greek (plural μάγοι mágoi), which appears in Matthew 2. The word is mentioned in Quran 22:17: "Indeed, those who have believed and those who were Jews and the Sabians and the Christians and the Magians and those who associated with Allah - Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed Allah is, over all things, Witness".

They are also mentioned by ibn al-Jawzi in his famous work Talbis Iblis "The Devil's Deceptions".,

The term was used to describe the Vikings initially in al-Andalus.

In the 1980s, majus was part of anti-Iranian propaganda of the Iran–Iraq War to refer to Iranians. "By referring to the Iranians in these documents as majus, the security apparatus [implied] that the Iranians [were] not sincere Muslims, but rather covertly practice their pre-Islamic beliefs. Thus, in their eyes, Iraq’s war took on the dimensions of not only a struggle for Arab nationalism, but also a campaign in the name of Islam."

Today the term majus is distinct from Arabic kafir "unbeliever". Persian gabr is no longer synonymous with majus. Subsequent usage by Sunni Muslims against the Shi'a has meant that some people view the term as anti-Shi'ism.