Word association ignites Harvard row as student prepares jihad talk

A row over one emotive little word is threatening to wreck the most important day of the year at America's most prestigious university.

Zayed Yasin, one of three students chosen as an orator at Harvard's commencement day next Thursday, has decided to give an address on "the concept of jihad as righteous struggle". An audience of about 25,000 usually gathers to see degrees being handed out, and some of his fellow students have reacted furiously to his choice of subject at the first ceremony since the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Mr Yasin, a Chicago-born Muslim, is adamant that his speech is not a defence of terrorism, or a call for a holy war. "I'm trying to reclaim the word jihad for its true meaning, which is inner struggle, both for an individual to do right within oneself and externally for social justice," he said. "I expected some debate about the speech. I didn't expect it to be as vitriolic and personal."

He has received at least one death threat and a series of abusive emails. A petition opposing Mr Yasin's selection has received at least 600 signatures, many of them from former students, some of whom have touched the rawest nerve of any American university by threatening to withhold donations. The organisers have also called for Mr Yasin to condemn "violence in the name of jihad".

Jewish students say that Mr Yasin has been a combative opponent of Israel and is a supporter of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which the US has officially linked with the radical Muslim group Hamas.

"There's a lot of very motivating ideas out there they could have chosen," said one activist, David Adelman. "Using such a contentious issue is unnecessary at this time." Mr Yasin has refused to allow him to see the full text of the speech, saying: "It beats the point of delivering the speech if everybody has already seen it.

"Some of this really smacks of censorship - that goes against everything I believe both as an American and especially in the academic environment of Harvard."

However, after negotiating with a representative of the Harvard Jewish community, Mr Yasin agreed this week to change the title of his speech from its original "American Jihad" to "Of Faith and Citizenship".

His speech is supported by the university president, Larry Summers - a treasury secretary in the Clinton administration - and the six members of the commencement day committee, which originally picked his speech for the occasion. Members of the committee are the only ones at the university to have officially seen the full text. Those who have seen summarised versions support the view that the speech is neither political nor controversial.

"Especially in a university setting, it is important for people to keep open minds, listen carefully to one another and react to the totality of what each speaker has to say," Mr Summers said in a statement.

My Yasin's father, Junaid, said: "It's trying to connect Islamic ideals with American ideals, trying to put his perspective on his personal struggle. Unfortunately that word [jihad] has been taken over by people who have done some very bad things."

The tradition of student orators goes back to the 17th century, and one of the other two speeches will be delivered in Latin.

Mr Yasin, 22, has a degree in biomedical engineering and is planning to work at a health care centre in Pakistan before attending medical school.