Ummah

This article is about the Islamic term. For the Sumerian city, see Umma.

The Muslim population of the world by percentage of each country

Ummah (Arabic: أمة‎) is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or (in the context of pan-Arabism) the whole Arab world. In the context of Islam, the word ummah is used to mean the diaspora^{[citation needed]} or Commonwealth^{[citation needed]} of the Believers (ummat al-mu'minin), and thus the whole Muslim world.

Origin

The phrase Ummah Wahida in the Qur'an (the "One Community") refers to all of the Islamic world unified. The Quran says: “You [Muslims] are the best nation brought out for Mankind, commanding what is righteous (Ma'ruf, lit. "recognized [as good]") and forbidding what is wrong (Munkar, lit. "unrecognized [as good]")…” [3:110].

On the other hand, in Arabic Ummah can also be used in the more Western sense of nation, for example: Al-Umam Al-Muttahida, the United Nations.

The Constitution of Medina, an early document said to have been negotiated by Muhammad in AD 622 with the leading clans of Medina, explicitly refers to Jewish and pagan citizens of Medina as members of the Ummah.^[1][2][3][4]

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the main organisation representing the whole Muslim Ummah.

In modern Hebrew, the word Ummah (אוּמָה) means "nation".

See also

• Islamic Caliphate
• Divisions of the world in Islam
• Pan-Islamism
• Islamic Missionary Activity
• Christendom

Population

• Muslim population growth
• List of countries by Muslim population

References

1. ^ Reuven Firestone, Jihād: the origin of holy war in Islam‎ (1999) p. 118.
2. ^ "Muhammad", Encyclopedia of Islam Online
3. ^ Watt. Muhammad at Medina
4. ^ R. B. Serjeant "The Constitution of Medina." Islamic Quarterly 8 (1964) p. 4.

External links

• The definition of 'Ummah' is the unity of the Muslims