Ummah

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Umma (Arabic: أمة‎) is an Arabic word meaning Community or Nation. It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of Islamic states or (in the context of pan-arabism) the whole Arab nation. In the context of Islam, the word ummah is used to mean the diaspora or "Community of the Believers" (ummat al-mu'minin), and thus the whole Islamic world.

1 Origin
2 Present day meaning
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] 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 Medinah, explicitly refers to Jewish and pagan citizens of Medinah as members of the Ummah.[1]

[edit] Present day meaning

Some modern Islamists use the term "Islamic Ummah" or "Muslim Ummah" to refer to all the people in the lands and countries where Muslims predominantly reside, and which were once under the control of the Islamic Caliphate. They thus include non-Muslim minorities as members of the umma. When they talk of unifying the "Islamic Umma" they would include these non-Muslims, as citizens of the Islamic Umma, living peacefully with their own respective religions, subject to certain specific conditions. See Dhimmi for a full discussion of this concept. Other Islamists accept the full equality of all citizens in a putative future Islamic state, regardless of their religion. In either case, Shariah (Islamic law) would apply to the citizens of the state.