Ummah

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This article is about the Arabic word. For the music collective, see The Ummah.

Ummah (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 or "Community 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 Madīnah, an early document said to have been negotiated by Muhammad in AD 622 with the leading clans of Madīnah, explicitly refers to Jewish and pagan citizens of Madīnah as members of the Ummah.

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 ummah. Shariah (Islamic law) would apply to the citizens of the state. In such a unified "Islamic Umma," the non-Muslim citizens would be subject to Dhimmi limitations and conditions.

Ummah

Origin

Present day meaning

See also