Ummah

Ummah (أمة) is an Arabic word that means "community" or nation. In the context of Islam, the word ummah is used in foreign languages as well as in Arabic to mean the nation of the believers (ummatu 'l-mu'minin), and thus the whole Muslim world. The phrase al-ummatun wahid in the Quran (the "One Community") refers to all of the Muslim world unified. Compare the nationalist conception of "nation" as those who share a common heritage; in Arabic, the word ummah is widely used in this sense.

Related Topics:
Arabic - Islam - Nationalist - Nation

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The Constitution of Medina, negotiated by Muhammad and accepted by the Mala of Medina, explicitly refers to Jewish and pagan citizens of Medina as members of the Ummah or nation http://www.dawn.com/2001/07/20/op.htm#1.

Related Topics:
Constitution of Medina - Medina

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Some modern Islamists use the term "Islamic Ummah" or "Muslim Ummah" to refer to all the people in the lands and countries where predominantly Muslims reside, and which were once under the control of the Islamic Caliphate. They thus include non-Muslim minorities as members of the ummah. When they talk of unifying the "Islamic Ummah" they would include these non-Muslims, as citizens of the Islamic Ummah, 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. Non-Muslim citizens would be free to settle their private disputes in their own courts, although all disputes that involve a Muslim would have to be settled in a Muslim court.

Related Topics:
Islamist - Caliphate - Dhimmi - Shariah

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In many respects, Ummah is a direct parallel to Christendom.

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