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 umma (often spelled ummah) is used to mean the diaspora or community of the believers (ummat al-mu'minin), and thus the whole Islamic world.

[edit] Origin

The phrase umma wahida in the Qur'an (the "One Community") refers to all of the Islamic world unified. On the other hand, in Arabic umma can also be used in the more Western sense of nation, 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 Umma.[1]

[edit] Present day meaning

Some modern Islamists use the term "Islamic Umma" or "Muslim Umma" 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.