When is it appropriate to use the word “Muslim” and when is it appropriate to use “Islamic”? What is the difference?
In Arabic, they’re two versions of the same word. The Arabic language defines a word by a set of consonants and then modifies the word by the placement of vowels.
So the root word is SLM ( س ل م). One form of the word is iSLaM, which means submission. Another form is muSLiM, which means a person who submits.
So if you’re talking about the religion, you should use Islam. If you’re talking about a person who believes in the religion, then you should use Muslim.
Islam (noun) is a set of ideas - a religion, perhaps a cultural identity.
A Muslim (noun) is a person who adheres to Islam.
There are some circumstance where the adjectives Muslim and Islamic may sensibly be used interchangeably, for example as an attribute of a country. There are other circumstances where it’s important to be clear about whether one is referring to Muslim people or to Islamic ideas.
The issue is somewhat muddied by the fact that a cultural identity may be something far richer than just a set of beliefs that can be changed at will. Whether a person who does not believe in the religious tenets of Islam still chooses to self-identify as Muslim is variable. By analogy: if a Republican stops believing in Republican political ideology, it would not make much sense for him to continue to call himself a Republican; but there are many atheists who self-identify as Jewish, because there is a Jewish cultural identity that is far richer than just the literal tenets of the religion.
My usual nitpick.
This is not a grammar question. It is a usage question.
Usage may make clear distinctions or it may make cloudy, fuzzy, and often ignored distinctions. There are no rules in usage, merely conventions that tend to change over time. The word used to be Mohammedan but that’s generally been replaced by Muslim or Islamic. Moslem is also used less today but still around. See this ngram chart.
Muslim is more noun while Islamic is adjective.
A person who follows Islam is known as Muslim not Islamic. But to refer to architecture or some other thing is Islamic not Muslim.
“Muslim” is both a noun and an adjective.
As a noun, it refers to a follower of Islam.
As an adjective, it means pertaining to Islam, its followers or their culture.
“Islamic” is an adjective meaning pertaining to Islam.
Obviously the two adjectival meanings overlap substantially, but we tend to prefer “Muslim” when talking about people (A muslim man, not an Islamic man) and “Islamic” when talking about the faith, or principles, beliefs or practices associated with the faith.
I think if you talk about a “muslim country”, you’re pointing to the fact that the bulk of the population are Muslims. But if you talk about an “Islamic country”, you’re more likely to be referring to the fact that the country’s laws or customs reflect Islamic principles or values. That’s why the formal name of the Pakistani state is “the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”, for instance, and not “the Muslim Republic of Pakistan”.
Also, “Muslim” typically refers specifically to religious beliefs and practices, while “Islamic” is used for more general/cultural aspects of Muslim-majority societies as well.
Thus we speak of, for example, “Islamic art” rather than “Muslim art” when we’re describing characteristic art forms in historically Muslim-majority cultures.