Ok, I’d like to try to get it straight once and for all. What is the difference, if any, between all these terms: Moslem, Muslem, Islamic, Arab, She-ite Moslem…and any others you can think of?
A History Prof of mine once claimed that “Muslem” and “Moslem” are the same. But, I could swear I once heard that “Muslem” is a faction of the Moslem faith. I’d also say a She-ite Moslem is a faction, too. But also, what is an Arab, really? I have been told all Arabs are Moslem, but not all Moslems are Arabs, such as those people of Iran and Turkey who practice the Moslem religion. Lastly, are the words “Moslem” and “Islamic” interchangeable? And what is the “land of Islam”?
I searched the archives (by title) on these key terms, and I was surprised that nothing came up. I would have bet anything such a question had been already asked…but apparently not. - Jinx
The religion is Islam. The followers are Moslem (but there’s probably different spellings).
Shi’ites and Sunnis are factions of Islam, based on historic disputes over power among the descendants of Mohammed.
An Arab originally was someone from the old Arabia, now mainly referring to those in the Middle East (and that’s a generalisation). Not to be confused with Berbers, Persians etc.
Have you given Google a shot, and looked up “Islamic history”?
Just to add to Wolfie’s informative post, not all Arabs are Muslim, and not all Muslims are Arab. I’ve never heard “Muslem” used, only “Moslem” and “Muslim”. I agree it’s probably just a spelling difference and no more.
“Islamic” tends to refer to the religion, and “Muslim” to its followers. For example, amosque is constructed in an Islamic style, and is attended by Muslims.
“Arab” is an ethnic distinction. For example, Iranians, while Muslim (another spelling for you), are not Arabs. Nor are Afghans. Furthermore, one can be an Arab and still be a Christian, Jew, Atheist, etc.
For example, did you know that Tariq Aziz, deputy leader of Iraq, is a Catholic?
Moslem, Muslem, Muslim and so on are all just different spellings. I prefer Muslim myself.
Also, not all Arabs are Muslims any more than all Europeans are Christians or all Japanese are Shintoists. And yes, there are many non-Arab Muslims.
The Sunnis and shi’ites are factions within islam, Sunni being the vastly larger one (the number 90% pops up, but don’t quote me on that). After the death of Muhammed, some of his followers supported Ali, Muhammed’s nephew and son-in-law, as Muhammed’s successor, and they became the shi’ites (after shi’at Ali; Ali’s party). The rest became the Sunnis. Vastly simplified, of course.
The “land of Islam” is any country which is governed according to the tenents of the islamic faith. That is a generalised description.
Some argue that there can only be one true Land of Islam, under the rule of the [note not ‘a’, but ‘the’]Caliph, who would also be the supreme spirtual head of Islam, and that all other Lands of Islam would be part of his empire.
The Mos- vs Mus- and -lem vs -lim differences arise from the fact that Arabic has a vowel sound that is intermediate between the short o and short u of European languages and another that is intermediate between short e and short i, and different European translators pick different (Roman) vowels to represent those two sounds.
Islam is the religion. Muslim (as a noun) is an adherent of that religion. Islamic and Muslim (as an adjective) mean, basically, the same thing. I have heard people claim that we should use Muslim instead of Islamic based on some distinction in Arabic, but I do not know Arabic and do not know whether they were correct or if they were imposing artificial rules to appear “proper.”
Islamist is a term that has been recently coined as a word to avoid using Fundamentalist (which can raise the hackles of some Christians). It generally indicates those Muslims who favor creating or establishing theocratic governments, based on the Qur’an (or on their culturally modified understanding of what the Qur’an teaches). The Law based on the Qur’an is called Sharia, but, as with any code of laws, different people interpret aspects differently. The Islamists tend to emphasize the harsher aspects of it.
Older words used to mean Muslim have included Musselman (from a corruption of the pronunciation of Muslim) and Mohammedan. While Mohammedan makes sense to a person who identifies religions by their founders (Buddhist or Christian, or, within Christianity, Lutheran, Calvinist, Mennonite, etc.), Muslims consider the word inappropriate because they want to keep their actual faith separate from there respect for the Prophet.
As mentioned, Sunnis and Shiites are politco-religious divisions within Islam. Another word that sometimes appears in discussions of Islam is Sufi, but Sufism is a religious approach to Islam that may appear both inside or outside the context of the Sunni/Shiite split.
Wow! Now that makes no sense at all! I believe I was listening to Dan Rather explain how Iraqis refer to the Christians in Iraq as “the infidels”! Based upon their way of thinking, it’s amazing he hasn’t been put to death! I cannot even begin to comprehend that one! - Jinx
I’ll second Captain Amazing’s comment. People in my parish have an ongoing correspondence with a convent of Catholic sisters in Bagdad who have reported that they are never harassed, and their only current fears are of being hit with a U.S. bomb. There are also several places on the web that note that Jews in Iraq are allowed to maintain their synagogues without threat (although I do not know how easily they live among their neighbors).
Having said that, I will also note that I have seen Hussein ratchet up the Muslim rhetoric in his recent speeches. I would guess that he is trying to claim an association with the Muslim countries in the region that his secular country has never shared, but the result may well be an increase in friction between Muslims and non-Muslims (Christians, Jews, Baha’i, Zoroastrians, etc.) during and following the war.
It seems to me that most publications from before the 1980’s use “Moslem”, and most since 1990 or so prefer “Muslim”.
Basically both words are essentially the same, I am not a speaker of Arabic, but I know the mu- prefix is “one who does”. Since a Arabic (or Hebrew) word usually has a root of three consonant sounds, the “slm” is the root of both words, as well as the word for peace (salaam). Also the name Solomon (in Arabic Suleiman) has this root. If you know a few root clusters, you can make rough sense out of many Arabic - or Hebrew - words.
Mu+islam=Muslim (one who practices Islam).
As for Arab Christians, most seem very careful to emphasize their Arabness over any links with the West; but lately they feel as they have been in a tough spot.
Irak is a secular country. Saddam Hussein fought the islamic influence in Irak for a long time (that’s why he was hated by the like of Bin Laden) . Only recently he began to play the religious card. Also, AFAIK, he relied a lot on the christians and favored them.
Of course, a muslim Iraki could very well refer to the christians as “infidels”. But it has no bearing on the government’s policy.
And, pray tell, what is supposed to be the Irakis’ “way of thinking”?
There are significant christian arab minorities in many countries : Egyptia, Palestine, Lebanon (of course), Syria, Jordan, Irak, etc…
Well, I guess should he ever come to trial, Saddam could be brought up on just about every crime against humanity except religious intolerance. Still enough to hang 'em, though.
That is what it’s called, yes, although the Nation of Islam is related to the Shi’ites in much the same way that the Southern Baptists are related to the Greek Orthodox church – the text upon which it’s based is largely the same, but the cultural aspects are quite, quite different.
The Nation of Islam as currently led by Farrakhan is considered heretical ( or at least very heterodox and very fringe ) by most mainstream Muslims today. Among other things its denial of the universality of Islam flys in the face of standard Islamic doctrine today and its veneration of Elijah Muhammed as a divinely inspired prophet is a very direct contradiction of the Qur’an.
However most of what was once the Nation of Islam no longer hold those views and have “mainstreamed” as Muslims. Farrakhan’s group is a traditionalist breakaway faction.