THE UMMAH IN QUR'AN AND THE UMMAH TODAY Cover Image

UMMET U KUR’ANU DANAS
THE UMMAH IN QUR'AN AND THE UMMAH TODAY

Author(s): Almir Fatić
Subject(s): Islam studies, Contemporary Islamic Thought
Published by: Rijaset Islamske zajednice u Bosni i Hercegovini
Keywords: Ummah; Islamic community; Qur'an; Muslim states;

Summary/Abstract: This article primarily examines lexical and semantic meanings of the word Ummah (Islamic community) and it provides contextual situations in which the word Ummah appears in the Qur’an. The article states that, according to the semantic research of the Qur’an, the word Ummah has nine different contextual meanings. The article goes on to explore the meaning of the Qur’anic syntagm “ummeten wasatan”, found in the 143rd Ayah (Verse) of the Al-Baqara (Cow) Surah (Chapter), which serves as a kind of a motto for this article. The examination of meaning of this syntagm has been conducted based on various classical and modern Tafseer (Commentaries) of the Qur’an. The article then talks about the Ummah as a political union of Muslims. The basic conclusion of this part points to the far-reaching and grave consequences of replacing the transnational concept of the Ummah in the Muslims world’s political order with the concept of national Muslim states, which is still dominant.

  • Issue Year: 2006
  • Issue No: 28
  • Page Range: 4-10
  • Page Count: 7
  • Language: Bosnian