Arabic · noun · Nation, Faith & Society

Ummah

उम्मत
said UM-mah
also written: ummah, ummat
Meaning

The community of Muslims as a single body united by faith, transcending tribe and territory.

Literally: community; nation (of faith)

Usage & notes

The worldwide community of Muslims, united by shared faith across all frontiers. Closely allied to his idea of the millat, Iqbal's ummat is a single body whose vitality depends on living faith, brotherhood and creative action. Its decline, he taught, follows from spiritual stagnation, sectarian division and slavish imitation; its revival requires renewed certitude, ijtihad and self-affirmation.