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''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
, the
Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God in Islam, God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. So ...
. It is used as both a
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
and an
adjective In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Tra ...
, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muhammad or the religion, doctrines, institutions and practices that he established. The word was formerly common in usage, but the terms ''
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
'' and ''
Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
'' are more common today. Though sometimes used stylistically by some Muslims, a vast majority consider the term either archaic or offensive.


Etymology

The
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
cites 1663 as the first recorded usage of the English term; the older spelling ''Mahometan'' dates back to at least 1529. The English word is derived from
New Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...
''Mahometanus'', from
Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
''Mahometus'', Muhammad. It meant simply a follower of Mohammad. In Western Europe, down to the 13th century or so, some Christians had the belief that Muhammad had either been a
heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
Christian or that he was a god worshipped by Muslims.Kenneth Meyer Setton (1 July 1992).
Western Hostility to Islam and Prophecies of Turkish Doom
. DIANE Publishing. . pg 4–15 – "Some Europeans believed that Moslems worshipped Mohammed as a god, .. (4)
Some works of Medieval European literature referred to Muslims as "
pagans Pagans may refer to: * Paganism, a group of pre-Christian religions practiced in the Roman Empire * Modern Paganism, a group of contemporary religious practices * Order of the Vine, a druidic faction in the ''Thief'' video game series * Pagan's ...
" or by
sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...
s such as the "paynim foe" (enemy). Depictions, such as those in the ''
Song of Roland ''The Song of Roland'' (french: La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th-century ''chanson de geste'' based on the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 AD, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. It is t ...
'', show Muslims praying to a variety of " idols", including
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
,
Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...
,
Termagant In the Middle Ages, Termagant or Tervagant was the name given to a god which European Christians believed Muslims worshipped. The word is also used in modern English to mean a violent, overbearing, turbulent, brawling, quarrelsome woman; a virago ...
, and
Mahound Mahound and Mahoun are variant forms of the name Muhammad, often found in Medieval and later European literature. The name has been used in the past by Christian writers to vilify Muhammad. It was especially connected to the depiction of a Muhamma ...
. When the
Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...
were being tried for heresy, reference was often made to their worship of a demon
Baphomet Baphomet is a deity allegedly worshipped by the Knights Templar. that subsequently became incorporated into various occult and Western esoteric traditions. The name ''Baphomet'' appeared in trial transcripts for the Inquisition of the Knights ...
; this is similar to "Mahomet", the
Latin transliteration Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
of Muhammad's name, and Latin was, for another 500 years, the language of scholarship and erudition for most of Europe. These and other variations on the theme were all set in the "temper of the times" of the Muslim–Christian conflict, as Medieval Europe was becoming aware of its great enemy in the wake of the quickfire success of the Muslims through a series of conquests shortly after the fall of the
Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...
, as well as the lack of real information in the West of the mysterious East.Watt, Montgomery,''Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman.'' Oxford University Press, 1961. from pg. 229


Obsolescence

The term has been largely superseded by ''
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
'' (formerly
transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...
as ''Moslem'') or ''Islamic''. ''Mohammedan'' was commonly used in European literature until at least the mid-1960s. ''Muslim'' is more commonly used today, and the term ''Mohammedan'' is widely considered archaic or in some cases even offensive. The term remains in limited use. The Government Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College in
Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
, Pakistan retains its original name, while the similarly named "Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College" in
Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...
, India was renamed
Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...
in 1920. There are also a number of
sporting club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
s in Bangladesh and India which include the word, such as
Mohammedan Sporting Club (Dhaka) Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited Dhaka, founded in 1936 at Dhaka, is one of the oldest and one of the most popular football clubs in Bangladesh, with a support base in all parts of the country. The club currently plays in the Bangladesh Premie ...
, Mohammedan Sporting Club (Chittagong), Mohammedan Sporting Club (Jhenaidah) and
Mohammedan S.C. (Kolkata) Mohammedan Sporting Club is an Indian multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Its football team competes in I-League, the second-tier of Indian football, as well as in Calcutta Football League (CFL), the oldest football league in Asi ...
.


Muslim objections to the term

Some modern Muslims have objected to the term, saying that the term was not used by Muhammad himself or his early followers, and that the religion teaches the worship of
God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
alone (see '' shirk'' and ''
tawhid Tawhid ( ar, , ', meaning "unification of God in Islam ( Allāh)"; also romanized as ''Tawheed'', ''Tawhid'', ''Tauheed'' or ''Tevhid'') is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. Tawhid is the religion's central and single ...
'') and not Muhammad or any other of God's prophets. Thus modern Muslims believe "Mohammedan" is a misnomer, "which seem to them to carry the implication of worship of Mohammed, as Christian and Christianity imply the worship of Christ." Also, the term ''al-Muḥammadīya'' (the Arabic equivalent of Mohammedan) has been used in Islam to denote several sects considered heretical.JOHN BOWKER. "Muhammadans." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved 8 June 2012


Usage by Muslims

Islam has, and has had, many schools and branches. ''Tariqa Muhammadiyya'' ("the Way of Mohammad") is a school of reform
Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
that arose in the 18th century and seeks to redirect and harmonize Sufi philosophy and practices with the authority and example of the prophet and hadith.Green, Nile, Sufism: A Global History, Jon Wiley & Sons, 2012 pg 167-168 In Indonesia, ''
Muhammadiyah Muhammadiyah ( ar, محمدية; 'followers of Muhammad'); also known as the Muhammadiyah Society ( id, Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah) is a major Islamic non-governmental organization in Indonesia.A. Jalil HamidTackle the rising cost of living longer ...
'' ("followers of Muhammad") is the name of a
Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
socioreligious reform movement that shuns syncretistic and Sufi practices and advocates a return to a purer form of Islam based on the hadith and examples from the life of the prophet. It has adapted institutions such as the Boy Scouts to Islamic ends as the
Gerakan Pramuka Indonesia The Pramuka Movement of Indonesia ( id, Gerakan Pramuka Indonesia), officially the Praja Muda Karana Scouting Movement ( id, Gerakan Kepanduan Praja Muda Karana), is the national scouting organization of Indonesia. Scouting was founded in the ...
.


See also

*
Christianity and Islam Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world, with 2.8 billion and 1.9 billion adherents, respectively. Both religions are considered as Abrahamic, and are monotheistic, originating in the Middle East. Christianity deve ...
*
Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...
*
Muhammad in Islam Muḥammad bin ʿAbd Allāh bin ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib bin Hāshim ( ar, ; 570 – 8 June 632 CE), is believed to be the seal of the messengers and prophets of God in all the main branches of Islam. Muslims believe that the Quran, the cen ...
*
Orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...
*
Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...


References

{{Reflist Islam and other religions Christian terminology English words Archaic English words and phrases Linguistic controversies Islam-related controversies