Origin
The word ummah originally came from ancient Egypt. The Pharaohs called the people who made the tombs and pyramids for them the ummah. Ummah were the important elements in the process of ascension of Pharaohs to the heaven and to become a god in a process is called deification.
The phrase Ummah Wāhidah in the Quran (أمة واحدة, "One Community") refers to all of the Islamic world unified. The Quran says: “You are the best nation brought out for Mankind, commanding what is righteous (معروف Maʻrūf, lit. "recognized ") and forbidding what is wrong (منكر Munkar, lit. "unrecognized ")…” .
On the other hand, in Arabic Ummah can also be used in the more Western sense of nation, for example: Al-Umam Al-Muttaḥidah, the United Nations.
The Constitution of Medina, an early document said to have been negotiated by Muhammad in AD 622 with the leading clans of Medina, explicitly refers to Jewish and pagan citizens of Medina as members of the Ummah.
In modern Hebrew, the word Ummah (אוּמָה) means "nation", from the root ʿam (עַם), or "people".
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Famous quotes containing the word origin:
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