For Muslims, there are many unshakable traditions and obligatory rituals, each of which has its own history and name. And all because Muhammad, the founder of Islam, once clearly described everything in the Holy Book. So he created a powerful religious apparatus, which is the law for all believers to this day. Along with this, a term appeared that can be called a community of people following a single faith - the ummah. This word, its history and meaning, we will now discuss.
Translation and interpretation
Like all terms related to the Muslim faith, ummah is an Arabic word. Its exact translation sounds like “nation” or “community”. It is no secret that in the past centuries people did not have the opportunity to travel quickly and see the whole diversity of the world and its inhabitants. That is why everyone was grouped into so-called communities. These communities lived in a certain territory (there could be a city or a totality of small settlements), they had a common life and traditions. As a result, religion in such communities was formed one for all, and people sacredly believed in their god, not knowing that other nations exist. As you know, the Middle East became a region of the world, which in the seventh century converted to Islam, the parent of which was the prophet Muhammad. The founder of Islam literally created the Holy Law for all his followers, clearly defined the boundaries of what is permitted, the orders and responsibilities of people, of course, by the will of Allah. It was at this moment that the Islamic Ummah, or community of adherents of the Muslim faith, appeared.
Value extension
After death, the Prophet Muhammad left behind the greatest sacred heritage - the Holy Quran. The book, which has not changed for dozens of centuries, has become a stronghold, law and support for every Muslim. It was from the Qur'an that believers learned what the ummah is and in what meanings this term can be represented. It is also worth saying that in the book this word occurs more than sixty times, and its meaning becomes extensive from this. Of course, mainly the Ummah is a Muslim community, and not within the framework of a certain city or country. This includes all who believe in Allah, regardless of how far they are from each other. In the future, it also becomes clear that the ummah is also what unites people, animals and even birds that are on the same territory. As the Great Prophet points out, previously all people and animals that lived on the planet were a single ummah who lived in peace and harmony. Later, wars and division of territories divided the population into various communities.
Islam and Judaism
The incredibly fast birth and very strong and durable formation of Islam is one of the mysteries of history. Literally within the framework of one century, Muhammad was able to hear Allah and write down all his words in the Holy Quran, and then transmit this book to people. Like Christianity, Islam has much in common with Judaism, but thanks to Muhammad, a significant difference has appeared. The fact is that the Jews never accepted people who did not belong to the Semitic race into their fold. Moreover, if you were not born into a Jewish family, you will not be able to accept this faith in the future. Allah is ready to accept any person, regardless of skin and eye color, from his past and present. The Muslim Ummah is a community that is open to all races and peoples, to large families and to orphans. This has become the main reason why Islam is a world religion today, along with Christianity and Buddhism.
Ummah Muhammad
Historians know for certain that pre-Muslim society (that is, people who were in the territory of the modern Middle East) lived in the so-called regime of continuous conflict on religious grounds. This is no wonder, because each individual state had its own belief and considered it righteous, trying to impose its God in other cities and regions, pilgrims came across constant conflicts, and sometimes it came to the war. The inhabitants of the East owe the end to this bloody period to the Prophet Muhammad. It was he who united the cities and countries, made them understand that they are fighting for no reason. For the people of this region, Allah is now the only deity, whose words and advice everyone could now read by opening the Holy Book called the Qur'an. The Ummah, or the community of people that the Prophet created, as we noted above, consisted of people of different nationalities and backgrounds. To become a Muslim, it was enough for a person to turn to Muhammad and swear to live in accordance with the dogmas enshrined in the Qur'an.
Has something changed in our time?
A discipline such as the history of religions can tell us about the changes and innovations that this or that religion has experienced. We clearly see how the once-united Christian church split into Orthodoxy and Catholicism with all its branches. Buddhism has progressed and has become available not only to the elect, enlightened, but to everyone who is willing to look for a spiritual essence within themselves. But Islam has not experienced any critical changes since its inception. The openness of this religion has survived to the present moment, so a person with any faith can convert to Islam and become a true servant of Allah. As for the Ummah, which Muhammad mentioned so often in the Qur'an, it exists to this day. It should only be noted that this term has somewhat double meaning. Firstly, the Ummah is the community of all Muslims on the planet. It doesn’t matter where they are located, in which country they live or simply work. They still belong to the Islamic community. Secondly, umma is a word that is used in a narrower meaning. It can be a community of people who live in the same region. Together they go to pray at the mosque, eat together, spend their free time and work.
Linguistic Excellence
Muhammad completely rejected any ideas of racism, especially within the framework of religion, which he himself practically created. But it is worth saying that by nationality the Great Prophet was an Arab, therefore, it was the Arabic language that was his native language. It is easy to guess that all the laws and rules, all the life instructions and recommendations set forth in the Qur'an were made in the native language of Muhammad. Nowadays, in rare cases, the Qur'an is “adhered” to the speech of other Eastern peoples, but in most cases, every self-respecting Muslim learns all prayers and suras in Arabic, and this language is official at all services and holidays. For residents of Russia and other non-Arabic countries, there are numerous translations of the Koran. So you can get acquainted with this book and religion in general, but if you are seriously passionate about Islam, then you should learn its native language.
Pilgrimage of the Muslim Ummah
Back in 630 AD, the Prophet Muhammad converted all the inhabitants of the East to Islam. However, this year, along with the new religion, a place for pilgrimage appeared for everyone who recognized Allah as their god. From that moment until now, the holy city is considered Mecca, which is located in Saudi Arabia, literally a hundred kilometers from the Red Sea. In this city there was a ceremony of conversion of people from various faiths to Islam. Muhammad was born here and lived his whole life, receiving messages from Allah and creating the Koran on their basis. And although he died in Medina, it was Mecca that remained a sacred place for all his followers. True Muslims regularly visit the town where the world's largest mosque is located. Billions of people from all over the planet come here to become even closer to their deity, to ask him for forgiveness for their misconduct and to ask for what they so miss in life.
Summarizing
In the old days, the Muslim community that Muhammad created only covered the Middle East region of our planet. The people who lived there dedicated their lives to serving Allah. In our time, some of their ancestors remained at home, others went to live in other countries. That is why the meaning of the word "ummah" has somewhat changed, expanded. But its essence has been preserved in its original form.