Examine individual changes

'{{about|the word and its history|the adherents of Islam|Muslim}} {{redirect|Mohammadan|the village|Mohammadan, Iran}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2013}} [[File:1883 religions map.jpg|thumb|1883 map of world religions showing "Mohammedan" areas in grey.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/errorschainshowf00dobb#page/n31/mode/2up|title=Error's chains: how forged and broken. A complete, graphic, and comparative history of the many strange beliefs, superstitious practices, domestic peculiarities, sacred writings, systems of philosophy, legends and traditions, customs and habits of mankind throughout the world, ancient and modern|work=archive.org}}</ref>]] '''Mohammedan''' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of the [[Prophets of Islam|Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]].<ref>John Bowker. "Muhammadans". ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions''. 1997. p. 389.</ref> It is used as both a [[noun]] and an [[adjective]], meaning belonging or relating to, either Muhammad or the religion, doctrines, institutions and practices that he established.<ref>-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc.</ref><ref>Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, edited by Noah Porter, published by G & C. Merriam Co., 1913</ref> The word was formerly common in usage, but the terms [[Muslim]] and [[Islamic]] are more common today. Though sometimes used stylistically by some Muslims, a vast majority consider the term a misnomer. ==Etymology== The [[Oxford English Dictionary]] 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]] ''Mahometanus'', from [[Medieval Latin]] ''Mahometus'', Muhammad. It meant simply a follower of Mohammad.<ref>A concise etymological dictionary of the English language, By Walter William Skeat</ref> In Western Europe, down to the 13th century or so, [[Medieval Christian view of Muhammad|Christians had a mistaken belief]] that Muhammad had either been a [[Heresy|heretical]] Christian or that he was a god worshipped by Muslims.<ref name="meyer2">Kenneth Meyer Setton (1 July 1992). "[https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0871692015&id=hk4LAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage Western Hostility to Islam and Prophecies of Turkish Doom]". DIANE Publishing. {{ISBN|0-87169-201-5}}. pg 4-15 - "Some Europeans believed that Moslems worshipped Mohammed as a god,[...]" (4)</ref> Some works of [[Medieval literature|Medieval European literature]] referred to Muslims as "[[paganism|pagans]]" or by [[sobriquet]]s such as the "paynim foe" (enemy). Depictions, such as those in the ''[[Song of Roland]]'', show Muslims praying to a variety of "[[cult image|idols]]", including [[Apollo]], [[Lucifer]], [[Termagant]],<ref>''[[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable]]'', "[http://www.bartleby.com/81/16352.html Termagant]</ref> and [[Mahound]]. When the [[Knights Templar]] were being tried for heresy, reference was often made to their worship of a demon [[Baphomet]]; this is similar to "Mahomet", the [[Romanization|Latin transliteration]] of Muhammad's name, and Latin was, for another 500 years, the [[lingua franca|language of scholarship and erudition]] for most of Europe.<ref name="meyer2"/> 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 [[Muslim conquests|a series of conquests]] shortly after the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], as well as the lack of real information in the West of the mysterious East.<ref name="Watt">Watt, Montgomery,''Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman.'' Oxford University Press, 1961. from pg. 229</ref> ==Obsolescence== The term has been largely superseded by "[[Muslim]]" (formerly [[transliteration|transliterated]] as "Moslem") or "Islamic". "Mohammedan" was commonly used in European literature until at least the mid-1960s.<ref>See for instance the second edition of ''[[Fowler's Modern English Usage|A Dictionary of Modern English Usage]]'' by [[Henry Watson Fowler|HW Fowler]], revised by [[Ernest Gowers]] (Oxford, 1965)</ref> Muslim is more commonly used today, and the term Mohammedan is widely considered archaic or in some cases even offensive.<ref>The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2000) annotates the term as ''offensive''. The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]]'' has "its use is now widely seen as depreciatory or offensive", referring to ''English Today'' no. 39 (1992): "The term Mohammedan [...] is considered offensive or pejorative to most Muslims since it makes human beings central in their religion, a position which only Allah may occupy". Other dictionaries, such as [[Merriam-Webster]], do not label the term as offensive.</ref> The term remains in limited use. The [[Govt. M.A.O College Lahore|Government Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College]] in [[Lahore]], Pakistan retains its original name, while the similarly named "Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College" in [[Aligarh]], India was renamed [[Aligarh Muslim University]] in 1920. There are also a number of [[sporting club]]s in Bangladesh and India which include the word, such as [[Mohammedan Sporting Club (Dhaka)]], [[Mohammedan Sporting Club (Chittagong)]], [[Mohammedan Sporting Club (Jhenaidah)]] and [[Mohammedan S.C. (Kolkata)]]. ==Muslim objections to the term== Some modern Muslims have objected to the term,<ref>see e.g. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fUw7Eks1UooC&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=Mohammedanism+misnomer&source=bl&ots=C7QVuTLE00&sig=7YNCgxBkZ3eWj7KYsJZ7WwhVIYI&hl=en&ei=AAIlSqXHFYq7mQeg4-H6CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2 Mohammedanism a Misnomer]{{dead link|date=April 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, by R. Bosworth Smith, Paul Tice; [http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Mohammedanism Definition of Mohammedanism], {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607033409/http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Mohammedanism |date=7 June 2011 }} Farlex Encyclopedia; [http://www.islamicbulletin.org/intro.htm#a6 What does Islam mean?], Islamic Bulletin</ref> saying that the term was not used by Muhammad himself or [[Salaf|his early followers]], and that the religion teaches the worship of [[God in Islam|Allah]] alone (see ''[[shirk (polytheism)|shirk]]'' and ''[[tawhid]]'') and not Muhammad or any other of Allah´s prophets. Thus modern Muslims believe "Mohammedan" is a misnomer, "which seem[s] to them to carry the implication of worship of Mohammed, as Christian and Christianity imply the worship of Christ."<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Oxford University Press| last = Gibb| first = Sir Hamilton| title = Mohammedanism: an historical survey| year = 1969| page=1 | quote=Modern Muslims dislike the terms Mohammedan and Mohammedanism, which seem to them to carry the implication of worship of Mohammed, as Christian and Christianity imply the worship of Christ.}}</ref> Also, the term ''al-Muḥammadīya'' has been used in Islam to denote several sects considered heretical.<ref name="bowker">JOHN BOWKER. "Muhammadans." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved 8 June 2012</ref><ref>Strothmann, R.. " al-Muḥammadīya." Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913-1936). Brill Online, 2012. 8 June 2012</ref> ==Other similar uses== Islam has, and has had, [[Islamic schools and branches|many schools and branches]]. ''Tariqa Muhammadiyya'' (the Way of Mohammad) is a school of reform [[Sufism]] 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.<ref>Green, Nile, Sufism: A Global History, Jon Wiley & Sons, 2012 pg 167-168</ref> In Indonesia, [[Muhammadiyah]] (followers of Muhammad) is the name of a [[Sunni]] 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]].<ref name="bowker"/> ==See also== {{Wiktionary|Mohammedan}} {{Portal|Islam}} * [[Christianity and Islam]] * [[Moors]] * [[Muhammad in Islam]] * [[Orientalism]] * [[Saracen]] ==References== {{Reflist|2}} [[Category:Islam and other religions]] [[Category:Christian terminology]] [[Category:English words]] [[is:Múhameðstrú]]'