The existence of a human is the product of faith, whether a person is a theist or agnostic there is an involvement of one’s belief to it.
Islam spread on the world map through the teachings of Prophet Mohammad and all those Muslims who later on gave their lives to reach to more and more people in spreading words of Mohammad
Key Takeaways
- Islam is a monotheistic religion founded in the 7th century, based on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran, with core beliefs including the Five Pillars of Islam.
- Muslim is a term used to describe a follower of Islam, an individual who adheres to the beliefs and practices of the Islamic faith.
- Islam is the religion, while Muslim is the term for an individual who follows that religion.
Islam vs Muslim
The difference between Islam and Muslims is the same as the difference between a supreme God and worshipper or just like a teacher and his disciple, Islam is a religion of Abrahamic faith whereas a Muslim is someone who has submitted himself to the Prophet and his teachings.
Want to save this article for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own articles box!
Comparison Table
| Parameter of Comparison | Islam | Muslim |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The root of the word Islam comes from the Arabic verbal noun s-l-m which means the act of submission to divine power. | It also originates from the same s-l-m and refers to someone who has submitted himself to God. |
| Use | The word Islam denotes a religion. | It can be used either to a single person or a group who has accepted Prophet Mohammed a creator. |
| Verb\noun | It is a verbal noun as it doesn’t denote a person but it’s an act of submission. | The word Muslim can only be used as a noun, to denote a person. |
| Category | Islam and its teachings remain the same throughout. | A Muslim is divided into categories of Shia and Sunni. |
| Imagery | Islam doesn’t allow idolatry and there remains no depiction of Prophet Mohammed. | A Muslim follows the aniconism theory where he can illustrate himself but not the prophet. |
What is Islam?
Islam is a monotheistic religion where faith lies in the worship of a single divinity, it originates from the Abrahamic beliefs and came after the advent of Judaism and Christianity.
The founder of Islam is the so-called Messenger of God ‘Prophet Mohammed’ who was born around 570 CE in the city of Mecca and was sent to spread the teachings of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
Arabic root letters ‘S’ ‘L’ ‘M’ form the word Islam which means to “surrender”, “submission” and follow a path of commitment to “peace”, “Allah” and his commandments.
Islam is the world’s second-largest religion to exist and is estimated to be the fastest-growing one after Christianity due to the exponential birth rate and the ongoing conversions.
Just like any religion the spread of Islam started with the oral culture and later on the holy text Quran scribed it.
Islam considers Mecca and Medina as holy cities among which Kaaba is the holiest site. It’s a cubic structure and is said to be the house of God.
Legend has it that it was built by Ibrahim and Ismail and later on Muhammad reconstructed it.
What is Muslim?
Muslim is a person or a believer of Islam, he who has surrendered himself to the divinity and is an absolute believer that God is one. A Muslim believes that his god is incomparable and Islam is the universal version that encapsulates the teachings of all other Prophets like Abraham, Moses Jesus.
A Muslim is someone who has belief in the five commandments of Muhammed which is called the Five Pillars of Islam :
- The Profession of faith: Faith in Allah and that Muhammad is the messengers of the Almighty remains central.
- Prayer: Muslims pray five times a day facing Mecca either individually or in groups
- Aims: Giving back and feeding the needy, donation of a certain percentage of income.
- Fasting: Abstaining one’s appetite, drink, sexual activity is done during the month of Ramadan. It’s the month of introspection, realising what we have and not letting our lust and worldly desires take the best of us.
- Pilgrimage: Every Muslim is obliged to go to the holy city Mecca and visit Kaaba once in a lifetime.
Muslims count a massive 1.9 billion population overall and are the second-largest believers of faith with 24% Muslims all over the world.
Main Differences Between Islam and Muslim
- The main difference between Islam and Muslims is that the former is a religion of the beliefs of Abraham and follows a monotheistic approach whereas the latter consists of people following the religion.
- Through definition, Islam is the act of submission to the higher entity and Muslim is an individual who is surrendering his whole to the teachings of Mohammed.
- As Islam represents faith and the act of submission it’s considered a verbal noun on the other hand Muslim is a noun as it denotes the person following the commandments.
- Muslims are further divided due to the disagreements regarding the next successor after Muhammad while Islam and its teachings remain the same.
- Muslims can build their figures or illustrate themselves but Islam disregards the iconism of Muhammad.
I’ve put so much effort writing this blog post to provide value to you. It’ll be very helpful for me, if you consider sharing it on social media or with your friends/family. SHARING IS ♥️
Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.
