مسلمان

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Classical Persian مسلمان (musalmān), from Arabic مُسْلِم (muslim).

Noun

مسلمان • (müsliman)

1. Muslim

Descendants

• Turkish: Müslüman
• → Albanian: mysliman
• → Crimean Tatar: musulman
• → Italian: musulmano
  • → German: Muselman
    • → Estonian: musulman
    • → Swedish: muselman
  • → French: musulman
  • → Galician: musulmán
  • → English: Mussulman
  • → Maltese: musulman
  • → Portuguese: muçulmano
  • → Romanian: musulman
  • → Spanish: musulmán
• → Bulgarian: мюсюлма́нин (mjusjulmánin)
• → Greek: μουσουλμάνος (mousoulmános)
• → Macedonian: муслиман (musliman)
• → Serbo-Croatian: муслѝма̄н / muslìmān
• → Slovene: muslimȃn

Persian

Etymology

Ultimately from Arabic مُسْلِم (muslim), probably a corrupted borrowing of the Arabic plural مُسْلِمُون (muslimūn).

This is one of a number of very early oral borrowings from Arabic, dating to the earliest years of Islamic rule, that underwent irregular phonetic shifts. Others include میر (mir, “prince”) from أَمِير (ʔamīr) and now archaic Classical Persian مزگت (mazgit, “mosque”) from مَسْجِد (masjid).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [mu.sal.ˈmɑːn]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mʊ.säl.mɑ́ːn]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mʊ.säl.mɑ́ːn]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mʊ.säl.mɑ́ːn]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mu.säl.mɔ́ːn]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [mo.sæl.mɒ́ːn]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [mu.säl.mɔ́n]

Readings
Classical reading?	musalmān
Dari reading?	musalmān
Iranian reading?	mosalmân
Tajik reading?	musalmon

Noun

Dari	مسلمان
Iranian Persian
Tajik	мусалмон

مسلمان • (mosalmân) (plural مسلمانان (mosalmânân) or مسلمین (moslemin) or مسلمان‌ها (mosalmân-hâ))

1. Muslim
   • c. 1030, Farrukhī Sīstānī, “Qaṣīda 175”, in دیوان فرخی سیستانی [Dīvān of Farrukhī]‎^[1]:

     عزمش چو عزم و حجت پیغمبران درست
     رایش چو رای و دولت نیک اختران متین
     همچون پدر بزرگ و جهاندار و بختیار
     همچون پدر کریم و مسلمان و پاکدین

     azm-aš čū azm u hujjat-i payğambarān durust
     rāy-aš čū rāy u dawlat-i nēk axtarān matīn
     hamčūn pidar buzurg u jahandār u baxtyār
     hamčūn pidar karīm u musalmān u pākdīn

     His resolve is correct like the resolve and deeds of the prophets,
     His opinion is firm like the opinion and felicity of the fortunate:
     Just like his father, he is great, world-possessing, auspicious,
     Just like his father, he is noble, Muslim, pure of faith.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

   • c. 1390, Hafez, “Ghazal 217”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divan of Hafez]‎^[2]:

     مسلمانان مرا وقتی دلی بود
     که با وی گفتمی گر مشکلی بود

     musalmānān ma-rā waqtē dilē būd
     ki bā way guftamē gar muškilē būd

     Muslims! I once used to have a heart
     To whom I would talk, should I have a problem.

     (Classical Persian romanization)

Inflection

Enclitic-attached forms

Basic forms of مسلمان (mosalmân)
	singular	plural
bare	مسلمان (mosalmân)	مسلمانان (mosalmânấn) مسلمانا △ (mosalmânấ)
definitive direct object	مسلمان را (mosalmân râ) مسلمان رو △ (mosalmâno)	مسلمانان را (mosalmânấn râ) مسلمانا رو △ (mosalmânấ ro)
ezâfe	مسلمان (mosalmân-e)	مسلمانان (mosalmânấn-e) مسلمانای △ (mosalmânấ-ye)
marked indefinite or relative definite	مسلمانی (mosalmân-i)	مسلمانانی (mosalmânấn-i) مسلمانایی △ (mosalmânấi)
△ Colloquial.

Predicative forms of مسلمان (mosalmân)
	singular	plural
1st person (“I am, we are”)	مسلمانم (mosalmânam)	مسلمانیم (mosalmânim)
2nd person (“you are”)	مسلمانی (mosalmâni)	مسلمانید (mosalmânid) مسلمانین △ (mosalmânin)
3rd person (“he/she/it is, they are”)	مسلمان است (mosalmân ast) مسلمانه △ (mosalmâne)	مسلمانند (mosalmânand) مسلمانن △ (mosalmânan)
△ Colloquial.

Related terms

• اسلام (eslâm)
• مسلمانی (mosalmâni)

 

Descendants

• → Avar: бусурманчи (busurmanči)
• → Azerbaijani: müsəlman
• → Bashkir: мосолман (mosolman)
• → Bengali: মুসলমান (musolman)
• → Dargwa: бусурман (busurman)
• ⇒ Georgian: მუსულმანი (musulmani)
• → Gujarati: મુસલમાન (musalmān)
• → Old Hindi: मुसलमांन (musalamā̃na)
  • Hindustani: musalmān

    Hindi: मुसलमान

    Urdu: مُسَلْمَان (musalmān)

• → Kazakh: мұсылман (mūsylman)
• → Kumyk: бусурман (busurman)
• → Kyrgyz: мусулман (musulman)
• → Lak: бусурман (busurman)
• → Maithili:

  Devanagari script: मुसलमान (musalᵊmān)

  Tirhuta script: 𑒧𑒳𑒮𑒪𑒧𑒰𑒢 (musalamāna)

• → Marathi: मुसलमान (musalmān)
• → Mongolian: мусульман (musulʹman)
• → Odia: ମୁସଲମାନ (musalamāna)
• → Tatar: мөселман (möselman)
  • → Belarusian: мусульма́нін (musulʹmánin)
  • → Russian: мусульма́нин (musulʹmánin)
  • → Ukrainian: мусульма́нин (musulʹmányn)
• → Ottoman Turkish: مسلمان
  • Turkish: Müslüman
  • → Albanian: mysliman
  • → Crimean Tatar: musulman
  • → Italian: musulmano
    • → German: Muselman
      • → Estonian: musulman
      • → Swedish: muselman
    • → French: musulman
    • → Galician: musulmán
    • → English: Mussulman
    • → Maltese: musulman
    • → Portuguese: muçulmano
    • → Romanian: musulman
    • → Spanish: musulmán
  • → Bulgarian: мюсюлма́нин (mjusjulmánin)
  • → Greek: μουσουλμάνος (mousoulmános)
  • → Macedonian: муслиман (musliman)
  • → Serbo-Croatian: муслѝма̄н / muslìmān
  • → Slovene: muslimȃn
• → Old Punjabi: ਮੁਸਲਮਾਣੁ (musalamāṇu), ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨੁ (musalamānu)
  • Punjabi:

    Gurmukhi script: ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ (muslamān)

    Shahmukhi script: مُسَلمان (musalmān)

• → Sindhi:

  Arabic script: مُسلْمان

  Devanagari script: मुसलमान

• → Uyghur: مۇسۇلمان (musulman)
• → Uzbek: musulmon

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian مسلمان (musalmān), from Arabic مُسْلِم (muslim). Compare Punjabi ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ (muslamān) / مُسَلمان (musalmān), Gujarati મુસલમાન (musalmān), Marathi मुसलमान (musalmān), Bengali মুসলমান (musolman). First attested as Middle Hindi مسلمان (musalamān).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /mʊ.səl.mɑːn/
• Rhymes: -ɑːn
• Hyphenation: مُ‧سَل‧مان

Noun

مُسَلْمان • (musalmān) m (Hindi spelling मुसलमान)

1. (Islam) Muslim

Further reading

• “مسلمان”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “مسلمان”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “مسلمان”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884) “مسلمان”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.