Mohammedanism

English

Alternative forms

• Mahometanism, Muhammadanism, Mahomedanism, Mahommedanism, Muhammedanism; Mohamedanism; Mohametanism; Muhamedanism, Mohammetanism, Mahommetanism (all as obsolete as the lemma (Mohammedanism), or more obsolete than it)

Etymology

From the earlier form Mahometanism; equivalent to Muhammadan +‎ -ism; compare Muhammadism, coined in the 17th century after French mahométisme.

Proper noun

Mohammedanism (uncountable)

1. (now largely obsolete and offensive) The religion introduced by Muhammad: Islam.
   • 1905, “Mohammedanism”, in The New International Encyclopædia, New York: Dodd, Mead and Company:

     In a general estimate of Mohammedanism it should not be forgotten what Islam has done for the cause of humanity and more particularly the share it had in the development of science and art in Europe. Broadly speaking, the Mohammedans may be said to have been the teachers of barbarous Europe from the ninth to the thirteenth century. It is from the days of the Abbasside rulers that the real renaissance of the Greek spirit and Greek culture is to be dated.

Usage notes

The terms Mohammedan and Mohammedanism have been largely replaced by Muslim and Islam since the 1950s, and are now sometimes considered offensive, though some authors continue to use Mohammedanism as a technical term for the religious system (of Islam) as opposed to the theological concept of إِسْلَام (islam, “submission”) that exists within that system. The terms are sometimes said to be offensive because they suggest that a human being is central to Muslims' religion, and/or because they parallel the formation Christian, Christianity and thus supposedly equate Muhammad and Christ.

Synonyms

• Mohammedism (obsolete, offensive)

Related terms

• Mohammedan
• Mohammedian
• Mohammedanist (very rare)

References

• Martin Kramer, Coming to Terms: Fundamentalists or Islamists?, in the Middle East Quarterly (Spring 2003), pages 65-77

Anagrams

• Mahommedanism