Why Do People Say Muslim Now Instead of Moslem?

History News Network - George Mason University ^ | 1-21-02 | Yii-Ann Christine Chen

[paterfamilias]

Is it Muslim or Moslem?

When Baby Boomers were children it was Moslem. The American Heritage Dictionary (1992) noted, "Moslem is the form predominantly preferred in journalism and popular usage. Muslim is preferred by scholars and by English-speaking adherents of Islam." No more. Now, almost everybody uses Muslim.

According to the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, "Moslem and Muslim are basically two different spellings for the same word." But the seemingly arbitrary choice of spellings is a sensitive subject for many followers of Islam. Whereas for most English speakers, the two words are synonymous in meaning, the Arabic roots of the two words are very different. A Muslim in Arabic means "one who gives himself to God," and is by definition, someone who adheres to Islam. By contrast, a Moslem in Arabic means "one who is evil and unjust" when the word is pronounced, as it is in English, Mozlem with a z.

For others, this spelling differentiation is merely a linguistic matter, with the two spellings a result of variation in transliteration methods. Both Moslem and Muslim are used as nouns. But some writers use Moslem when the word is employed as an adjective.

Journalists switched to Muslim from Moslem in recent years under pressure from Islamic groups. But the use of the word Moslem has not entirely ceased. Established institutions which used the older form of the name have been reluctant to change. The American Moslem Foundation is still the American Moslem Foundation (much as the NAACP is still the NAACP--the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). The journal The Moslem World--published by the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut--is still The Moslem World.

(References at link)

[Dan(9698)]

Towelhead works for me.

They are not towels, they are sheets.

[ElayneJ]

I don’t remember Moslem vs. Muslim, but I remember being very confused about Muslim and muslin (sp), which is a type of fabric. My mother sewed and this was one of many things I found confusing about all that. Just thought I’d throw that in to the conversation -

[November 2010]

Oooh. Moslem it is.

[P.O.E.]

Thanks. I had forgotten about that one. Goes in the category of Burma-to-Myanmar. My bad.

[xsmommy]

i think you mean correlle and most people cannot follow your demented logic and undoubtedly have NO idea what you are talking about robt! this was a stretch even for you! ; )

[humblegunner]

I’m a tard.

I'd hit a tard.

[GladesGuru]

“All this blanket hatred of Moslems is absurd, btw, imho.”

Correct. Even as Islam forces us to extirpate it, said extirpation should be done without hate. Hate causes your pulse and breathing rate to increase, and thus may make you miss.

[Dan(9698)]

“raghead” still works for me.

They are not rags, they are sheets.

[ThomasThomas]

They both sound the same when I “say” them.

[OB1kNOb]

So to add extra sarcasm when referring to them, should I refer to them as muzzies or mozzies?

[windsorknot]

Mo(hammed) Fo(llower)’s

[Robert A Cook PE]

i think you mean correlle and most people cannot follow your demented logic and undoubtedly have NO idea what you are talking about robt! this was a stretch even for you! ; )

(Robt ponders diploma (er, delima. Er, problem.) Is xsex pleased that she was able to follow Robt's supposedly twisted illogic, or is xsex concerned that she was able to follow Robt's supposedly twisted logic?)

[xsmommy]

both!

[arthurus]

Actually it is a transliteration and has different vowel sounds in different languages and dialects. No transliteration of an Arabic word is authoritative. The name spelled HSN can be Hassan (Turkish) or Hosni(Egyptian) or Hussein(Arabian), etc., and those are variable with the regional dialects in each area.

[arthurus]

Moslems
Mohammedans
Mahometans
Mussulmans
paynim
saracen

[LonePalm]

Watch out for
<

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Responsibility2nd]

So....

They are sheet-heads?

Works for me.

[SERKIT]

Just like there is little difference between Osama and Obama.....on many levels.

[ArrogantBustard]

Dunno ...

I say “Deranged follower of Mad Mo, the murdering pedophile”.

But I’m not a very nice person.

[Retired Greyhound]

I vote for mooselimb.

Mo-ham-head is their prophet.