Islam as a term and meaning

Islam
Most Muslims accept as a Muslim anyone who has publicly pronounced the Shahadah (declaration of faith) which states,

Ash-hadu anna laa ilaha illa-Allah Wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasulu Allah

"I bear witness there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and I bear witness, Muhammad is His final messenger".

Currently, there are between one and two billion Muslims, making it the second largest religion in the world.


Muslim and mu'min
One of the verses in the Qur'an makes a distinction between a mu'min, a believer, and a Muslim:

The Arabs of the desert say, "We believe." (tu/minu) Say thou: Ye believe not; but rather say, "We profess Islam;" (aslamna) for the faith (al-imanu) hath not yet found its way into your hearts. But if ye obey [God] and His Apostle, he will not allow you to lose any of your actions: for [God] is Indulgent, Merciful ('The Koran 49:14, Rodwell). 
According to the academician Carl Ernst, contemporary usage of the terms "Islam" and "Muslim" for the faith and its adherents is a modern innovation. As shown in the Quranic passage cited above, early Muslims distinguished between the Muslim, who has "submitted" and does the bare minimum required to be considered a part of the community, and the mu'min, the believer, who has given himself or herself to the faith heart and soul. Ernst writes:

"The Arabic term Islam itself was of relatively minor importance in classical theologies based on the Qur'an. If one looks at the works of theologians such as the famous al-Ghazali (d. 1111), the key term of religious identity is not Islam but iman (faith), and the one who possesses it is the mu'min (believer). Faith is one of the major topics of the Qur'an; it is mentioned hundreds of times in the sacred text. In comparison, Islam is a relatively less common term of secondary importance; it only occurs eight times in the Qur'an. Since, however, the term Islam had a derivative meaning relating to the community of those who have submitted to God, it has taken on a new political significance, especially in recent history.
For another term in Islam for a non-Muslim who is a monotheist believer (usually applied historically in a pre-Islamic context),

Shokran, mitto!

Thank you very much!

This is very informative.  Hopefully you can finish it soon (at the bottom it leads off)?  :P

Thanks, brother!

So you struggle with true and false converts too ha? I wonder if it's the same in other religions too? Thanks for this post it is something i hadn't known before.

Yes, there are also those who try to divide our ummah (community) into sects, which ultimately divides us; I like to think of these people as snakes in the field!

They try to divide us so the outside non-Muslims can divide us into Shi'a, Sunni, Wahhabi, etc. and this ultimately leads to internal violence and is the reason Islam is not progressing as fast as it should be!

I say let us not divide ourselves any more!

We have the same thing in Christian faith also (Gnostic's, Quakers, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons and the like) They teach a completely contrary understanding of Christ that confuses people out side it also through history just as i am sure it has with urs too. It is good to clarify some of the differences and what makes orthodox Islam what it is.

I have understood that the majority about 90% are Sunni, is this correct?

Yes, Sunni means 'followers'.

Other sects are people like Shi'a (who have different praying forms, and (not to be too offensive) almost 'pray to and follow/worship' Ali, they mention his name at the end of every prayer.  Ali was Muhammad's son in law or nephew if I'm not mistaken, and they believe he should have been made Kaliph (sort of like leader).  Basically it started off as a political disagreement, then over time the practices became different.

There's also people like the Wahhabis (followers of the school of Wahab, is what I think I learned).

But please understand, I do not support splitting up or secular Islam.  I believe there is one Islam, one brotherhood, no sects!  The Qu'ran tells us this.

I hope someday we can all join together for the good of Islam!

Nor do i mate! Not in mine either.