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al-isl§m and al-Êm§n 21CHAPTER ONEAL-ISL$M AND AL-^M$NWhy the Conventional Understanding of al-Isl§m andal-^m§n is not AdequateTraditionally, the term al-isl§m stands for the religion of those whoare commonly known as Muslims, the followers of Prophet MuÈammad(ß). In this traditional understanding, the term al-Êm§n has beenused to also describe the ‘faith’ of these Muslims, the adherents ofal-isl§m. The result of linking al-Êm§n to al-isl§m was that the followersof MuÈammad (ß) were thought to be both the Muslims (Ar.al-muslimån) and the believers ( al-mu"minån), while it was ignored thatthere is a big difference between al-isl§m and al-Êm§n. In the booksof the \adÊth scholars both terms have also been treated as more orless synonymous (see al-Bukh§rÊ; Muslim, ‘aÈÊÈain, chapters onal-Êm§n).However, the assumption of synonymity in Allah’s Book has beena fundamental flaw in traditional scholarship. As we will prove inthis chapter, it has obscured the fact that the two terms are neithersemantically nor etymologically identical. It is the aim of this chapternot only to explore the semantic differences between al-isl§m andal-Êm§n but also between terms such as al-kufr, al-shirk, and al-jir§m,which were (all) thought to be synonymous terms contrasting withal-isl§m and al-Êm§n (see the works of our honourable scholars in tafsÊr,ußål al-fiqh, lugha, and so forth). This study hopes to demonstrate thedistinct universal nature of the term al-muslimån (those who assent toGod), which can be (generically) applied to all believers in this world,and this in contradistinction to the term al-mu"minån (those whobelieve), which, because it describes a more particular type of religiousbelief, must be used only for the followers of Prophet MuÈammad(ß).Let us first revisit how al-isl§m and al-Êm§n have been traditionallyunderstood. Al-isl§m is commonly perceived to be based on the followingfive pillars: