مسلمان

Chagatai

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian مُسَلْمَان (musalmān), borrowed from Arabic مُسْلِم (muslim), from أَسْلَمَ (ʔaslama).

Noun

مسلمان • (mslmān /musulmān, musälmān/) (plural مسلمانلار)

1. Muslim

Descendants

• Uyghur: مۇسۇلمان (musulman)
• Uzbek: musulmon

Further reading

• Jarring, Gunnar (1964), “مسلمان”, in An Eastern Turki-English Dialect Dictionary‎^[1], C.W.K. Gleerup, page 201

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

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

Noun

مسلمان • (müsliman)

1. Muslim

Descendants

• Turkish: Müslüman
• → Albanian: mysliman
• → Bulgarian: мюсюлма́нин (mjusjulmánin)
• → Crimean Tatar: musulman
• → Greek: μουσουλμάνος (mousoulmános)
• → Hungarian: muzulmán
• → Italian: musulmano
  • → English: Mussulman
  • → French: musulman
  • → Galician: musulmán
  • → German: Muselman
    • → Estonian: musulman
    • → Swedish: muselman
  • → Maltese: musulman
  • → Portuguese: muçulmano
  • → Romanian: musulman
  • → Spanish: musulmán
• → 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 several 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) Early New Persian مزگت (mazgit, “mosque”) from مَسْجِد (masjid).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /mu.sal.ˈmaːn/

 

• (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]‎^[2]:

     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 payġambarān 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]‎^[3]:

     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

	singular	plural
bare	مسلمان (mosalmân)	مسلمانان، مسلمانا△ (mosalmânấn, mosalmânấ△)
definitive direct object	مسلمان را، مسلمان رو△ (mosalmân râ, mosalmâno△)	مسلمانان را، مسلمانا رو△ (mosalmânấn râ, mosalmânấ ro△)
ezâfe	مسلمان (mosalmân-e)	مسلمانان، مسلمانای△ (mosalmânấn-e, mosalmânấ-ye△)
marked indefinite or relative definite	مسلمانی (mosalmân-i)	مسلمانانی، مسلمانایی△ (mosalmânấn-i, 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، مسلمانین△ (mosalmânid, mosalmânin△)
3rd person (“he/she/it is, they are”)	مسلمان است، مسلمانه△ (mosalmân ast, mosalmâne△)	مسلمانند، مسلمانن△ (mosalmânand, mosalmânan△)

^△ Colloquial.

Related terms

• اسلام (eslâm)
• مسلمانی (mosalmâni)

Descendants

• → Avar: бусурманчи (busurmanči)
• → Azerbaijani: müsəlman
• → Bashkir: мосолман (mosolman)
• → Bengali: মুসলমান (musolman)
• → Chagatai: مسلمان (mslmān)
  • Uyghur: مۇسۇلمان (musulman)
  • Uzbek: musulmon
• → Dargwa: бусурман (busurman)
• ⇒ Georgian: მუსულმანი (musulmani)
• → Gujarati: મુસલમાન (musalmān)
• → Kazakh: мұсылман (mūsylman)
• → Konkani: मुसलमान (musalmān)
• → Kumyk: бусурман (busurman)
• → Kyrgyz: мусулман (musulman)
• → Lak: бусурман (busurman)
• → Maithili:

  Devanagari script: मुसलमान (musalᵊmān)

  Tirhuta script: 𑒧𑒳𑒮𑒪𑒧𑒰𑒢 (musalamāna)

• → Marathi: मुसलमान (musalmān)
• → Mongolian: мусульман (musulʹman)
• → Old Hindi: मुसलमांन (musalamā̃na)
  • Hindustani:

    Hindi: मुसलमान (musalmān)

    Urdu: مُسَلْمَان (musalmān)

• → Old Punjabi: ਮੁਸਲਮਾਣੁ (musalamāṇu), ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨੁ (musalamānu)
  • Punjabi:

    Gurmukhi script: ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ (muslamān)

    Shahmukhi script: مُسَلمان (musalmān)

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

  Devanagari script: मुसलमान

  Arabic script: مُسلْمان (muslmā̃)

• → Tatar: мөселман (möselman)
  • → Belarusian: мусульма́нін (musulʹmánin)
  • → Russian: мусульма́нин (musulʹmánin)
  • → Ukrainian: мусульма́нин (musulʹmányn)

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian مُسَلْمَان (musalmān), from Arabic مُسْلِم (muslim). First attested as Middle Hindi مسلمان (musalamān), Old Hindi मुसलमांन (musalamāṃna).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

مُسَلْمان • (musalmān) m (Hindi spelling मुसलमान)

1. (Islam) Muslim

Declension

Declension of مسلمان

	singular	plural
direct	مُسَلْمان (musalmān)	مُسَلْمان (musalmān)
oblique	مُسَلْمان (musalmān)	مُسَلْمانوں (musalmānõ)
vocative	مُسَلْمان (musalmān)	مُسَلْمانو (musalmāno)

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, 2026.
• 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.