The term umma was semantically transformed to denote the Arab nation.

Evidence

Rashı¯d Ridfi a¯ was basically a theologian, not a politician, and his fundamental loyalty was Islamic not Arab. As early as 1900, however, he wrote a series of articles in al-Mana¯r in which he discussed the Turks and the Arabs, comparing the characters and achievements of the two, much to the advantage of the Arabs. While conceding great qualities to the Turks and allowing their important func­ tion in Islam, he insists on the superiority of the Arabs and on the greater significance of their role in the rise and spread of Islam among mankind. It is however because of their service to Islam that Rashı¯d Ridfi a¯ praises the Arabs— not like later nationalist theorists, including even some Christians, who praise Islam as a manifestation of the Arab genius. There is no hint of support for separatism in his writings, which express the attitude of a loyal Muslim to the Muslim state, at that time still the Ottoman Empire. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 850 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The umma is a theological space, not a nation awaiting political unification.; The Arabic word for society was coined to mean collective form — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 385; The Arabic term for politics was created by borrowing the European word ‘politics’. — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 337 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Early Arabist thinkers praised Arabs as servants of Islam, not as a nation #complicates (0.74)
• Early Arabist discourse praised Arabs as servants of Islam, pre-dating nationalist reversal #complicates (0.74) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 850