The umma differs from nations in what it predicates, not in being imagined.

Evidence

The Islamic umma in the classical theological view is thus not an imagined community on a par with the Arab nation waiting to be politically unified but a theologically defined space enabling Muslims to practice the disciplines of din in the world. Of course the word umma does also have the sense of “a people”—and “a community”—in the Qur’an. But the members of every community imagine it to have a particular character, and relate to one another by virtue of it. The crucial point therefore is not that it is imagined but that what is imagined predicates distinctive modes of being and acting. The Islamic umma presupposes individuals who are selfgoverning but not autonomous. The shari¯‘a, a system of practical reason morally binding on each faithful individual, exists independently of him or her. At the same time every Muslim has the psychological ability to discover its rules and to conform to them. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 960

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sharply distinguishes the Islamic umma from Anderson-style imagined national communities: the difference lies in what is imagined.
• XREF: Directly engages and qualifies Benedict Anderson’s ‘imagined communities’ thesis.