Is a Muslim a religious reference or a ethnic reference?

Question

I hear the news prefix terrorist with either Muslim or Islamic. I was curious as to if this refers to the type of religion or ethnitisty, or if it refers something else. What should I take away as the meaning when someone calls a terrorist a Muslim or Islamic terrorist?

Answer 1

Muslim is a religious reference. It refers to members of the religion of Islam. "Muslim" and "Islamic" are often used interchangeably. Westerners often confuse the religious affiliation "Muslim" with the ethnicity "Arab" as most Arabs are Muslims and the Middle East is identified with Islam. Just remember that these are generalizations. In fact, Indonesia, a country on the other side of the world, is actually the country with the largest Muslim population.

Muslim or Islamic terrorist can be confusing terms. In the sense of the words, it can refer to any follower of Islam who uses fear or intimidation (often public intimidation) to further his or her goals. In common usage, it is used as a political label, usually for people fighting against the West or Israel in the Middle East or in areas that have a large population of Muslims. Furthering the confusion, the term "terrorism" is constantly having it's meaning changed, depending on who is using it and how.

Answer 2

Muslim is a religious reference, not an ethnic reference. It refers to the Islamic faith

Usually its a religious reference

Often however when Muslims are the majority, they impose laws on the other groups. For example in Nigeria there are Christians and Tribal Animists and when Muslims get in power they tend to impose Muslim laws on others... so this confuses the issue. The government may be Muslim, the people may not be.

Answer 3

Not All Muslims Are Terrorists Or Evil....
And a Muslim is a person who follows the religion Islam, a religion who believes in peace and harmony amongst each other.

Answer 4

a Muslim is someone who follows the teachings of Islam.
Not every muslim is a terrorist. BUT today many are judged by their appearance. If they have a head scarf on they are automatically judged in a negative manner. U seemed confused, so maybe u can do lil bit more research to understand a lil bit more rather than relying on the answers u find here.

Answer 5

They are referred to as Muslim or Islamic terrorists because they use the words of the Koran to justify what they are doing. Some terorists were not born in the Middle East but are Muslim; most people born in the Middle East are Muslim except those born in Israel.

Answer 6

Muslim and Islamic are religious references.

Answer 7

Muslim ( Musalmaan,, Moslem) is a person who follows the Religion Islam..
ALL Muslims are not Terrorists and all terrorists are not Muslims..

Answer 8

A Muslim is someone who pratices the religion of Islam. It has nothing to do with terrorism.

Answer 9

Muslim is strictly a religous reference, as is Islamic.

Answer 10

religious reference