Islamism is not a form of the Muslim faith or an expression of Muslim piety; it is, rather, a political ideology that strives to derive legitimacy from Islam.
I am thankful to Mr. Umaru Abdul Mutallab, the father of the failed Christmas day bomber. In late 2009, Mr. Abdul Mutallab, a Muslim, approached U.S. authorities in his native Nigeria to warn them of his son's slide into Islamist ideology. Mr. Abdul Mutallab's altruistic initiative is a case in point about the conflict between Muslims and Islamists.
While Islam is the faith of 1.4 billion people, Islamism is not a form of the Muslim faith or an expression of Muslim piety. Rather, it is a political ideology that strives to derive legitimacy from Islam. Islam and Islamism are not synonymous, and there is even a tension between the two, exemplified by the case of this Nigerian Muslim father turning in his Islamist son to the authorities.
So if Islam is a faith, then what is Islamism? It can be best described as an "anti-" ideology, in the sense that it defines itself only in opposition to things. That is, Islamism stands not for but against.
For starters, Islamism is anti-Semitic in promoting the view that Jews are evil. Because Jews live in Israel, it is also anti-Israeli, and it is also anti-American due to its distorted view of Jews' role in the United States. "Jews are evil, they run America, therefore America is evil" -- this is the mantra of Islamist thinking.
Islamism is also anti-Christian, having a perverted view of the religion as well. And since Jews and Christians live in the West, many Islamists are anti-Western. They likewise oppose liberal democracy and secularism, as these institutions originated in the West.
What is more, Islamists tend to be anti-capitalist because -- now you follow the logic -- capitalism originates from the West. Many also believe that "Jews invented capitalism" and therefore see capitalism as doubly evil. When they make money, however, Islamists often soften their negative attitude toward capitalism, anti-capitalism being ever the corruptible link in the Islamists' "anti-" ideology.
Paradoxically, Islamists also consider communism evil -- "the Jews invented that as well." That Karl Marx, who had Jewish grandparents, was raised a secular Protestant is irrelevant to Islamist zealots who find "evil Jews" everywhere. Islamists see Jewishness in all things they dislike politically. Take, for instance, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who had no Jewish heritage. Many Islamists, who cannot imagine a genuine Muslim who shares Western values, will tell you he is a crypto-Jew.
Islamism is therefore not about the Islamic faith. Rather, it is a dystopian ideology that distorts religion and reality to fit its "anti-" platform. In fall 2009, in a recent case demonstrating this pattern, Turkish Islamists attended the funeral of Caliph Ertugrul Osman, the descendant of Westernizing Ottoman sultans, lamenting the caliphate as the anti-Western institution par excellence.
Distortedly, these Islamists envisioned Osman, a Scotch-drinking, Wagner-listening, Western Muslim and resident of Upper East Side in New York City, as the leader of their Islamist crusade, arriving at his funeral only to celebrate this delusion.
But perhaps worst of all, Islamists distort their very own religious texts so as to befit this "anti-" platform. Consider the various annotations of the Muslim sacred book, the Koran. The book was originally written in classical Arabic, a rich, sophisticated language with tens of thousands of words and nuances, as well as flowing poetry. Over eighty percent of the world's Muslims don't speak or read Arabic, so the book has to be translated, requiring the addition of numerous annotations. These annotations differ depending on the edition of the text. In the case of Islamists, these are the seeds of hatred.
I was raised in Turkey and read the Koran with Turkish annotations. The first time I read an Islamist Koran was when I was 26, living in New York City. Praying at an American mosque, I came across an English-language Koran printed in Saudi Arabia, the main purveyor of Islamist texts worldwide. In its man-made annotations, this Koran preached violence and hatred towards Jews, Christians, the West and Western institutions generally.
In Turkey, the Diyanet, the country's highest authority for the Muslim faith, prints Korans that are "halal," i.e., without such hateful annotations. This institution is part of the secular government bureaucracy in Turkey, an ironic fact that is not without good consequences. The Diyanet promotes and protects tolerant Turkish/Balkan Islam, which explains why generations of Turks have grown up in Turkey shunning Islamism. The right Koran can firewall the minds of Muslims against Islamism, and in Turkey, Muslims have thus far won out against the Islamists.
The future of many countries in the world, and the future of the West, will be determined by this battle between Muslims and Islamists. Islamists want to convert Muslims to their hateful ideology. God knows the world needs more Muslims and fewer Islamists.

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts
Bill Maher and the difference between Islam and Muslims
Bill Maher deserves some credit for sticking to his positions on Islam, jihad and Sharia, despite enormous pressure and an increasing torrent of abuse from his Leftist former friends and allies. In this interview, however, he reveals some of his own limitations: he has only a glancing knowledge of the subject matter, and is ill-equipped to answer challenges because he doesn’t realize the fallacies inherent in those challenges, any more than do those who are giving him the challenge.
Marlow Stern of the Daily Beast charges that he makes “generalizations about Islam,” and then Maher answers by arguing that it is perfectly reasonable to make generalizations about Muslims. Maher’s point is sound, but both he and Stern are failing to distinguish between Islam and Muslims. What people continually fail to grasp is the distinction between the texts and teachings of a faith, which are matters of record, and the many different ways in which people understand those texts and teachings. To say that all the schools of Islamic law teach violent jihad and the subjugation of unbelievers under the rule of Islamic law is simply a statement of fact. It can be proven or disproven with reference to the actual teachings of the schools. But if they do all teach this, and they do, that doesn’t mean that every Muslim follows those teachings, any more than the fact that the Catholic Church teaches against contraception means that every Catholic opposes contraception. There is a spectrum of belief, knowledge, and fervor among Muslims as there is among believers in every belief system, religious or not.
What I object to is the violent, authoritarian, aggressive and supremacist program of jihad that is codified in Islamic doctrine. All too often any examination or discussion of this doctrine is waved away with a reference to things Christians did hundreds of years ago, and to passages in the Bible that are purportedly as violent as those in the Qur’an. But these doctrines are actually the problem, for they can and do incite Muslims to hatred and violence. Of course many Muslims are not thus incited, and many couldn’t care less about these doctrines. But that doesn’t change the fact that some Muslims are attempting to implement this deeply traditional supremacist program. The longer we don’t address this, or caricature pointing it out, as Stern does here, as tantamount to saying that “all Muslims are generally bad,” these texts and teachings will continue to incite jihad violence, with no one even considering any ways to stop this. (It is, of course, a staple of the Leftist/Islamic supremacist response to foes of jihad terror to claim that they’re saying that “all Muslims are terrorists.”)
Finally, there is in this another example of the low level of the public discourse today: not only does Stern caricature Maher’s position as “all Muslims are generally bad,” but he also offers as a counter to this the fact that five of the last twelve Nobel Peace Prize winners were Muslim. Given that Barack Obama and Yaser Arafat are Nobel Peace Prize winners, this is not an impressive argument: the Nobel Peace Prize is notoriously politicized. But what are we supposed to make of these Muslim Nobel Peace Prize winners? Did the Qur’an and Muhammad inspire them to take the actions that led them to win the Peace Prize? Does their existence somehow make it improper or wrong or bigoted to point out that jihadis worldwide repeatedly point to the Qur’an and Sunnah to justify their actions and make recruits among peaceful Muslims, and that something should be done about this?
“Bill Maher: Yes, I Can Generalize About Muslims,” by Marlow Stern, Daily Beast, October 16, 2014:
The Ben Affleck episode on Real Time was just great television. On no other show would you see an A-list actor from a newly released blockbuster like Gone Girl getting fired up over Islam. What did you make of that heated exchange? He seemed pretty fired up the moment Sam Harris sat down.
Well, I’m done talking about it. My view is I’ve said what I had to say about it the week before, when I did a formal monologue at the end of the show that I wrote very carefully, and they were responding to that. I will say that we legitimately started a national debate on something that needs to be talked about, and it’s very gratifying to finally see that a heck of a lot of liberals understand that the real liberals in this debate are people like me and Sam.
But when you do make generalizations about Islam…
…It’s not a generalization! First of all, this is nonsense—this idea that you can’t make generalizations. All of knowledge is based on generalizations. No one can interview all 1.5 billion Muslims in the world. It’s a dumb argument. Read any history book and it’ll use the word “Christendom,” but they didn’t interview every Christian in the 1600s. We’re talking facts. We’re talking polls that have been done over decades, time and time again telling us what people are thinking about the world. So this idea that we are making generalizations? It’s just stupid. We understand that 1.5 billion people don’t all think alike and that there are differences from country-to-country, but you can’t advance any sort of knowledge without making generalizations and it doesn’t mean they’re inaccurate. To say that it’s a widespread belief in the Muslim world that death is the appropriate response to leaving the religion is just a statement of fact. We should stop arguing about that and move on from it and figure out what we can do about it. To dismiss that is just like saying, “Global warming doesn’t exist.”

If all Muslims are generally bad, then where does five of the last twelve Nobel Peace Prize winners, all of whom are Muslim—people like Malala Yousafzai—fit in?
Man, I’m done talking about this. I just don’t want to keep talking about this. I’ve said my piece, now the rest of you talk about it.
Moslem vs. Muslim: What’s the Difference?
In today’s distressed political climate, it is important to speak to and about members of other cultures with respect, just as it is important to be able to describe your own culture and people appropriately.
Should you refer to followers of the Islamic faith as a Muslim or Moslem? Both words appear in print. Furthermore, both have been standard at various points throughout history, but one is greatly preferred in both American and British English today.
Continue reading to find out which spelling is correct.
What is the Difference Between Moslem and Muslim?
In this article, I will compare the terms Moslem vs. Muslim. I will use each in a sentence. Then, I will give you a useful trick to help determine whether you should choose Moslem or Muslim in your own writing.
When to Use Muslim
What does Muslim mean? Muslim is a noun. It means one who follows the religion of Islam.
It is important to note that Muslim and Islam are not interchangeable. Islam refers to a set of religious beliefs, whereas a Muslim is a person who follows those beliefs. In this way, these terms are analogous to the words Jew and Judaism.
Muslim can also be an adjective meaning of or related to followers of Islam. See the sentences below for examples.
• Some Muslim women wear hijabs in public.
• The star athlete on the varsity soccer team is a Muslim.
• THE UK is seeing a big rise in female Muslim entrepreneurs opening new businesses while juggling hectic family lives, according to the organisers of a major trade event aimed at the Muslim community. –The National
When to Use Moslem
What does Moslem mean? Moslem is an alternative spelling of Muslim. The words have the same meanings in all contexts, and both spellings have been in use for several centuries.
Moslem was the preferred spelling until the first half of the 20th century. Today, Muslim is the preferred spelling.
Bryan Garner offers as a possible explanation for the shift in preference the prominence of the Black Muslims, an alternative name for the Nation of Islam during the civil-rights movement. Now, he cites, Muslim is 20 times as common as Moslem.
You can see the relative usage of the words Muslim and Moslem in the graph below.

This graph is not scientific, since it only looks at books written in English since 1800. It doesn’t even tell us whether the words are being used as nouns or adjectives. Still, it clearly illustrates a long-term usage trend.
Trick to Remember the Difference
Here is a helpful trick to remember Muslim vs. Moslem.
Moslem was preferred up until the 20th century, but today, it is outdated.
Since Moslem and outdated are both spelled with an O, you should have no trouble choosing Muslim, which is the more up-to-date spelling of this term.
Summary
Is it Moslem or Muslim? Moslem and Muslim are alternative spellings of the same word. It is sometimes a noun and sometimes an adjective, but it always refers to or describes followers of Islam.
So, which spelling is preferred, Muslim or Moslem?
It is not difficult to remember which is the preferred spelling in modern times. The words Moslem and outdated both contain the letter O. If you link Moslem and outdated in your mind, you will easily remember to choose Muslim instead for contemporary audiences.
If that mnemonic fails you, feel free to check this article at a later date to refresh your memory.