"Ummah" is an Arabic word that means community or nation. The term "Ummah" is used in reference to the community of believers in the Islam religion. Thus it encompasses the entire Islamic world. Prophet Muhammad is the founder of the ummah as he is the one who inaugurated Islam. The threefold consensus of its members is required to form Ummah. They are consensus of the mind, consensus of the heart, and consensus of arms. The consensus of minds i.e. All the members of the society share the same view of reality leads to the formation of ummah. The consensus of hearts i.e. All members should share the same values to form ummah. It is formed from the consensus of arms i.e. All members exert themselves to actualize or realise their values. Though it almost always essentially refers to the Islam religion in its wider conception it includes the entire society including members of monotheistic religions as well as the Jews and the Christians. This is recorded in an old document dating back to 622AD. Nowadays this term is used to denote all the people residing in the predominantly Muslim countries and lands.
