Reply #21: Here is a pretty good set of definitions from a new poster... [View All]

Islam is the faith.

Muslim just means anyone who believes in the faith: a Muslim can be secular (ie believing in government & law broadly independent of religion), like a secular Christian or Jew.

Islamist denotes those Muslims who advocate government & law founded on Islam. Most Islamists aren't jihadists, but see Islamic institutions as desirable in their own society. Jihadism's just one strain of radical Islamism, not representative of Islamist thought generally.

"Islamic" properly denotes the wider culture of the societies shaped by Islam, and is inappropriate as a religious or political label. Christians may make Islamic art without being irreligious, for instance, because of Islamic elements in their local culture.

dave_p