| Answer:
This depends on the intention of the speaker. If this is a mere matter of
pronouncing the Arabic word ‘Muslim’ in the typical English accent, then this
cannot be objected to (which seems to be the case to me). If it is derived from Zulm, then Muzlim (the correct grammatical version of the word
pronounced as Moslem) means a person who is oppressive, which of course is
derogatory.
I think that Muslims are being
over sensitive in this regard. The Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, USA has
been publishing a journal ‘The Moslem World’ since the beginning of this century
and none of the Muslims of yester years ever objected to the title. In my
opinion, they thought that this was a difference of accent merely and had
nothing to do with the word Zulm. |