The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2566 page)

(Arab.). A term used in Qur’
n 7. 157 and 158,
al-ras
l al-nab
al-umm
(‘the prophet, messenger, the unlettered one’), denoting Mu
ammad. It is traditionally (and generally by Muslims) understood as meaning that Mu
ammad was totally unable to read or write, so emphasizing the miracle (i‘j
z) of the
Qur’
n
, with its surpassing eloquence coming into being via a complete illiterate. If, however, umm
is read as expressing a distinction from the Jews (who were ‘people with a book’), then it must mean ‘scriptureless’, i.e. ‘illiterate’ in being, as yet, without an Arabic scripture.

 
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Ummon School
.

One of the ‘
five houses
’ (
goke-shichi-shu
) of Ch'an Buddhism, founded by
Yun-men Wen-yen
(Jap., Ummon Bun'en), hence known as Yun-men-tsung (Ummon-shu). The best-known representative of the school in China is Hsüeh-tou Ch'ung-hsien; eventually the school was absorbed into
Rinzai
.

 
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‘Umra
.

Muslim
pilgrimage
, specifically the ‘lesser pilgrimage’ within the boundaries of the Masjid al-
ar
m in
Mecca
. The rites of ‘Umra consist of:
aw
f
(‘circumambulation’ of the
Ka‘ba
); kissing the
Black Stone
;
sa‘y
(running) between the two elevations of al-
af
’ and al-Marwa. ‘Umra, along with the
ajj itself, has origins in the pagan period, but the rites were given an Islamic character by the
Qur’
n
and by Muslim practice.