Is a Mumin different from a Muslim?

Answer 1

They do not. Islamic scholars state, "Every Mu'min is a Muslim. Every Muslim is a Mu'min." The meaning of Mu'min is a person who has believed, who has accepted the six tenets of belief. The meaning of Muslim is a person who has believed in the five fundamentals of Islam. If a person believes in the six fundamentals of belief but does not believe in the five fundamentals of Islam, (s)he is not a Mu'min or a Muslim. Similarly, if a person believes in the five fundamentals of Islam but does not believe in the six fundamentals of iman or even one of them, (s)he is not a Mu'min nor a Muslim.

Hadrat Imam-i Qurtubi writes in his tafsir book that the verse saying "Die Muslims" means "Die Mu'mins." As for the interpretation of the verse "Mu'mins are brothers," he writes that it also means "Muslims are brothers." Our Master the Prophet, too, explained the verses mentioned likewise. Some of the hadith-i sharifs on this topic are as follows:

(Muslims are brothers. None of them have superiority over the others except by virtue of taqwa [piety].)[Tabarani]

(A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim. He does not oppress him, but helps him.) [Bukhari, Muslim]

(A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim. It is not lawful for him to hush up the flaw in merchandise that he has sold to his brother.) [Muslim]

(Allahu ta'ala curses a person who puts on a sour face to his brother-in-Islam.) [Daylami]

(He who visits his brother-in-Islam by going his home and eats the meal he has offered will earn much more reward than the one who has offered that meal.) [Hatib]

(It is not lawful for a Muslim to become cross with his brother-in-Islam for more than three days.) [Ahmad]

(He who meets a need of his brother-in-Islam attains the reward of hajj and 'umra.) [Hatib]