Chinese’. The names given to religious traditions found in Asia, such as ‘Hinduism’, ‘Buddhism’, ‘Confucianism’ and ‘Taoism’, are all European inventions and date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They are labels applied for the convenience of Europeans and not translations of concepts found within these traditions. In the case of Islam, a designation taken from the Qur’an, the Arabic word islam (meaning ‘the state of accepting the will of God’), was brushed aside by Europeans and, following earlier Christian practice, replaced by ‘Mohommedanism’. This term implies that Islam centres upon the person of the Prophet Muhammad rather than Allah63 (God). Such a substitution is, in fact, blasphemy for a Muslim, which is why the continuing use of the term ‘Mohommedanism’ by some non-Muslims causes offence.