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Introduction to Islam

The Meaning of Islam

ISLAM is derived from the Arabic root "SALEMA": peace, purity, submission and obedience. In the religious sense, Islam means submission to the will of God and obedience to His law.

Everything and every phenomenon in the world, other than man is administered TOTALLY by God-made laws i.e. they are obedient to God and submissive to His laws i.e. they are in the STATE OF ISLAM. Man possesses the quality of intelligence and choice, thus he is invited to submit to the good will of God and obey His law ie. become a Muslim. Submission to the good will of God, together with obedience to His beneficial law, i.e. becoming a Muslim is the best safeguard for man's peace and harmony.

Islam dates back to the edge of Adam and its message has been conveyed to man by God's Prophets and Messengers including Abrahim, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. Islam's message has been restored and enforced in the last stage of the religious evolution by God's last Prophet and Messenger Muhammad.

The word Allah in the Arabic language means God, or more accurately The One and Only Eternal God, Creator of theUniverse, Lord of all lords, King of all kings, MostCompassionate, Most Merciful. The word Allah to mean God is also used by Arabic speaking Jews and Christians.

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  mohammed hannini    
  1 year 33 weeks ago
as-salamu alaykum, If we say that Islam is the submission to Allah's will, does that mean that anyone who does is a Muslim? Christians, Jews, amongst others claim so. Does that make them Muslims? If the answer is yes, then one can ask how can Islam mean different, and opposite things, at the same time?! For example, how can Allah be one and three at the same time? How can one group believes in the message of Mohammd (saaws) be called Muslims and those who don't are called the same? How can the law from Allah be that brought by Mohammad (saaws) and that which the Qur'an says it got changed? Don't you think that the statement mentioned to describe Islam needs to be made more precise?
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  Syed Husain   in reply to mohammed hannini 
  1 year 33 weeks ago
Agreed - the definition here is not exclusive and inclusive of everything that defines what is Islam. Though to be fair, it does mention "obedience to his beneficial law" as a qualifier which rules out a notion of "anyone who submits". It would be beneficial to find definitions by classical ulema. Inshallah, I'll pull out my Lane Lexicon from the attic tomorrow and post its definition - that should also be interesting.
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  Imad-ud-din Saqib   in reply to mohammed hannini 
  1 year 33 weeks ago
Submission to the will of Allah (azzawajal) means that you listen to his every command. As Allah (azzawajal) tells us to follow the messenger (Muhammad (S)), therefore, you'll only be submitting when you follow that too and so on for the other commands. Therefore, Jews and Christians cannot be called Muslims because they don't obey these commands.
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  Syed Husain   in reply to mohammed hannini 
  1 year 32 weeks ago
In Lane’s Lexicon, the entry on سلم is several pages long, but only had the following which I thought was relevant {brackets are my additions}: ١لإسلام {al-islam} as a principle of the law of God is The manifesting of the humility to submission, and outward conforming with the law of god. And the taking upon oneself to do or to say as the Prophet has done or said: for this, the blood is to be spared, and one may demand the repelling of evil: (T, M :) and if there is therewith firm belief with the heart, it is إىمان {eeymaan}: (T:) this is the doctrine of Esh-Shafi’ee but the doctrine of Aboo-Haneefeh makes no difference between these two terms: (KT :) [agreeably with the former doctrine,] Th well and briefly says, ١لإسلام is with the tongue, and الإىمان {al-eeyman} is with the heart: and he says, in explaining verse 48 of ch. v. of Kur { http://alim.org/library/quran/ayah/compare/5/48/diversity-of-human-race-and-establish-justice-based-on-allah's-revelations }, that every prophet has been sent with ١لإسلام, though the ordinances differ (M)…And hence السِّلْمُ {as-silmu} signifies also ١لإسلام [as meaning The religion of the Muslims; because it is a religion of self-resignation, or submission]: (S, K :) this is meant in Kur [ii. 208] { http://alim.org/library/quran/ayah/compare/2/208/o-believers-enter-into-... }, where it is said ادْخُلُوا فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً [Enter ye into the religion of El-Islam wholly] (S, Bd, Jel;) and so السَّلْمِ {as-salmi}, as some there read; (Bd, Jel;) or both there mean submission and obedience to God: (Bd:) [and] السَّلَمِ {as-salamu} [also] has the former meaning. (M)…... ١لإسلام[ It is the general term for The religion of Mohammad: differing from الإىمان as shown above: - And hence, for أهلُ١لإسلامِ {ahlul islami} , or the like] The Muslims Collectively (M) --- T - The “Tahdheeb” of El-Azheree M - The “Mohkam” KT - The “Kitab et-Taareefat” Th – Thaalab, author of the “Faseeh” Kur - The “Kur-an” S - The “Sihah” K - The “Kamoos” Bd – El-Baydawee’s “Exposition of the Kur-an” Jel – “The Exposition of the Ku-Ran” by Jaelaleyn
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