Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
Meaning of ‘Islam’
Let us understand what is meant by ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslim’. Islam is an Arabic word which is derived from several Arabic words that share the same root, namely ‘Salaam’, ‘Salim’ and ‘Aslama’. ‘Salaam’ means peace, harmony, tranquility, calm, and serenity while ‘Salim’ means authentic, sound, accurate and free from defects. ‘Aslama’ means to submit willingly, to obey willingly or total surrender. In short ‘Islam’ means ‘attaining peace by authentic and willing obedience to Almighty God’. This is the only way to achieve a state of peace within oneself, between oneself and the creator as well as between oneself and fellow creation.
ISLAM: I Shall Love All Mankind
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Saturday, May 28th, 2011
Origin of the name ‘Islam‘
Most religions in the world acquired its name much later and were named with reference to either a person [Christianity – Jesus Christ, Buddhism – Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, Confucianism – Confucius/ Kung Fu Tse etc], tribe [Judaism – Tribe of Judah] or geographical location [Hinduism – Indus River]. Islam however was not named as such but rather its name was given by God in the Qur’an itself; (1)
“This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion”(Qur’an 5:3).
“If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to God), never will it be accepted of him” (Qur’an 3:85)
(1) Muslims believe that the complete Qur’an is the verbatim words of God. However people from other faith may not agree with this statement. We shall discuss further on this matter when we address the topic on Qur’an in future, God willing.
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