What is the meaning of the word Islam?
Praise be to Allaah.
If you refer to Arabic language dictionaries you will find out
that the meaning of the word Islam is: submission, humbling oneself, and
obeying commands and heeding prohibitions without objection, sincerely
worshipping Allaah alone, believing what He tells us and having faith in Him.
The word Islam has become the name of the religion which was brought by
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
Why is this religion called Islam? For all the religions on
earth are called by various names, either the name of a specific man or a
specific nation. So Christianity takes its name from Christ; Buddhism takes its
name from its founder, the Buddha; the Zoroastrians became well known by this
name because their founder and standard-bearer was Zoroaster. Similarly,
Judaism took its name from a tribe known as Yehudah (Judah), so it became known
as Judaism. And so on. Except for Islam, for it is not attributed to any
specific man or to any specific nation, rather its name refers to the meaning
of the word Islam. What this name indicates is that the establishment and
founding of this religion was not the work of one particular man and that it is
not only for one particular nation to the exclusion of all others. Rather its
aim is give the attribute implied by the word Islam to all the peoples of the
earth. So everyone who acquires this attribute, whether he is from the past or
the present, is a Muslim, and everyone who acquires this attribute in the
future will also be a Muslim.
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