Monday, December 13, 2010

What is Islam?

Assalam Alaykum :)

Wanting to start out this blog on a simple note, I will do my best, insha'allah, to first tell you what Islam means. For many around the globe, when they hear the word Islam they automatically associate it with terrorists, women covered head to toe, forcing a woman (or girl) into an unwanted marriage, etc. It is important when learning about Islam, or any religion for that matter, to know when to differentiate between culture and religion. Insha'Allah, I will be able to do my part in this world and spread the good news. . .Islam is BEAUTIFUL!

Okay, so what is Islam? What does this word mean?

According to a great book I came upon called A Guide for the New Muslim, "The word "Islam" is the verbal noun of the verb aslama." Simple, right?
Well for us non Arabic speaking homosapiens, this could pose a problem. What does aslama even mean?
Aslama literally means "He resigned or submitted himself." In Islamic terms, in respect to Allah, aslama means "He became submissive to God." Simply put, Islam is a decision one makes when he/she wants to be fully submissive to God and His laws for us and is, therefore, referred to as a Muslim.
It is interesting to point out that from this perspective, all prophets from Abraham to Muhammad (peace be upon them) were, in fact, Muslims. Once again, coming from the book mentioned above, the author can put it into better words than I.

In this sense, the religion of all of the prophets of God was Islam and they were all Muslims. Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, for example, were all Muslims and their religion was Islam, the true and sincere submission to God. Thus, Allah says in the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him), "The same religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah - that which We have sent by inspiration to you - and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus” (42:13)."

Up next? Who, exactly, is Allah?

6 comments:

  1. Assalaam Alaikum Elisa,

    Lovely beginning to your blog. I'm looking forward to follow the rest of the coming entries. Keep up the good work!

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  2. but is it true that apparently back then, there was no label for the religion 'islam'. it was only after muhammad (pbuh), the seal of all prophets, that the religion was known as Islam? because technically, muhammad (pbuh) perfected the teachings of Islam e.g. the different stages of prohibiting alcohol.

    before him, other prophets did not extensively teach the people about the 5 pillars of Islam, how to do solat, etc.

    so wouldn't that mean it was only AFTER muhammad (pbuh) that Islam was officially given a name?

    correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just wondering. =)

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  3. As salamu alaykum sister, may Allah bless you always.

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  4. Wow! Wow! Wow! I cannot believe I've been so lame all year and totally neglected this blog and all of your comments. I am so very sorry and I pray that you will see this comment, Insha'Allah.
    Thank you for all of your wonderful words. May Allah reward you all for your kindness. Ameen.

    RS,
    I do understand perfectly what you are asking. I have, in fact, asked the same question through my journey into this faith. This post was specifically referring to the word Islam and what it truly means, submitting yourself completely to Allah. How do we submit ourselves to Allah? Well, for that we go to our Holy book, Al-Qur'an. Yes, the Qur'an did not exist until the time of Muhammad (pbuh), but that's not to say much of what was revealed was not also revealed to previous prophets (pbut), but we no longer have original resources to prove it. I am confident in saying that if any of the prophets prior to Muhammad (pbuh) were to live today, he would choose Islam as his faith based on the fact it means to completely submit yourself to God. I hope this makes some sense. . .I am rather sleepy at the moment, but you've given me great motivation to make a post dedicated to exactly what you asked. Insha'Allah, it will be up soon :) Take care, dear <3

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  5. lOVELY POST.<3

    Well that was Haram .. Masjid Al Haram The kaaba =). its normally called haram so it wrote that. but now i changed that so that people gt exact what m talking about :)

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