The Meaning of Islam

The word Islam means submission: willingly giving yourself to Allah, your Creator, and following His guidance. A Muslim is simply someone who submits to Allah. The Qur'an describes this in one line: ﴿بَلَىٰ مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُۥ لِلَّهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ فَلَهُۥٓ أَجْرُهُۥ عِندَ رَبِّهِۦ﴾ (“Yes, whoever submits himself to Allah while doing good will have his reward with his Lord”) (2:112). And Allah says: ﴿إِنَّ ٱلدِّينَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمُ﴾ (“Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam”) (3:19).

In Arabic, the word Islam comes from the same root as salam, peace. One of Allah's names is al-Salam, the Source of Peace (59:23), and He calls Paradise the Home of Peace: ﴿وَٱللَّهُ يَدْعُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ دَارِ ٱلسَّلَـٰمِ﴾ (“And Allah invites to the Home of Peace”) (10:25). The Prophet ﷺ joined the two meanings when he said: "The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the Muslims are safe" (Sahih al-Bukhari 10).

Islam teaches that turning to Allah is natural to every person. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Every child is born upon the fitrah," the natural disposition to know and worship Allah, and it is the child's upbringing that later leads it elsewhere (Sahih al-Bukhari 1385). The Qur'an calls this ﴿فِطْرَتَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّتِى فَطَرَ ٱلنَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا﴾ (“the nature Allah has made people with”) (30:30). Coming to Islam is a return to the way a person was created.