Significance of the name
The name Islam was not invented, as in the case of other religions, by those who professed it. This name is, on the other hand, expressly given to this religion in the Holy Quran. It says:
“I (God) have chosen for you Islam as a religion” (5:3).
And in another place:
“Surely the religion with God is Islam” (3:19).
It is, moreover, a significant name; in fact, the word Islam indicates the very essence of the religious system known by that name. Its primary significance is the ‘making of peace’, and the idea of ‘peace’ is the dominant idea in Islam. A Muslim, according to the Holy Quran, is he who has made peace with God and man, with the Creator as well as His creatures. Peace with God implies complete submission to His will Who is the source of all purity and goodness, and peace with man implies the doing of good to fellow-man. Both these ideas are briefly, but beautifully, expressed in 2:112, which says:
“Nay, whoever submits himself entirely to God, and is the doer of good to others, he has his reward from his Lord, and there is no fear for such, nor shall they grieve.”
That, and that only, is salvation according to the Holy Quran. And as the Muslim is in perfect peace, he enjoys peace of mind and contentment (16:106). “Peace” is the greeting of one Muslim to another, and “Peace” shall also be the greeting of those in paradise:
“And their greeting therein shall be, Peace” (10:10).
Nay, in the paradise which Islam depicts, no word shall be heard except “Peace, Peace”, as the Holy Quran says:
“They shall hear therein no vain or sinful talk, but only the saying, Peace! Peace!” (56:25,26).
The “Author of peace and safety” is also a name of God mentioned in the Holy Quran (59:23), and the goal to which Islam leads is the “Abode of Peace”, as is said in 10:25:
“And God invites to the abode of peace”.
Peace is, therefore, the essence of Islam, being the root from which it springs and the fruit which it yields, and Islam is thus pre-eminently the Religion of Peace.
New meaning introduced into religion
In Islam the concept of religion receives a new significance. Firstly, it is to be treated not as a dogma, which a man must accept if he is to escape everlasting damnation, but as a science based on the universal experience of humanity. Thus, according to Islam, Divine revelation (or God’s communicating with man) is a necessary factor in the evolution of man. And from its crudest form (that of true dreams and visions) to its highest form (that of religious truths and laws revealed to the great prophets of God), Divine revelation is the universal experience of humanity and a Divine gift bestowed upon all the nations of the world. Secondly, further strengthening the idea of the scientific in religion, Islam presents all its doctrines as principles of human conduct and action, and makes each point of belief the basis for action by man for his development to higher and yet higher stages of life.
Thirdly, the sphere of religion is not confined to the next world; its primary concern is rather with this life, that man, through a righteous life here on earth, may attain to the consciousness of a higher existence. And so it is that the Quran deals not only with the means which make man attain communion with God, but also with the problems of the world around us, with important questions the proper understanding of which enables man to lead a happy life. It gives guidance for individual progress, and also for the advancement of society, the nation, and even humanity. It prepares man for another life, but only through making him capable of holding his own in the present one.
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