Q 2: Religions are usually named after their prophets, but Islam does not follow such rule, so
what is the meaning of the word "Islam"?
A: Islam is submission to Allah through Tawhid (belief in the Oneness of Allah/ monotheism), resignation to Him through obedience, and disavowal of Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) and its people.
No religion is known to be named after its prophet with the exception of the religion of the Christians, It was named after Christ, the son of Maryam (Mary), peace be upon them, after the religion had been distorted.
This name is totally wrong. But every religion can be attributed to its prophet; we can say: "The religion of Musa (Moses, peace be upon him), the religion of `Eisa (Jesus, peace be upon him) and the religion of Muhammad (peace be upon him)," in the same way we can say:
"Islam is the religion of such and such a person" and so on.
May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and Companions.
| Member | Member | Deputy Chairman | Chairman |
| Bakr Abu Zayd | Salih Al-Fawzan | `Abdul-`Aziz Al Al-Shaykh | `Abdul-`Aziz ibn `Abdullah ibn Baz |
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The Standing Committee: In Arabic, Islam means surrender . It has been taken to describe
the status of the one who embraces Allah‘s Religion for he surrenders
his will to Allah and abide by the rules set by Him and conveyed via
His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Allah says about Ibrahim,
peace be upon him, ’When his Lord said to him, ’Submit (be a Muslim
)!“ He said, ’I have submitted myself (as a Muslim ) to the Lord of
all that exists. “ [al-Baqarah 2:131 – interpretation of the meaning]
. al-Da‘wah magazine, no. 1789, p. 42 [islamqa]
