Question: Religions are usually named after their prophets, but Islam does not follow such a rule. So what is the meaning of the word “Islam”?
Answer : 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 ‘Eesaa (Jesus, peace be upon him) and the religion of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم),” 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.
Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta’
~ Abu Fajr AbdulFattaah bin Uthman
