The Meaning of Islam: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:Arabic Islam.gif|right]]
[[Image:Arabic Islam.gif|right]]
Lissan al-Arab, one of the most authoritative lexicons of the Arabic language, mentions that the word 'Islam' is derived from the root verb '''istaslama''' (استسلاما); which means 'to submit' or 'give in' or 'surrender'.
 
The noun إسلام "Islam" is the masdar (literally "source", but in Arabic grammar "verbal noun") of the verb أسلم "aslama" meaning "to give up, to submit, to surrender, to give into, or to hand over." "Islam" in its literal sense thus means "submission", "surrender" or "giving up" though of course it is also the name of the religion to which this Wiki is devoted. "Aslama" is the verbal form IV, in Arabic grammar وزن أفعل "wazn afa'ala", from the root s-l-m س-ل-م. The root س-ل-م s-l-m is also the root of the word سلام "salaam" meaning "peace." As with all Arabic words and roots, it should be remembered that the root doesn't have a particular meaning but rather a swarm of semantic relations often produced by history and analogy, and thus words derived from the same root came have very d1ifferent meanings despite a common linguistic heritage.  


==Etymology==
==Etymology==


The word ''Islam'' derives from the Arabic triconsonantal root sīn-lām-mīm (SLM [<font size=4> س </font> <font size=4> ل </font> <font size=4> م </font>]). As with other Semetic roots in language such as Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic, many different words are created from this root word by inserting different vowels or constants between and in front of the three root consonants. Many English speakers wrongly assume that if two Arabic words share the same root word then their meanings are related when in reality the fact that some words share the same root word does not imply a relationship between the meanings of the words. For instance, all of these words are derived from the root S-L-M:
The word ''Islam'' derives from the Arabic triconsonantal root sīn-lām-mīm (SLM [<font size=4> س </font> <font size=4> ل </font> <font size=4> م </font>]). As with other Semetic roots in language such as Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic, many different words are created from this root word by inserting different vowels or constants between and in front of the three root consonants. As mentioned above, these semetic roots do not have meanings per se but rather clouds of semantic relationships often connected only by history and analogy but not actual meaning. For instance, all of these words are derived from the root S-L-M:


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