Islam is the Arabic word derived from Salaam and Silm, meaning peace and submission, respectively, to the One True God, Allah.

In short, Islam is an internal, external, and eternal peace that is acquired by willingly submitting our will to the will of Allah, and by following His last prophet, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who is not the founder of Islam. Rather, its last prophet.

Indeed, all of the prophets of Allah are Muslims (ex. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad; peace and blessings be upon all of them). Every one of them preached the monotheistic message of Islam, which is the name of the peaceful and beautiful way of life in this world that guarantees eternal life in Paradise.

Salvation is attained through the Mercy of Allah alone, and the requirement for that is correct faith. Good deeds are an extension of a correct belief and proof of it. Sincerity and authenticity must always be upheld. But if one falls short, one simply repents before Allah, and Allah forgives those sins. If repentance is followed by correct works, the sins won’t just be forgiven; they’ll be replaced with good deeds! 

The road to Paradise is temporary and filled with thorns, while the road to Hell is temporary and filled with flowers. The first is one in which things appear unpleasant to us (thorns), but they are actually for our spiritual benefit. And the second is one in which things appear very pleasant to us (flowers), but they can actually be harmful and destructive to our souls.

Despite the fact that they are temporary roads, the destinations are eternal. In order to have patience with these thorns and hardships, one needs to understand the Attributes of Allah.

We must understand that, as humans, it’s natural to have desires – some are allowed to be acted upon, but others are not. What differentiates us from animals is that we do not simply act upon our desires. Rather, we have the ability to control them (i.e. free will). We should not allow desires and delusions to distract us from Islam.

Islam is two relationships, one that is primarily and predominately with the Creator, and the second is to the creation (yourself, your parents, your family, your neighbors, your friends, strangers, animals, and the inanimate). We must uphold both of these relationships in an Islamic manner.

Below is an explanation of Islam by the great scholar, Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah bin Baz (May Allah have mercy on him):

Islam means total submission to Allah (Exalted be He) through belief in His Oneness, and showing subservient and servile obedience to Him. This is the meaning of Islam.

The Arabic root word ‘Aslama‘ means to show submission and surrender to someone and obey his commands. Accordingly, Islam means surrender and submission to Allah’s Will by means of believing in His Oneness, being devoted to Him, obeying His commandments and abandoning what He has prohibited. Such is Islam, about which Allah (Exalted be He) says: (Truly, the religion with Allah is Islam.)

Besides, Muslims are thus called as they show complete submission to Allah and obey Him, abiding by His Commandments and refraining from what He has prohibited.

Islam is also a name for all the Commandments of Allah (Exalted be He) and His Messenger (peace be upon him), including Salah (Prayer), Sawm (fast), Zakah (obligatory charity), Hajj (pilgrimage), faith and so on. Such categories fall under Islam.

In this regard, Allah (Exalted be He) says: (This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.)

He (Glorified be He) also says: (And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers)

Therefore, a Muslim is a person who submits himself to Allah (Exalted be He) as far as words, practical behavior and belief are concerned. In other words, Islam stands for total submission to and abidance by His Commandments in all aspects of life.”

And Allah Subhanahu w Ta’ala knows best

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