“Islam”, “Muslim” & “Shari’ah” as Understood from the Qur’an
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is written by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Ghafur ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahim. Throughout the Qur’an, the term “ islam ”, as well as its derivatives such as “ aslama ”, “ aslamu ”, “ muslim ”, “ muslimun ” and such, has been used in the literal sense of “submission to God”. In this sense, there are two meaning elements involved: belief in one God and moulding one’s life in the light of this belief that is, living righteously. The Qur’an does not use the term “ islam ” and its derivatives in an institutionalised sense, meaning the religion propagated by the Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ) with its specific belief system and law. This is why the Qur’an describes past prophets such as Ibrahim ( a.s. ), Musa ( a.s. ) and ‘Isa ( a.s. ) and their followers as muslimun , “those who submitted to God”, that is, they believed in one God and lived righteously. For example: سُوۡرَةُ آل عِمرَان مَا كَانَ إِبۡرَٲهِيمُ يَہُو...