ASK BROTHER SHAH : Between Islam and Muslim

Question :
Some of the most frequently asked questions on Islam, especially by non-Muslims, are to do with the term "ISLAM", "MUSLIMS" and "KAFIR". How would you explain these terms?


Answer :
MOST of the world's religions acquired their name much later in their history and were named after either a person (eg. Christianity : Jesus Christ, Buddhism : Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, Confucianism : Confucius/ Kung Fu Tse,etc), a tribe (eg. Judaism : tribe of Judah) or geographical location (eg. Hinduism : Indus River). It is interesting to note that the name of each of these religions is NOT mentioned in the Scripture of the religion. ISLAM, being a universal religion, was not named after any person, tribe or place. Furthermore, the name "Islam" was given by God (Himself) in the Qur'an: 

"This day have I perfected your Religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you ISLAM as your religion." (Qur'an 5:3)

"If anyone desires a religion other than ISLAM, never will it be accepted of him." (Qur'an 3:85)

"Islam" is an Arabic word which is derived along with the other Arabic words such as Salaam, Salim and Aslama, from the same root word. Salaam means peace, harmony, tranquility, calm, and serenity. Salim means authentic, sound, accurate and free from defects; while Aslama means to willingly submit or obey in the sense of 'total surrender'. In short, ISLAM means attaining peace by sincere and willing obedience to Almighty God. This is the only to achieve the state of peace within oneself, between oneself and the Creator, as well as between oneself and the rest and the rest of creation.


"Muslim", on the other hand, simply means anyone who truly and fully submits and obeys the one and only true God. Going by this definition, the sun, the moon and our heart are also 'Muslim' by their obedient character. They all obey the laws of god. The Moon orbits around the earth and the earth orbits around the sun as ordained by their Creator. Our heart continuously pumps blood to all parts of our body. Imagine if one day the heart decided to disobey its Creator and pump blood only occasionally! Similar, when human beings choose to disobey God, the result is chaos within us and around us, though not always in ways we can readily and immediately perceive. 

Unlike other creations, human beings have been blessed with the faculty of intellect, and with it, the freewill to choose either to obey or disobey God. When we choose to obey God we are being Muslim - with which comes spiritual peace and tranquility. On the other hand, when we choose to disobey, we are becoming Kafir - with which comes spiritual chaos and confusion within ourselves and without. Merely claiming to believe in God does not necessarily qualify a person to be called Muslim. One needs to demonstrate his/her belief by obedience and acts of worship.


Contrary to popular belief, Islam was not 'founded' 1400 years ago by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). That is why a Muslim is startled when he/she is called 'Mohammadan'. Islam has been the Religion since creation of the first man and has always been the one and only Religion preached by all the Prophets of God, from Adam to Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, Jesus and finally the last and final Prophet of God, Muhammad - peace and blessings of Allah upon them all. The Qur'an contains many verses testifying to the fact that it is always been the same message of Islam that the many Messengers of God (25 mentioned by name in the Qur'an) brought to mankind :

Qur'an 2:136... "Say, we believe in Allah and that which has been revealed to us, and that which was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the tribes and that which was given to Moses and Jesus and to other Prophets, from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we submit."

Qur'an 3:67... "Abraham was not a Jew or Christian; but an upright Muslim."

 Qur'an 42:13... "The same religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah -  that which We have sent by inspiration to you - and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses and Jesus: namely, that you should remain steadfast in Religion, and make no divisions therein: to those who worship other than God, hard is the (way) to which you call them."

Needless to say, all the Prophets of God were Muslim and the Religion they preached was ISLAM.




Note from Kira : This article was taken from a book entitled "Ask Brother Shah" written by  Shah Kirit bin Kakulal Govindji. This book is a compilation of his “Ask Brother Shah” articles in the now defunct Criteria weekly newspaper. Please buy one to support Malaysia's local book. More information about this book from Khairul H. at http://themalaysianreader.com/2010/03/10/45/