Notes on Muhammadanism/Chapter 2
II.—ISLAM.
Isla′m is the name given to the Muhammadan religion by its founder. Abdul Haqq (the commentator on the Mishkát) says it implies "submission to the divine will."
In the Dictionary of the Qurán entitled Moghrab, Islám is explained as "entering into peace (salm) with another," alluding to the fact that he who embraces Islám in a Muhammadan state becomes free from all those penalties and disabilities which belong to one who does not embrace the faith.
In the Qurán the word is used for doing homage to God. Islám is said to be the religion of all the prophets from the time of Abraham, as will appear from the following verses (Surat-ul-Imrán, ver. 78, 79):—"We believe in God and in what hath been sent down to Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the Tribes, and in what was given to Moses, and Jesus and the Prophets from their Lord. We make no difference between them, and to him are we resigned (i.e. Muslims). Whoso desireth any other religion than Islám, that religion shall never be accepted of him, and in the next world he shall be lost."
There are three words used by Muhammadan writers for religion, namely, Dín, Millat, and Mazhab; and in the Kitáb-ut-Tárífát the difference implied in these words is said to be as follows:—Dín as it stands in its relation to God, e.g. Dín-Ullah, the religion of God; Millat, as it stands in relation to a prophet or lawgiver, e.g. Millat-i-Ibrahím, the religion of Abraham; and Mazhab as it stands in relation to the divines of Islám, e.g. Mazhab-i-Hanafí, the religion of Hanífa. The expression Dín, however, is of general application.
Those who profess the religion of Islám are called Musalmáns, Muslims, or Momins.
Ahl-i-Kitáb, "the people of the Book," is used for Muhammadans, Jews, and Christians.