The Meaning Of Muslim And Momin

The Meaning Of Muslim And Momin
The word ‘Islam’ is an Arabic word, which is derived from the word ‘Salima’ or ‘Salaamati’ in the same way as the word ‘Iman’ is derived from ‘Amn’ (peace). Of course, Allah has promised eternal peace and security for every person who enters into the folds of Islam.
The literal meaning of ‘Islam’ is ‘submission, surrender and obedience’ to God. In religious terms, ‘Momin’ means an individual who believes in his Creator and Sustainer, accepts it by tongue and does not attach anybody else with Him, while a Muslim is one who surrenders and subjugates himself in toto, to the will of God.
In other words, ‘Iman’ means putting one’s trust in Allah, his an infinite array of traits, characteristics and powers, and believing and accepting it by tongue and heart. Subsequently, pledging to lead one’s entire life in accordance with the instructions of Allah alone and submitting oneself to His will is nothing but Islam. Aesthetically speaking, where ‘Iman’ is related to heart, ‘Islam’ is related to the body. However, these words are used inter-changeably nowadays. This book also uses both the words inter- changeably at different places.
There are two connotations of submission to God i.e. Islam. One, for which man is helpless, such as to take food, Allah has made the mouth; for speaking, He has given a tongue; for hearing, He has blessed us with ears; and He has made eyes for seeing. Needless to say, man cannot help using them in order to survive; that is to say, even if a person is a Kafir (atheist) or a Mushrik (polytheist), he is a Muslim since all his organs work as per the will of Allah. Similarly, each and every creation is a Muslim since it works and behaves obediently to Allah. The second aspect of Islam is obedience, where man has been given the free will either to believe in Allah and thus prepare himself for the Akhirah (Day of Judgement) by subjugating himself to the Supreme will or to destroy his future in Akhirah by letting himself go astray in the process of getting influenced by Satan and evil. In this perspective, man is certainly not bound by fixed laws so far as obedience to Almighty is concerned. This very aspect of obedience is called Islam both from the point of Islamic Shariah as well as in terms of the present world terminology. A person who follows this connotation of Islam is a Muslim.