What is in a word; Muslim Vs. Submitter
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Salam, or Peace,
I received an e-mail from a participant here last night. The person asked why I object to the usage of "Allah" when I sometimes say "Salam" instead of Peace and most of the time "Muslim" instead of Submitter.
For me, it is simple;
a) If you are using a language beside the original, then use the new language's usage of that word. For me, I don't know any one word that completes the word "Muslim" in English. The word submitter -- though it covers the "literal" meaning -- does not come close to what Muslim means; one who submits wholly to God.
b) The word Allah is divisive in the sense that it potrays another god though there is an equal word for it in English; God. There is a movement out there which works very hard to 'proof' that Allah is a separate god for Muslims. Among their claims, it is that Muslims exclusively use this word to mean for their god.
c) As for Salam, to me it is just universal. Among many languages the word is same; Hindi, Urdu, Farsi, Kiswahili, etc. Not only that, everybody almost knows what it means.
So, what do you all think? Is the word SUBMITTER a valid substitute for the word MUSLIM?
Cheers cool