A simple but powerful point...
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peace all,
I was having a conversation with a Traditional Muslim recently and we were discussing what is islam, who is a muslim etc and I brought up a point which I regard as quite simple, but remarkably powerful, as its often not thought about.
As you may all know, The Quran is in a language, lets say Classical Arabic, and thus it narrates stories in that language. So when it says Abraham, Noah, Moses etc said this, said that, whilst the story is told in Arabic what they actually said was not actually in Arabic (unless we think Quranic Arabic also existed many thousands of years ago and spread over various lands). As far as I'm aware, no-one thinks that.
And We have not sent any messenger except in the language/tongue of his people, so he may clarify to them. But God misguides whom He wills, and He guides whom He wills. And He is the Noble, the Wise.
And some of you may know that in some stories narrated in The Quran, prophets/messengers use words such as "muslim", "salat", "iman" etc BUT if they were sent to their people in their own language, then of course they did not use these specific Arabic words, they would have simply used the equivalent in their respective languages.
Thus, as soon as one accepts the above point, the seemingly special status given to words (which are treated as titles these days) such as "muslim" and "islam" is completely destroyed. The word itself is actually irrelevant, it is the meaning of the word that counts. In other words, not what you are called but what you actually do, do you actually embody the meaning of the word.
If in a discussion with someone, I like to reinforce this point by use of an example. I say, so lets imagine in Noah's day, the equivalent of "muslim" in his language was (this is where I make up a word, e.g. jamajam, generally, the more stupid sounding the better ;D), thus in Noah's language a "muslim" of today could be called a "jamajam". I say "you are a jamajam". When I do this, it often sounds weird even hearing such a thing, in fact, makes the whole concept of a special word seem nonsensical, and the reaction is often surprise. Try it.
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Peace Bro Wakas,
This is exactly what I do when I have such conversations with people that aren't Muslims. The name triggers propaganda from the media as well as the traditionalist views of Islam. I try to explain the best that I can. Funny you mention it though as I just had a conversation about the very same thing yesterday. You raise good reasons as to why such words are meaningless if the meaning of the word does not get across. This is the reason why I dislike the idea of a religion called Islam or the followers being labeled as Muslims. However, as I told my friend yesterday, it would be odd to just tell someone that I was a submitter and that my religion was peace as it would probably throw them off even further, hehe.
Peace
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Selam Wakas
I totally agree, when you think about it just like people have evolved so has the language they use. A good example here is that millions of muslims all over the world feel the power of the words spoken in the Quran but have no or little knowledge of what is being said to them, thus religion is accepted blindly and reduced to a series of religious practices. Is it the case that as Islam spread the message became more and more diluted until it came to a point in which people don't know what it is saying?
Peace
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Thus, as soon as one accepts the above point, the seemingly special status given to words (which are treated as titles these days) such as "muslim" and "islam" is completely destroyed. The word itself is actually irrelevant, it is the meaning of the word that counts. In other words, not what you are called but what you actually do, do you actually embody the meaning of the word.
Very True!!
And as such we should stop labelling / stereotyping people as 'non-muslim' as well..
By calling them 'non-muslim' we accuse them of NOT submitting to God's will..
Amd we don't know whether they're actually NOT submitting to God's will ..If in a discussion with someone, I like to reinforce this point by use of an example. I say, so lets imagine in Noah's day, the equivalent of "muslim" in his language was (this is where I make up a word, e.g. jamajam, generally, the more stupid sounding the better ;D), thus in Noah's language a "muslim" of today could be called a "jamajam". I say "you are a jamajam". When I do this, it often sounds weird even hearing such a thing, in fact, makes the whole concept of a special word seem nonsensical, and the reaction is often surprise. Try it.
It seem that Islam (tm) and Muslim (tm) are now a trademark claimed by the sunnis..
Interesting story, I've tried a different approach.. I told them saying 'non-muslim' or a 'muslim' is within the same 'domain' as saying 'honest people' or 'dishonest people'. As thus muslim and non-muslim people spread over many sects/religions/political parties/groups. There are muslim jews, muslim christians, muslim taoist, non-muslim sunnis, non-muslim shiites, non-muslim ahmadis as there are honest jews, honest sunnis, dishonest sunnis, dishonest christians, dishonest jews, honest shiites, dishonest ahmadis, honest taoists, dishonest bhuddist etc..
Salam / Peace
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Peace be upon you all,
Yes, this is the same conclusion I think we all must come to at some point. This is why I stopped using arabic terms a long time ago (since we are all conversating in english). I greet with "Peace be upon you" because that is what I want to convey. I want you to achieve a state where all of your responses to life's events are peaceful, not stressful. People where I am from say "salaamu alaikum" in a way as if it is some slang word....they would be embarrassed to say "Peace be upon you" because they wouldn't sound "cool".
Also, be mindful of capitalizing these words as well.
One is a person of peace(muslim) by actions, not chosen title.
Brother Ayman wrote a good article many years ago that would be good to share now if anyone has he link
Peace
