Ishq

"Islam means entering into salm, and salm and salim both signify peace. Both these words are used in the sense of peace in the Koran (2:208 and 8:61). The Koran says: "And Lord, make us submissive to Thee" (2:128). The word Islam does not only signify submission, it also signifies entering into peace, and the Muslim is one who makes his peace with God and man. Peace with God implies complete submission to His will in the sense in which it is used in the phrase aslama wajha hu li'Allahi, i.e., He has submitted his face to God. Islam is derived from aslama, occurring 22 times in the Koran, which means submitting oneself, thus Islam signifies the religion of entire submission to God. The word Islam is used eight times in the Koran, while the word Muslim occurs 42 times, means one who submits. Among the eight Koranic verses, three of them (6:125, 61:7 and 38:22) stress the Islamic quality of interiority, three (5:3, 3:19 and 3:85) stress the connection of Islam with din, and two (9:74 and 39:17) condemns the unbelief of those who had made a profession of faith.

In defining the lexical meaning, Ibn al-Anbari (d. 328/939) said, "Islam means making one's religion and faith God's alone" (cf. Tafsir al-Kabir, 1:432). This definition agrees with that given of Islam by the Prophet. He was once asked, "What is Islam?" and he replied, "It consists in giving your heart solely to God and in making Muslim safe from your tongue and hand." On another occasion, the Prophet said, "Islam is external faith belongs to the heart" (Masnad, 3:134).

Islam is the last of the great religions. Not only the last, it is an all-inclusive religion which contains within itself all past religions. The Koran says of Abraham: "When his Lord said to him.