PERHAPS ONE OF the bluntest allegations against Islam is simply that it is not a religion of peace, along with the assertion that this expression was invented as late as the 1930’s and took off by the 1970’s in the writings of Muslims intended for western audiences.1 It is also claimed that “it is beyond dispute that the Holy Quran never actually claims that, ‘Islam is the religion of peace,’ - nor do the traditions of Muhammad[sa].” This allegation is baseless, as the very root of the word Islam connotes peace.
The root letters that form the word “Islam” are sīn-lām-mīm or S-L-M. Lane,2 a leading Arabic-English lexicon, elucidates its meaning as “submission”, “making secure”, “peace; being at peace with oneself and others” or “paying a price in full”. The Islamic salutation Assālamu ‘Alaikum exchanged between two Muslims whenever they meet literally means: ‘May peace be upon you’. In fact, this greeting is so important that Prophet Muhammadsa told the Muslims to extend this greeting of peace regardless of whether they know the other person or not.3
The Holy Quran frequently employs the word salām with the connotation of peace. For example, it declares:
Allah guides those who seek His pleasure on the paths of salām [peace]4
For them is the abode of salām [peace] with their Lord.5
It can also connote security, as the Holy Quran states: Salām [Peace] be upon Noah.6
Even one of the names of Allah mentioned in the Holy Quran is As-Salām, meaning, ‘The Source of Peace’.7 Hence, the unfounded claim that the definition of Islam as peace is a “later innovation” is false.
The founder of the Aḥmadiyya Muslim Jamā‘at, His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (referred to in this book as the Promised Messiahas) clarified the meaning of Islam in the following words:
In the idiom of Arabic, Islam means money paid as earnest to conclude a bargain, or to commit some affair to someone, or to seek peace, or to surrender a claim or point. The technical meaning of Islam is set out in the verse:
Nay, whoever submits himself completely to Allah, and is the doer of good, shall have his reward with his Lord. No fear shall come upon such, neither shall they grieve.8
This means that a Muslim is one who commits himself wholly to the cause of God Almighty; that is to say, one who devotes himself to God Almighty, to following His designs and to winning His pleasure, and then becomes steadfast in doing good for the sake of God Almighty and devotes all his faculties to that cause. In other words, he belongs entirely to God Almighty both doctrinally and in practice.”9
The fifth Caliph (Successor) of the Promised Messiahas, His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa says:
Islam is peace. If a person does not follow a particular teaching properly whilst claiming to subscribe to it, then it is he who is in error, not the teaching. The meaning of the word ‘Islam’ itself means peace, love and security. That “there should be no compulsion in matters of faith,”10 is a clear injunction of the Holy Quran. From cover-to-cover, the Holy Quran teaches love, affection, peace, reconciliation and the spirit of sacrifice. The Holy Quran states repeatedly that one who does not adopt righteousness is far removed from Allah, and therefore, is far removed from the teachings of Islam. Hence, if anybody portrays Islam as an extreme and violent religion filled with teachings of bloodshed, then such a portrayal has no link with the real Islam.11