The Connection Between the Root Salima and the Derived Verb Aslama

Main Part · Full-text chapter from the book The Doctrine of Monotheism · Read as PDF

In Arabic morphology⁶³, it is generally known that adding the letter hamzah at the beginning of a word derived from a triliteral root⁶⁴ leads to a transformation of meaning towards “to make” or “to cause.”

For example, from the verb jalasa meaning “he sat down”, one can form ajlasa, meaning “he made him sit” – or in the original sense, “he caused him to sit.”

In this way, the verb salima is also connected to the verb aslama. Salima means “to be pure”, while aslama means “he made it pure.” The two words salima and aslama correspond to each other in both meaning and word form, just like the two words khalasa and akhlasa.

Thus, aslama means “he made it salim”, and akhlasa means “he made it khalis.” The corresponding nouns are Islam and ikhlas.

For instance, if someone wants to purify contaminated water, this process in Arabic would be called ikhlas. An Arab would say: “yukhlisu l-ma'a.”

Islam is, therefore, synonymous with ikhlas! Thus, Islam is the religion of ikhlas. Without ikhlas, Islam cannot possibly exist. Any other claim would ultimately lead to the possibility of an “Islam without Islam” or a “Muslim without Islam.”

As previously clarified, it is absolutely clear what this frequently mentioned purification refers to, as expressed by the words Islam and ikhlas. It clearly refers to the purification of religion – specifically, the purification of a person's acts of worship and obedience from any polytheistic influences.

For this reason, the terms Islam and tawhid are often explained with the expression “ikhlasu l-'ibadati li-llah”, meaning “The purification of worship for Allah alone.”

This is also why the shahadah (the Islamic declaration of faith) is referred to as both “kalimatu t-tawhid” and “kalimatu l-ikhlas” – a designation that also goes back to narrations from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.