The Meaning of the Verb aslama

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The noun islam is derived from the verb aslama. In the Arabic dictionaries⁶¹, the following meanings are given for the verb aslama:

• أسلَمَ أي انْقاد واستَسلَمَ

• ودخَل في السِلْم (بالفتح وبالكسر)

• أسلَمَ الشيءَ إليه أيْ دفَعَه

• أسلَمَ أمرَه له وإليه أيْ فوَّضَه

• أسلَمَ الشيءَ مِثْل (سلَّمَه له) بمعنى: خلَّصَه له أيْ جعَلَه سالِماً له وخالِصاً، فإذا أَسْلَمَه له وإليه جَعَلَه سالِماً له وخالِصاً

• To submit/surrender/yield to someone

• To enter into peace. Therefore, the words derived from this root are also used in the context of warfare to mean “to surrender” or “to make peace.”

• To hand over/transfer something to someone. The linguistic connection to the root lies in the fact that the person receiving the item has full authority over it afterward.

The meaning of the root is reflected here because, after the handover, only that person has full ownership of the matter. The fundamental meaning, therefore, is: The item now belongs purely and exclusively to that person.

• To entrust/assign a matter to someone

• To purify something completely. If one performs an action for someone other than oneself, it means that one has done this act “exclusively for him / purely for his sake / dedicating the matter to him.”⁶²

Through the explanations provided by the classical Arabic dictionaries mentioned above, it becomes very clear that the verb aslama revolves around the complete purification of something or the act of handing something over entirely to someone else, leaving it at his full disposal.

The word Islam is the verbal noun derived from this verb and therefore carries exactly the same meanings within it.