Does Islam mean peace?
To answer this question, one must delve into Arabic grammar. Arabic words are generally built upon a three-letter root. Thus, Islam is composed of the three core letters S-L-M, or Salama, which means peace. This is preceded by an “I,” which in Arabic grammar corresponds to a command. Consequently, it means something like “Be peaceful,” “Make peace,” “Follow peace,” “Seek peace,” etc. Similarly, there is the word “Iclis,” which translates to “Sit down.” The root C-L-S, or Celese, means “sit.” With the preceding “I,” it becomes an instruction, “Sit down.” Arabic words are formed according to this principle. Similar to German, for example, “legen” (to lay) becomes “hinlegen” (to put down), “auflegen” (to place on), or “auflegen” (to place on top). The prepositions
“hin”, “auf”, and “drauf” modify a verb in the same way. The word Muslim with the “M” at the beginning refers to someone who performs something, that is, someone who “makes peace”, “follows peace”, or is a “peacemaker”. For comparison, the word “Muallim”, which means teacher. The root A-L-M stands for the word “knowledge”. With the “M” at the beginning, it becomes someone who “spreads knowledge”, “teaches”, or “instructs”. This is important to understand. Because without this basic understanding, one will not understand Islam or will misinterpret it.
Why is Jesus not recognized as the Son of God?
In Arabic, there are two words for son: Ibn and Velet. Velet corresponds to the biological son, and Ibn refers to someone who is very close to you, even closer than the well-known Arabic word “brother” for a very good friend. And in the Quran, it says that Jesus is not Velet of Allah, meaning he is not the biological son of God. However, he can certainly be Ibn Allah, as someone who is very close to God. Incidentally, Arab Christians still use the term Ibn Allah today.
According to the Quran, only Muslims go to paradise?
There is a verse in the Quran that says, “And whoever has not embraced Islam during his lifetime will never enter paradise.” This is the commonly known translation. This is one reason for non-Muslims to question Islam. And “radical Muslims” boast that “Islam is the true religion” and refer to non-Muslims as kuffar. Kuffar is simultaneously understood as godless and an insult. A much more beautiful translation is the one I heard from Husameddin Mayer. Kuffar means veiled. In the sense of eyes closed, so as not to recognize the beauty of faith in God.
Now, what does the Quran mean by saying that only Muslims go to paradise? If you translate it, it simply means that only peacemakers go to paradise. So, the passage “Whoever does not accept Islam will not enter Paradise” means: Whoever is not peaceful will not enter Paradise.
Regardless of which religion they belong to.
Are virgins waiting in paradise?
There are now several sources indicating that this is a mistranslation. For example, a Turkish theologian published a book entitled “The Peaceful Translation of the Quran,” in which he explained that the word “Anab” refers to grapes.
He says it is a metamorphic description of paradise, similar to the reference to the fruits of the Garden of Eden. The word “Anab” also means grape in Aramaic, a Semitic language very similar to Arabic. I also asked a Syrian, who only knew the word as meaning grape.
Does the Quran command the killing of unbelievers?
Muslims are often confronted with this question, to which they usually reply: “Yes, but only in war, or in self-defense, or something similar.” Because they cannot deny that this passage exists. But what is its significance? One must be aware that the Quran still exists in the wording of the spoken language of about 1500 years ago. If one translates it word for word according to today’s knowledge of the Arabic language, it will not convey the original meaning. That must be logical. And most translators haven’t bothered to consider the historical development of the language. It’s simply not possible to accomplish that in a short time. It would probably take years before a work could be published, and it wouldn’t be economical. Anyone who has ever tried to translate a simple sentence from the Quran understands what I mean. I also refer here to Günther Schwarz, who needed 50 years to translate the Bible from its original Aramaic version into German in a way that accurately reflects its meaning. Now, according to today’s Arabic dictionary, the word “Katala” means “to kill” in German. But that doesn’t make sense. Because according to the Quran, killing is the greatest sin there is. Furthermore, it is declared a mortal sin in the Bible. According to the Quran, a Muslim must believe in the Bible.
Therefore, there are two pieces of evidence that this word must originally have had a different meaning. Presumably, it referred to “Kata,” which in modern Arabic means to cut or separate. In the sense of “severing ties with someone.” The most logical translation would be: Break off contact with non-believers. Perhaps the ending “-la” was added to “Kata” over time. The true reason can only be speculated upon. For comparison, there are examples from Old High German and modern German. In an Old High German dictionary, I discovered terms that had one or two fewer or more letters back then, with the same meaning today. As the most extreme example, I found a word that used to mean the complete opposite. And the dictionary was only about 100 years old. The Quran was written 1500 years ago. A lot can change in that time. Compare to the German spelling reform. Every 5-10 years or so, a new rule and a new dictionary are released.
Is it permissible to leave Islam?
There is a passage in the Quran that says: “Whoever has embraced Islam, may never leave it. This is what Allah commands.” This or a similar interpretation is widely known.
Sometimes Muslims are asked about it.
The answer is usually: “Once you have experienced the beauty of Islam, you will never want to leave Islam.” That may be true. But I sought a scholarly answer and found a very interesting translation: “Whoever has found peace in religion will never lose it again, regardless of which religion they belong to.”
Because Islam means peace. You don’t have to belong to any particular religion to be peaceful.