Islam
(ˈɪsləm, ˈɪz-, ɪsˈlɑːm, ɪzˈlɑːm)
[a. Arab. islām lit. ‘resignation, surrendering’, inf. noun of aslama ‘he resigned or surrendered (himself)’, spec. ‘he became or was resigned or submissive (to God)’, hence ‘he became or was sincere in his religion’, 4th conjug. of salama ‘he was or became safe, secure, or free’; whence also the words salaam, Muslim, Mussulman.]
a. The religious system of Muhammad, Muhammadanism; the body of Muslims, the Muslim world.
As the proper name of orthodox Muhammadanism, islām is understood as ‘the manifesting of humility or submission and outward conformity with the law of God’ (Lane).
| 1818 Shelley (title) The Revolt of Islam. 1821 ― Hellas 916 Poor faint smile Of dying Islam! 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. Pref. 9 His creed and practice are ‘Resignation’, the Islam of the Oriental. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. iv. i. (1864) II. 169 To subdue to the faith of Islam. Ibid. 213 The potentates summoned by Mohammed himself to receive the doctrine of Islam. 1877 J. E. Carpenter tr. Tiele's Hist. Relig. 99 With this gloomy conception of deity corresponds the view taken by Islâm of the world. |
† b. An orthodox Muslim. Obs.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 311 These (they say) are friends to the Islams, that is, Catholike, or right-beleeving Musulmans. 1814 Spaniards i. iii, Thou art my country's foe, an Islam in thy creed. Ibid., No Islam born. |