1- What is the meaning of Islam? In Arabic, when a warrior lays down his arms and surrenders because he knows he is defeated, we use the verb "aslama", which means "he submits." The word "Islam" comes from this verb and means "submission.". So, in the widest sense, Islam means the religion of submission to God. A Muslim catechism says, "Islam is submission to God with all our being, with all our senses, with all our organs: the hands, the feet, the ears, the tongue, the stomach and the sexual organs. It is the submission of the inner life of each of us". (Cf. Qur'an: 2 Baqara 106/112). But in particular, we use the word Islam to indicate al…

What is religion? This question has puzzled theologians throughout human history. But how did religion start in the first place? Why did it start? In order to understand some of these issues, let us have a look at the etymology of the word “religion” itself, and see that when and where this word was used for the very first time in the human history.

The word religion was used for the very first time in the Latin language. The actual word used in Latin was “religio”, which changed into religion when came into English. The roots of the Arabic word “Mazhab” or “Deen” can also be traced back to “religio”. In the Latin language, the word “religio” had three basic meanings; which are Faith, Trust & Belief.

If you further analyse these three words, faith, trust and belief; then you realize that there are actually three different characteristics