Does ‘Salam’ Mean Submission or Peace?
To me, there are two fundamentally different kinds of Muslims according to this distinction.
‘Salam,’ as in Islam and Muslim ― same root, also as ‘sjalom’ in Hebrew.
I intend no denigration of Islam or any other religion.
Every religion is worthwhile if one dares to fall deeply inside. Otherwise, it’s just a sociocultural happening. There is no harm in that if there is clarity about the quality of religious content.
By the way, mine is Open Religion. Please respect it as I respect yours. Also, I don’t want to proselytize, just to let you think and feel for yourself.
Inner peace, a universal good
With this at the forefront, one can only applaud. A religion that brings inner peace to all is a mature one — as I would say, ready for the next step to being Open.
Inner peace is the aim of Compassion, basically. It is the most valuable good.
Moreover, it is incompatible with the coerced submission of anyone to anyone else.
Submission?
There is no room for oppression in any genuine religion, including Islam. Nevertheless, some see ‘salam’ as the submission of the true believer to ‘God’ who apparently demands such submission.
A discussion about whether such a God exists is, of course, pointless to a submitted believer because it’s not, to him, about rational arguments and logical argumentation. Anyway, a religious belief is a feeling; therefore, it is explicitly not an end product of mere rationality.
So, submission or peace?
The incompatibility that I just referred to lives on the outside. As ‘coerced submission,’ it’s in no case something from the inside.
That’s where I make the big difference — or unity.
Submission from the inside?
Indeed.
What this means is that the ego lowers its walls to make room for the total person in two directions. This is needed for any genuine religiosity in the first place.
I know this feeling very well, also in a religious context. I know it as one of the most excellent things if there is no coercion involved. Bring one grain of that, and all may be lost.
This way, genuine submission and inner peace point to the same.
No argument about this. Just go for it and feel it yourself.
So please don’t make the surface-level mistake of discarding depth, even if this mistake seems to be made so frequently in this world in which religion serves to many as a means for ego-purposes, be it in this world or the next.
In the universe of religion, mere ego-purposes are an utter disgrace. I wonder why this is not evident to some.
Respect your religiosity.
Then, our souls may meet.
What eternal joy!
Related Posts
The Perennial Path Across Traditions
Something ancient runs beneath the surface of the world’s deepest traditions. Not doctrine, but direction. Not dogma, but depth. This blog explores the perennial path — and how it leads, naturally, toward the eternal. What is the perennial path? Every great tradition holds within it a soft thread — a path not always visible on Read the full article…
The Final Transition
All people must die. I am a person. So, I must die. ― This simple logic holds silent weight for all of us. Still, the truth of it rarely lives on the surface. We tend to push it aside until a moment forces it forward — illness, loss, aging. Or perhaps… reflection. This blog is Read the full article…
Open Religion in Every Religion
Open Religion can be seen as a direction that can be taken from any conceptual religion. Alternatively, it can be seen as potentially present within the latter ― making Openness more easily accessible to many. I write of ‘religion’ here in a broad sense. For instance, Buddhism is another religion in which Open Religion can Read the full article…