Etymology, root, Qur’anic occurrences, and semantic field of the verb “s-l-m”
Muslim (مُسْلِم) derives from the active participle of the fourth form verb أَسْلَمَ (ʾaslama: “to submit oneself, to surrender, to devote oneself ”).
It is built on the triliteral Semitic root س ل م (s-l-m), a very rich root that carries meanings such as:
– peace,
– safety,
– soundness,
– integrity,
– submission,
– harmony.
From this same root comes Salām (سَلاَم, “peace”) and all the verbal and nominal forms connected with the act of entrusting oneself trustfully to GOD.
Occurrences of the root س ل م (s-l-m) in the Qur’an
The root appears 140 times, in 16 derived forms:
- Form II verb (سَلَّمَ) → 6 occurrences
- Form IV verb (أَسْلَمَ) → 22
- salām (nominal) → 42
- sil’m (proper noun) → 1
- sullam (noun) → 2
- salam (noun) → 5
- salm (noun) → 2
- salīm (adjective) → 2
- sālimūn (active participle) → 1
- taslīm (verbal noun, form II) → 3
- musallamat (passive participle) → 3
- is’lām (verbal noun, form IV) → 8
- mus’lim (active participle, form IV) → 39
- mus’limāt (active participle pl., form IV) → 2
- mus’limat (active participle sg., form IV) → 1
- mus’taslimūn (form X active participle) → 1
The translations offered in this study are brief glosses intended as a guide: an Arabic word can have a broader range of meanings depending on its Qur’anic context.
1. Verb – Form II (سَلَّمَ)
“To confer peace, to deliver, to greet, to pay”
Examples:
- (2:233:53) سَلَّمْتُمْ — “you pay / you deliver”
فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا سَلَّمْتُمْ - (4:65:18) وَيُسَلِّمُوا — “and they submit”
ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا - (8:43:16) سَلَّمَ — “He saved (you)”
وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ سَلَّمَ - (24:27:11) وَتُسَلِّمُوا — “and you greet”
لَا تَدْخُلُوا بُيُوتًا غَيْرَ بُيُوتِكُمْ حَتَّىٰ تَسْتَأْنِسُوا وَتُسَلِّمُوا عَلَىٰ أَهْلِهَا - (24:61:61) فَسَلِّمُوا — “then greet”
فَإِذَا دَخَلْتُمْ بُيُوتًا فَسَلِّمُوا عَلَىٰ أَنْفُسِكُمْ - (33:56:12) وَسَلِّمُوا — “and greet him / offer him peace”
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
2. Verb – Form IV (أَسْلَمَ)
“To submit oneself to GOD, to devote oneself, to surrender spiritually”
A selection (all forms are preserved as in your original list):
- (2:112:3) أَسْلَمَ — “submits”
- (2:131:5) أَسْلِمْ — “Submit (yourself)”
- (2:131:7) أَسْلَمْتُ — “I have submitted”
- (3:20:4) أَسْلَمْتُ — “I have submitted”
- (3:20:14) أَأَسْلَمْتُمْ — “Have you submitted yourselves?”
- (3:20:16) أَسْلَمُوا — “they submit”
- (3:83:6) أَسْلَمَ — “have submitted”
- (4:125:5) أَسْلَمَ — “submits (his face to GOD)”
- (5:44:11) أَسْلَمُوا — “had submitted (to Allah)”
- (6:14:20) أَسْلَمَ — “be the first who submits”
- (6:71:37) لِنُسْلِمَ — “that we submit”
- (16:81:25) تُسْلِمُونَ — “you submit”
- (22:34:18) أَسْلِمُوا — “submit”
- (27:44:23) وَأَسْلَمْتُ — “and I submit”
- (31:22:2) يُسْلِمْ — “submits”
- (37:103:2) أَسْلَمَا — “both of them had submitted”
- (39:54:4) وَأَسْلِمُوا — “and submit”
- (40:66:18) أُسْلِمَ — “I submit”
- (48:16:13) يُسْلِمُونَ — “they will submit”
- (49:14:9) أَسْلَمْنَا — “We have submitted”
- (49:17:4) أَسْلَمُوا — “they have accepted Islam / submitted”
- (72:14:7) أَسْلَمَ — “submits”
3. Nominal and adjectival usage
3.1. Nouns related to “peace” (salām)
The noun سَلَام appears in multiple forms with the core meaning of “peace”, “safety”, “well-being”, “a greeting of mercy”.
A selection of its more than forty occurrences:
- (4:94:15) السَّلَامَ — “(a greeting of) peace”
- (5:16:8) السَّلَامِ — “peace”
- (6:54:7) سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ — “Peace be upon you”
- (6:127:3) دَارُ السَّلَامِ — “the Home of Peace”
- (7:46:13) سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ — “Peace be upon you”
- (10:10:7) سَلَامٌ — “Peace”
- (10:25:5) دَارِ السَّلَامِ — “the Home of Peace”
- (11:48:4) بِسَلَامٍ — “with peace”
- (13:24:1) سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ — “Peace be upon you”
- (15:46:2) بِسَلَامٍ — “in peace”
- (19:15:1) وَسَلَامٌ عَلَيْهِ — “And peace be upon him”
- (19:33:1) وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيَّ — “And peace be upon me”
- (25:63:12) سَلَامًا — “(they say) peace”
- (37:79:1) سَلَامٌ عَلَىٰ نُوحٍ — “Peace be upon Noah”
- (37:120:1) سَلَامٌ عَلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ وَهَارُونَ — “Peace be upon Moses and Aaron”
- (56:26:3–4) سَلَامًا — “Peace”
- (56:91:1) فَسَلَامٌ لَكَ — “Then, peace be to you”
- (97:5:1) سَلَامٌ هِيَ — “Peace it is until the rise of dawn”
Many of these occurrences connect peace with the eschatological condition and with divine reward.
3.2. Adjective “salīm” (سَلِيم) – sound, pure, intact
- (26:89:6) قَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ — “a sound / pure heart”
- (37:84:5) قَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ — “a sound heart” brought before his Lord.
3.3. Nouns “sil’m / salm / salam” – peace, armistice, submission, reconciliation
- (2:208:6) السِّلْمِ — “peace, reconciliation” (interpreted by some as “Islam”)
- (4:90:30) السَّلَمَ — “peace”
- (4:91:20) السَّلَمَ — “peace”
- (8:61:3) لِلسَّلْمِ — “towards peace”
- (16:28:7; 16:87:5) السَّلَمَ — “submission, surrender”
- (39:29:9) سَلَمًا — “belonging exclusively”
3.4. Secondary nouns
- سُلَّم (sullam): “ladder, stairway”, used in an ascensional or metaphorical sense
– (6:35:14) سُلَّمًا فِي السَّمَاءِ
– (52:38:3) سُلَّمٌ يَسْتَمِعُونَ فِيهِ
4. Verbs and nouns related to “Islam” (إسلام)
The root s-l-m also generates the theological term إِسْلَام (Islam), to be understood in its original sense as:
“total surrender, complete entrustment to GOD, a trustful and willing submission.”
Occurrences as proper theological name:
- (3:19:5) إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الْإِسْلَامُ
- (3:85:4) غَيْرِ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا
- (5:3:49) رَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا
- (6:125:8) يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلَامِ
- (39:22:5) صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلَامِ
- (61:7:11) يُدْعَىٰ إِلَى الْإِسْلَامِ
And as common noun:
- (9:74:11) إِسْلَامِهِمْ — “their Islam”
- (49:17:9) إِسْلَامَكُمْ — “your Islam”.
5. Active participles – “Muslim / Muslimūn / Muslimāt”
He/she who submits, the devoted one, the one who surrenders to GOD
Appearing in many grammatically inflected forms:
- (2:128:3) مُسْلِمَيْنِ — “two who submit”
- (2:132:16) مُسْلِمُونَ — “submissive (to Him)”
- (2:133:27) مُسْلِمُونَ
- (2:136:31) مُسْلِمُونَ
- (3:52:20) مُسْلِمُونَ — “we are Muslims”
- (3:64:31) مُسْلِمُونَ
- (3:80:13) مُسْلِمُونَ
- (3:84:29) مُسْلِمُونَ — “we are submitted to Him”
- (3:102:12) مُسْلِمُونَ — “as Muslims”
- (5:111:13) مُسْلِمُونَ
- (7:126:16) مُسْلِمِينَ — “as Muslims / submitted”
- (10:84:12) مُسْلِمِينَ
- (11:14:16) مُسْلِمُونَ — “will you then be Muslims?”
- (12:101:19) مُسْلِمًا — “as a Muslim / as one submitted”
- (15:2:7) مُسْلِمِينَ
- (21:108:11) مُسْلِمُونَ — “will you submit?”
- (27:31:5; 27:38:10; 27:42:14) مُسْلِمِينَ — “in submission, as Muslims”
- (27:81:14) مُسْلِمُونَ
- (28:53:15) مُسْلِمِينَ
- (29:46:25) مُسْلِمُونَ — “we are submitted to Him”
- (30:53:14) مُسْلِمُونَ — “those who surrender”
- (43:69:5) مُسْلِمِينَ — “submissive”
As proper noun / community designation:
- (6:163:8) أَوَّلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ — “the first of those who submit”
- (10:72:16) مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
- (10:90:27) مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
- (16:89:24) لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ — “for the Muslims”
- (16:102:13) لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ
- (22:78:20) الْمُسْلِمِينَ — “He has named you Muslims”
- (27:91:17) مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
- (33:35:2) إِنَّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ — “the Muslim men and the Muslim women”
- (39:12:5) أَوَّلَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
- (41:33:13) مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
- (46:15:45) مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
- (51:36:7) بَيْتٍ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
- (68:35:2) الْمُسْلِمِينَ — “the Muslims”
- (72:14:3) الْمُسْلِمُونَ — “we are Muslims”
And in adjectival function:
- (3:67:10) حَنِيفًا مُسْلِمًا — “upright, a Muslim (submitted to GOD)”
- (66:5:10) مُسْلِمَاتٍ — “submissive women / Muslim women”.
6. Other derived forms
6.1. Verbal noun “taślīm” (تَسْلِيم) – full, complete submission
- (4:65:19) يُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا — “and they submit in full submission”
- (33:22:18) وَمَا زَادَهُمْ إِلَّا إِيمَانًا وَتَسْلِيمًا — “it only increased them in faith and submission”
- (33:56:13) وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا — “and greet him with due greeting / full salutation”.
6.2. Passive participle “musallama” (مُسَلَّمَة)
- (2:71:13) بَقَرَةٌ مُسَلَّمَةٌ — “a cow, sound, without blemish”
- (4:92:17) دِيَةٌ مُسَلَّمَةٌ — “a blood-money to be paid (delivered)”
- (4:92:42) again in the sense of “to be paid / delivered”.
6.3. Form X active participle – “mustaslim” (مُسْتَسْلِم)
- (37:26:4) بَلْ هُمُ الْيَوْمَ مُسْتَسْلِمُونَ — “Rather, today they will be surrendering / fully submitted.”
Concluding interpretation
The root س ل م (s-l-m) in the Qur’an describes a coherent semantic field that links:
- peace,
- integrity and soundness,
- salvation,
- trustful submission,
- harmony between the human being and the Creator,
- and peaceful relations among human beings.
The term Muslim therefore emerges not merely as an ethnic or sociological label, but as a spiritual condition of the soul:
the one who entrusts himself to the Supreme Good, who chooses peace, and who embraces the will of GOD with a purified, sound heart.
It is a profoundly Abrahamic concept: Abraham himself is described as ḥanīfan musliman (3:67), showing that “submission to GOD” precedes and transcends any later confessional system and situates Islam in the broader lineage of those who surrender to the One GOD.