‘Salaam‘ is an Arabic word—it is one of the 99 Names of God (Allah) as per the Muslim tradition, and it is also (the abbreviated form of) the Muslim greeting, more often expanded as Assalam-o-Alaikum. (There are longer versions too.)
The essential meaning of Salaam is whole or wholeness, and its implied meaning is integrity and peace.
Ramala’s translation of Assalamualaikum is: “May you be whole and wholesome; may you be centered and put-together, integral and integrated!” Arabic words have many branched meanings, and the beauty of sending a blessing in Arabic, that too using a sacred name of God (as per the Muslim tradition), is that you are sending a very complex code with multiple meanings upon the receiver. Additionally, this code Salaam literally means ‘all of it, everything, all at once, put together and integrated’. It is thus a super-code in Ramala’s view, that brings minor codes together. Whole brings together parts, and yet is larger than them.
When reconsidering a new name for the model, previously named “The People-Centered Model of Business”, it occurred to the creator Ramala Hubb’Allah, who was concurrently teaching a class on the names of God, that the word Salaam fit what the model was trying to imply, albeit awkwardly through the previous name: the scope of human activity, all of it, all at once, in one glance.
Encompassing a complexity in one thing. Just like the very complex and condensed Salaam.
Scintillating.
The model, which was conceived as a business tool in its earliest iterations, is now seen to carry wide applications to facilitate clear thinking about the generation of a new world, new economy and society. You have very simple tools and elements in hand to create bigger, more complex and interconnected pictures. Part-by-part, bit-by-bit, piece by piece. A scintillating, clear, straightforward, non-deceptive, service-oriented new economy and society. Amen.
My wish is for the model and its implications to become common currency, and I want its meaning and implications and parts to seep into the minds of the users. Amen.
ADDITIONAL: A masterclasses on the meaning of the word Salaam is available as part of Ramala Hubb’Allah’s offerings. Link to be updated soon.