SALAAM.
^^ This is the Muslim greeting. When we see each other, we say, “Salaam” (As-Salaam o Alaikum: May Salaam be upon you!)
But what does it mean?
And why do a billion Muslims say that to each other (and occasionally to others) each day?
What energy does it evoke?
…
Normally translated as “Peace”, Salaam is not “peace”. Peace is the OUTCOME of Salaam. In fact what Salaam means is something so complex and so beautiful, it makes you shatter in grief, aha and disbelief and surprise and wonder all at once, like when you find a diamond wedding ring that you lost thirteen years ago somewhere in the garden bed or behind a sofa… and you are shattered and amazed ALL AT ONCE. A-ha.
Where have you BEEN all my life or all along?
Why or how was I looking all over the place while you were here?
Here are all my voices and my concerns and my hopes and dreams and thoughts and parts and pieces… validated! Answered! Held! All-at-once! Together! In one place and peace!
Integral. Whole. Collected.
And this is the meaning of Salaam, which literally means, integral, whole, safe, together.
As I wade through the dictionaries, such as this one from Project Root List, I see that the meaning of Salaam has been tied to safety, but INTEGRAL and WHOLE is nearer to the meaning and concept. Sometimes, what a word truly means is found over time as human consciousness evolves.
س ل م = Siin-Lam-Miim = safety/security/freedom/immunity, to escape, salutation/greeting/peace, deliver/acknowledge, pay in advance, submit, sincerity, humility, submission/conformance/obedience, resign/quit/relinquish, to be in sound condition, well without blemish, gentle/tender/soft/elegant. Solomon/Sulaiman.
Source
(To read more definitions and word discoveries and inventions by me, please head to my project First Came The Word.)
It is be focusing on and exploring this meaning that we also find the blessing that the word, which is also one of the Good Names of Allah (God) as per Muslim tradition, invokes. So come with us on a journey that takes you through the inner and outer realms of Salaam’s soul and meaning. Amen.
~Ramala Hubb’Allah