Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews

eISSN: 2395-6518, Vol 7, No 4, 2019, pp 1026-1030

https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2019.74140

SEMANTICS STUDY OF THE WORD 'MUSLIM' IN AL-QURAN

Mahmud Muhsinin
Lecturer of Religions Studies Program, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surabaya, Indonesia.
Email: muhsininmahmud87@gmail.com
th st th
Article History: Received on 25 July 2019, Revised on 01 September 2019, Published on 07 October 2019
Abstract
Purpose: This research will try to research the semantic meaning of Muslims in Al-Qur'an. What is the meaning of the
Muslim in Al-Qur'an? How many verses contain the word Muslim in Al-Qur'an?
Methodology: In this study, the author collects all the verses that contain the Muslim word either it is singular or in plural
form. From the various meanings of the sentences, then analyzed the meaning of the word Muslim in each sentence or
perverse, and then we describe what is Muslim?
Result: The word Muslim is contained in 39 verses which are spread out across 24 letters. The Muslim word is attached to
the Prophet and his followers. Prophet Muhammad SAW is the last prophet and the Muslim word pinned to the Prophet
Muhammad and his followers. The nature of the Muslims include: Believing in the Qur'an, Believing in all the Prophets,
Serving only to Allah not associating Him with anything, Preaching to monotheists sincerely expecting rewards from
Allah, Istiqomah in piety, Not arrogant and submitting to God, Want to hear the Al-Qur'an with full of obedience, Hasten
to surrender to Allah (repent), Muslims are the lucky ones in the afterlife, the Muslims are very concerned about family
circumstances, pray for them, worship to the mother-father, the Muslims will be serious in Slowing down the religion of
Islam.
Applications: This research can be used for universities, teachers, and students.
Novelty/Originality: In this research, the model of semantics study of the word 'Muslim' in Al-Quran is presented in a
comprehensive and complete manner.
Keywords: semantics study, word 'Muslim', Al-Quran.
INTRODUCTION
The word Muslim comes from the Arabic language which means a person who surrendered to God. Muslim is a term for
people who embrace Islam with the Prophet Muhammad SAW and the holy book of Al-Qur'an.
Religion in this world is classified into 2 they are the religion of revelation and worldly religion. The religion of revelation
is a religion that comes from the sky, comes from God. This religion has a messenger from God who explains the
revelation from God. While worldly religion is a religion derived from human thought. Jewish, Christian and Islamic
religions belong to a group of revelatory religions. These three religions have prophets that are related to one another.
Prophet Musa with his book Taurat became the guidance of the Jewish religion. The prophet Isa with his book the Gospel
becomes the guidance of the Christian religion. The Prophet Muhammad with his book of Al-Qur'an become guidance for
Islamic followers (Afifuddin, M., & Churrany, M. 2017; Bahremand, A. 2015; Suleri, J., & Cavagnaro, E. 2016;
Nurgaliyeva, S., Zeynolla, S., Tulenova, U., Zulkarnayeva, Z., & Yespolova, G. 2018).
In a sense it is explained that Islam is a religion brought by all prophets, it means that the religion of the Prophet Musa is
Islam and the religion of Prophet Isa is also Islam. Why is it now a Jewish religion, a Christian religion, and an Islamic
religion? Therefore, it is necessary to comprehend Islam thoroughly. What does Muslim mean in Al-Qur'an?
Al-Qur'an is an authentic revelation of God to this day. In contrast to the gospel and the Taurat that has undergone changes
adapted to the changing times. As an original revelation of God, the truth becomes absolute.
Al-Qur'an is a miracle to mankind. It is the work of God that is intended for human beings to be studied, researched,
studied, explored its meaning so that human knowledge develops rapidly, both and in accordance with human nature.
Problem Formulation
This research will try to research the semantic meaning of Muslims in Al-Qur'an. What is the meaning of the Muslim word
in Al-Qur'an? How many verses contain the word Muslim in Al-Qur'an?
Semantic study
Semantics is a science that studies the meaning of a word. Semantics is a branch of linguistics that focuses on the meaning
of language. Wijana and Rohmadi (2008) argued that sense is an abstract concept of human experience but not an
individual experience. Unlike symbols or referents, the meaning will refer to a non-physical form in a speech.
Based on some opinions above can be concluded that semantics is the science of language that examines the symbols or
signs that express the meaning, the relationship of meaning to one another, and the relationship between words with the
concept or meaning of the word.

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eISSN: 2395-6518, Vol 7, No 4, 2019, pp 1026-1030
https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2019.74140
The meaning of a word will be closely related to the sentence where the word is located. Therefore, in understanding the
meaning of the word Muslim, we must see the word in various places of its use. So that can be obtained a holistic
understanding not partial. The semantic method used is similar to the semantic method Toshihiko Izutsu uses in his
semantic study of Al-Qur'an. What distinguishes it only if Izutsu has done the analysis by also using opponents. So after
collecting all the verses that contain the words to be studied, then analyzed the meaning of the sentence and also the
opposite meaning analysis, this method used by Izutsu. While this study does not analyze the analysis of the opponents
meaning of the word, it only did analysis of meaning of the sentence (Kenan, K. X. 2018; Razavi, S. M., Nasirian, M., &
Afkhami, I. 2015; Mambile, C., & Machuve, D. 2018).
In this study, the author collects all the verses that contain or contain the Muslim word either it is singular or in the form of
plural. From the various meanings of the sentence, then analyzed the meaning of the word Muslim in each sentence or
perverse, and then we describe what is Muslim?
DISCUSSION
Muslims is a name for people who are Muslim. Besides the word Muslim, Muttaqin and the word Mukmin are also used
for Islamic people. So, for people who have a religion of Islam have several titles such as Muslims, believers, and
Muttaqin. The word Muslim means Islam, the word Mukmin means a believer, and the word Muttaqin is a pious person.
Of these three words Muslims are the closest meaning to Islam as a religion.
The word Muslim comes from the Arabic language meaning the Islamic people. When viewed from the word meaning,
Muslims or Muslims have 2 meanings of people who are Islamic and the nature of Islam.
The word Muslim is contained in 39 verses which is spread out across 24 letters:
1. Letter al baqarah 4 verses: 128, 132, 133, 136
2. letter ali imran 6 verses: 52, 64, 67, 80, 84, 102
3. al maidah: 111,
4. al an’am: 163
5. al ‘araf: 126
6. yunus: 72, 84, 90
7. hud: 14,
8. yusuf: 101
9. al hijjir: 2
10. an nahl: 89, 102,
11. al anbiya’: 108
12. al hajj: 78
13. an naml : 31, 38, 42, 81, 91
14. al qashash : 53
15. al ‘ankabuut : 46
16. ar ruum : 53
17. al ‘ahzaab : 35
18. az zumar : 12
19. fushshilat : 33
20. az zukhruf : 69
21. al ahqaaf : 15
22. adz dzariyaat : 36
23. al qolaam : 35
24. al jiin : 14
The use of the word Muslim in various verses has a variety of meanings; it can mean people and meaningful nature of the
Muslims. This meaning is certainly not free from the meaning of the Muslim word itself, namely Muslims. For the person
it has the traits that become the character and specification of the Muslims. When viewed in terms of people then there are
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2 groups mentioned in Al-Qur'an the group of the Prophet and the group of non-Prophet (not a prophet). Simply can be
classified into 3 parts:
Group of Prophets:
Many prophets vow and claim to be Muslims, such as Prophet Ibrahim and his son Prophet Ismail in Al-Baqarah verse
128. Then Allah explains how Prophet Ibrahim inherited this Muslim to his offspring so that the Prophet Ya'qub when he
will die, asked his sons of gods who deserve to be worshiped, as described in the Al-Baqarah verses 132 and 133. In other
places Allah explains that Prophet Ibrahim is not Jewish and Christian but he is a Muslim, as Allah said in Ali Imran: 67.
Including the descendants of the Prophet Ibahim, he is the Prophet Yusuf who claimed to be a Muslim follows in the
footsteps of his ancestor, Prophet Ibrahim, described in QS. Yusuf: 101, in this verse the Prophet Yusuf prayed after he met
his parents again in Egypt, where at that time the Prophet Yusuf had become an important person in the Egyptian kingdom,
he occupied the position as treasurer in the Egyptian kingdom. At that time the Prophet Yusuf felt a great happiness and
prayed to Allah to be in a Muslim state. Another Prophet who claimed to be a Muslim was the Prophet Nuh in Yunus's
letter: 72, then Prophet Musa (QS. Yunus 84) the Prophet Luth who was told in the letter of Adz-dzariyaat verse 36. In
fact, all the Prophets are Muslims and they cannot rule out paganism when his people have become a Muslim as mentioned
in Ali Imran verse 80.
Followers group of the Prophet:
The faithful followers of the Prophet who are called Hawarain people claim to be Muslims (Ali-Imran 52, Al-maidah 111).
The Fir’aun wizards who believe in the Prophet Musa, they claim Muslims (Al-'araaf 126). The confession of Muslims is
also uttered by Fir’aun which is in sakaratul maut, but this Muslim recognition is not accepted by God. The witches and
Fir’aun confess Muslims and follow the teachings of the Prophet Musa (yunus 90). Queen Balqis become a Muslim upon
the invitation of Prophet Sulayman (An-naml 42). The follower of the Prophet Luth is a Muslim (Adz-dzariyaat 36). In the
letter Al-jin verse 14 Allah explains that among the Jinn there are Muslims, they choose the righteous and righteous path.
Some of the ahlul kitab also believe in Prophet Muhammad SAW, as described in the letter Al-qashash 53, which means:
Some of the ahlul kitab there are believers to the Prophet Muhammad. When they heard the Qur'an read aloud, they said:
"We believe in him, indeed this Qur'an is true from Allah. We are Muslims before Al-Quran down. After Al-Quran down,
they believe in him so that in the next verse Allah explains that for them 2 rewards, they are their Muslim reward before
Al-Quran descended and their Muslim after Al-Quran downgraded.
Describes the nature and behavior of the Muslims
The word Muslim is an Islamic person; therefore, he certainly has the characteristics that signify as a Muslim. Among
them:
1. Faith in Al Quran (An-nahl 102, hud 14)
2. Have faith in all the Prophets (Al-baqarah 136 Ali-imran 84)
3. Worship only to God does not associate Him with anything. (Ali-imran 64) (Al-an'am 163) (An-naml 91)
4. Da'wah to the monotheists sincerely expect the reward of Allah as the confessions of the Prophets when they preach
(yunus 72)
5. Istiqomah in piety (Ali-imran 102, yunus 84)
6. Not arrogant and submissive to Allah as described in the letter An-naml 31 and also in the letter (Al-anbiya '108)
7. Want to hear the Al-Qur'an with full of obedience. In the letter Al-'ahzab verse 35 Allah explains among the nature of
the Muslims, namely faith in God, always obedient to God, be honest, be patient, solemn in prayer, charity, fasting,
honoring, always dhikr.
8. Hasten to surrender to Allah (repent) (Az-zumar 12). Muslims are people who do good deeds and preach to tauhid.
(Fushilat 33)
9. The Muslims are the lucky ones in the afterlife (Az-zukhruf 69) and also described in the letter Al-hijjir 2 Allah
explains in this verse events in the Hereafter. The disbelievers as the inhabitants of hell feel very sorry because they do
not convert to Islam, they regret why it was not Muslim.
10. Muslims are very concerned about family circumstances, pray for them, worship to the mother's father (Al-ahqaaf 15)
11. The Muslims will be sincere in slashing the religion of Islam as Allah explained in Surat Al-Hajj 78 Allah Commands
us to be sincere in the practice of Islam because Islam is an easy religion, Islam is a hanif religion as the religion of the
Prophet Ibrahim, Islam is a religion that has been described in our earlier books that the last revelation and the last
prophet is Allah's religion of Islam.

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CONCLUSION
The Muslim word is attached to the Prophet and his followers. Prophet Muhammad SAW is the last prophet and the
Muslim word is attributed to the Prophet Muhammad and his followers, while those who do not follow him are not called
Muslims. Including the ahlul kitab, if they believe in the Prophet Muhammad and follow his teachings then they are called
Muslims but if not then they are called Jews or Christians. To ahlul kitab Allah has explained in the letter Al-qashash 53,
which means: Some of the ahlul kitab there are believers to the Prophet Muhammad. When they heard the Qur'an read
aloud, they said: "We believe in him, indeed this Qur'an is true from Allah. We are Muslims before Al-Quran down. After
Al-Quran down they believe in him so that in the next verse Allah explains that for them 2 rewards, they are their Muslim
reward before Al-Quran descended and their Muslim after Al-Quran downgraded.
The nature of the Muslims include: Believing in the Qur'an, Believing in all the Prophets, Serving only to Allah not
associating Him with anything, Preaching to monotheists sincerely expecting rewards from Allah, Istiqomah in piety, Not
arrogant and submitting to God, Want to hear the Al-Quran with full of obedience, Hasten to surrender to Allah (repent),
Muslims are the lucky ones in the afterlife, Muslims are very concerned about family circumstances, pray for them,
worship to the father's mother, the Muslims will be serious in Slowing down the religion of Islam.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author confirms that the data do not contain any conflict of interest.
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