We have often faced situations where people comment about cases that they are completely unaware of and finally got embarrassed when realizing the real context. For eg. we can see in our daily life, people meet up in park and discuss about random things, like what should someone eat and what should he/she avoid when he/she suffers from common cold, and a random person suggests that he should not eat fruits, but a person in that group who is a doctor says "That's nonsense!". So, it is always a good idea to consult someone who has knowledge in the related field rather than to comment something without any base. This will avoid misunderstandings among society or in broader aspect among world. In the similar context, I believe Islam is one of the most misunderstood religion in the world. And being a Muslim, I will try to be someone who can represent Islam in order to present its actual meaning and definition.

What is Islam?

Every religion and philosophies are derived from a root word. For eg., Christianity is derived from Christ, Hinduism from Hindu, Buddhism from Buddha, Darwinism from Darwin, Socialism from Society, Communism from Community and so on. But if we notice, we can see all of those root words are noun, whether it be name of a person, place or thing. This implies, that all those "isms" and "ities" are some how influenced by an individual, place or a thing. Islam is also derived from a root word "SILM" which is an Arabic word, but amazingly it is not a noun. Rather it is a verb, which means "To submit your will to Almighty God". Hence, in Islam one's standard is not defined on his color, race, country, gender but rather it is defined by his action; on how much he is conscious towards God. So, the definition of Islam implies, anyone who submits his will to Almighty God, is within the boundary of Islam.

Who are Muslims?

In English Grammar, we usually add suffix "er" or "or" to a verb to represent the one who does that verb. For eg., The one who walks is a walkER, the one to talks is a talkER. Similarly, in Arabic language if we add a prefix "Mu" to a verb it becomes the doer of that verb. For eg. five times daily prayers in Islam is known as "Salaah" and "MUsalli" are those who pray, to be proud is called "Takabbur" in Arabic and "Mutakabbir" means a proud man. Similarly, as mentioned above, "SILM" means to submit your will to Almighty God, and hence, "MUslim" means the one who submits his will to Almighty God. Hence, the definition of Muslim implies any one who submits his will to Almighty God, whether he/she be born as a Muslim or Non-Muslim, but by action he/she is a Muslim. Quran Confirms this in following verse:
"Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [submitting to Allah]. And he was not of the polytheists." [Quran: 3:67]
Abraham, one of the prophets of God, according to Jews, Christians and Muslims was born centuries before prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon them all). But Qur'an calls him a Muslim, not because he was a follower of prophet Muhammad, but because he submitted his will to Almighty God.

If we get it into this matter a little bit deeper we can easily find out from the verses of Quran, that not only human, but any thing in this world besides human being like trees, ocean, mountains, air, sun, moon and everything in this univerese, they are all Muslims. Because, they are all working as per the rules defined by God for them. They don't transgress any of the laws they are tied with. Only in the case of human being, we are given something extra known as free will. Hence, though we follow all the universal laws of God, we are judged also according to the free will given to us. God has left us as intellectual being along with our free will in order to recognize him as our creator.

Who/What is Allah?

In reality there is no exact translation of the word "Allah" in English. Eventhough, if we try to break the word then we can hardly come to a conclusion that "Allah" comes from the Arabic word "elah" - (Arabic) means 'a god' or something that is worshipped. This word (elah) can be made plural, as in "aleha" and it can be male or female. "Allah" comes from "elaha" but it brings more clarification and understanding. For eg.
Allah = Has no gender (not male and not female)

• "He" is used only out of respect and dignity - not for gender
  Allah = Always singular - Never plural
• "We" is used only as the "Royal WE" just as in English for royalty

Hence, Allah =Means "The Only One to be Worshipped"

Is "Allah" only for Islam and Muslims?

"Allah" is the same word used by Christian and Jewish Arabs in the Bible, before Islam came.

On page one [1] of Genesis in the Old Testament of Arabic Bible, we find the word "Allah" seventeen [17] times.

Conclusion:

Hence, it can be concluded that Islam is not a religion of Arab or a specific group but a universal religion that was practiced even before human existed, Allah is the one and only God worthy of worship and Muslims are all those who are in Submission to Allah.