The previous verse described turning away from Abraham’s way as acting foolishly toward oneself. This verse shows, in a single sentence, what that way rested upon:

Aslim — “Surrender.”
Aslamtu — “I have surrendered.”

In Qur’anic Arabic, islām comes from the root S L M and is the verbal noun of aslama: to surrender. This differs from the understanding established in legal and transmitted religious traditions, where Islam became the name of a religious community. This verse is among the clearest witnesses to the word’s verbal meaning. God does not tell Abraham to adopt the name of a denomination. He says, “Surrender,” and Abraham answers, “I have surrendered.”

The direction of this surrender is equally clear:

“To the Lord of all worlds.”

Not surrender to a people, a family, an inherited denomination, or a religious leader, but surrender to the Lord of all worlds. The same meaning appeared a few verses earlier in Abraham and Ishmael’s prayer: “Make us both surrendered to You.”

Before muslim is a title someone adopts, it describes someone who has surrendered to God. A person may bear the name Muslim and still need to ask themselves: Have I truly surrendered to the Lord of all worlds?

The meaning of islām and its distinction from dīn, sharīʿah, and religious identity are explored further in Dīn, Islām, and Sharīʿah in the Qur’an.

• Al-Baqarah 2:112— “Whoever surrenders their whole self to God”: directing one’s surrender to God.
• Al-Baqarah 2:128— “Both surrendered to You”: Abraham and Ishmael’s prayer to be surrendered to God.
• Al-Baqarah 2:130— Turning away from Abraham’s way as acting foolishly toward oneself.
• Al-Baqarah 2:132— Abraham and Jacob instruct their children to die in a state of surrender.
• Aal ‘Imran 3:67— Abraham as devoted to God alone and surrendered to Him.
• An-Naml 27:44— “I have surrendered with Solomon to God, the Lord of all worlds.”
• Dīn, Islām, and Sharīʿah in the Qur’an— A detailed study of islām as surrender.