"religious system revealed by Muhammad," 1816, from Arabicislam, literally "submission" (to the will of God), from root ofaslama "he resigned, he surrendered, he submitted," causative conjunction ofsalima "he was safe," and related tosalam "peace."

... Islam is the only major religion, along with Buddhism (if we consider the name of the religion to come fromBudd, the Divine Intellect, and not the Buddha), whose name is not related to a person or ethnic group, but to the central idea of the religion. ["The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity," Seyyed Hossein Nasr, 2002]

Earlier English names for the faith includeMahometry (late 15c.),Muhammadism (1610s),Islamism (1747), andIsmaelism (c. 1600; seeIsmailite). The Ismailites were not numerous in Islam, but among them were the powerful Fatimid dynasty in Egypt and the Assassins, both of which loomed large in European imagination. This use also is in part fromIshmaelite, a name formerly given (especially by Jews) to Arabs, as descendants ofIshmael (q.v.).