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WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ISLAM
The Islam that was revealed to Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) , is the
continuation and culmination of all the preceding revealed religions
and hence it is for all times and all peoples. This status of Islam is
sustained by glaring facts. Firstly, there is no other revealed book
extant in the same form and content as was revealed. Secondly, no other
revealed religion has any convincing claim to provide guidance in all
walks of human life for all times. But Islam addresses humanity at
large and offers basic guidance regarding all human problems. Moreover,
it has withstood the test of fourteen hundred years and has all the
potentialities of establishing an ideal society as it did under the
leadership of the last Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
It was a miracle that Prophet Muhammad could win even his toughest
enemies to the fold of Islam without adequate material resources.
Worshiper of idols, blind followers of the ways of forefather,
promoters of tribal feuds, abusers of human dignity and blood, became
the most disciplined nation under the guidance of Islam and its
Prophet. Islam opened before them vistas of spiritual heights and human
dignity by declaring righteousness as the sole criterion of merit and
honor. Islam shaped their social, cultural, moral and commercial life
with basic laws and principles which are most in conformity with human
nature and hence applicable in all times as human nature does not
change.
It is so unfortunate that the Christian West instead of sincerely
trying to understand the phenomenal success of Islam during its earlier
time, considered it as a rival religion. During the centuries of the
Crusades this trend gained much force and impetus and huge literature
was produced to tarnish the image of Islam. But Islam has begun to
unfold its genuineness to the modern scholars whose bold and objective
observations on Islam belie all the charges leveled against it by the
so-called unbiased orientalist.
Here we furnish some observations on Islam by great and acknowledged
non-Muslim scholars of modern time. Truth needs no advocates to plead
on its behalf. But the prolonged malicious propaganda against Islam has
created great confusion even in the minds of free and objective
thinkers. We hope that the following observations would contribute to
initiating an objective evaluation of Islam.
It (Islam) replaced
monkishness by manliness. It gives hope to the slave, brotherhood to
mankind, and recognition of the fundamental facts of human nature.
Canon Taylor, Paper read before the Church Congress at Walverhamton,
Oct. 7, 1887, Quoted by Arnond in The Preaching of Islam, p.p. 71-72
Sense of justice is
one of the most wonderful ideal of Islam, because as I read in the
Quran I find those dynamic principles of life, not mystic but practical
ethics for the daily conduct of life suited to the whole world.
Sarojini Naidu, Lectures on "The Ideals of Islam" see Speeches and
Writings of Sarojini Naidu, Madras, 1918, p. 167.
History makes it
clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through
the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered
races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians
have ever repeated.
De Lacy O'Leary, Islam at the Crossroads, London, 1923 p.8.
But Islam has a
still further service to render to the cause of humanity. It stands
after all nearer to the real East than Europe does, and it possesses a
magnificent tradition of inter-racial understanding and cooperation. No
other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of
status, of opportunity, and of endeavors so many and so various races
of mankind...Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently
irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition
of the great societies of East and West is to be replaced by
cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition. In
its hands lies very largely the solution of the problem with which
Europe is faced in its relation with East. If they unite, the hope of a
peaceful issue is immeasurably enhanced. But if Europe, by rejecting
the cooperation of Islam, throws it into the arms of its rivals, the
issue can only be disastrous for both.
H. A. R. Gibb, Whither Islam, London, 1932, p. 379.
I have always held
the religion of Muhammad in high estimation because of its wonderful
vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to possess that
assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence which can make
itself appeal to every age. I have studied him-the wonderful man and in
my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Savior
of Humanity, I believe that if a man like him were to assume the
dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its
problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and
happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would
be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be
acceptable to the Europe of today.
G. B. Shaw, The Genuine Islam, Vol. 1, No. 81936.
The extinction of
race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the outstanding
achievements of Islam and in the contemporary world there is, as it
happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic virtue.
A. J. Toynbee, Civilization on Trial, New York, 1948, p. 205.
The rise of Islam
is perhaps the most amazing event in human history. Springing from a
land and a people like previously negligible, Islam spread within a
century over half the earth, shattering great empires, overthrowing
long-established religion, remolding the souls of races, and building
up a whole new world- world of Islam.
The closer we
examine this development the more extraordinary does it appear. The
other great religions won their way slowly, by painful struggle and
finally triumphed with the aid of powerful monarchs converted to the
new faith. Christianity had its Constantine, Buddhism its Asoka, And
Zoroastrianism its Cyrus, Each lending to his chosen cult the mighty
force of secular authority. Not in Islam. Arising in a desert land
sparsely inhabited by a nomad race previously undistinguished in human
annals. Islam sallied forth on its great adventure with the slenderest
human backing and against the heaviest material odds. Yet Islam
triumphed with seemingly miraculous ease, and a couple of generations
saw the Fiery Crescent borne victorious from the Pyrenees to the
Himalayas and from the desert of Central Asia to the desert of Central
Africa.
A. M. L. Stoddard, quoted in Islam - The Religion of All Prophets,
Begum Bawani Waqf, Karachi, Pakistan p. 56.
Islam is a religion
that is essentially rationalistic in the widest sense of this term
considered etymologically and historically. The definition of
rationalism as a system that bases religious beliefs on principles
furnished by the reason applies to it exactly.. It cannot be denied
that many doctrines and systems of theology and also many
superstitions, from the worship of saints to the use of rosaries and
amulets, have become grafted on the main trunk of Muslim creed. But in
spite of the rich development, in every sense of the term, of the
teachings of the Prophet, the Quran has invariably kept its place as
the fundamental starting point, and the dogma of unity of God has
always been proclaimed therein with a grandeur, a majesty, and
invariable purity and with a note of sure conviction, which it is hard
to find surpassed outside the pale of Islam. This fidelity to the
fundamental dogma of the religion, the elemental simplicity of the
formula in which it is enunciated, the proof that it gains from the
fervid conviction of the missionaries who propagate it, are so many
causes to explain the success of Muhammadan missionary efforts. A creed
so precise, so stripped of all theological complexities and
consequently so accessible to the ordinary understanding might be
expected to possess and does indeed possess a marvelous power of
winning its way into the consciences of men.
Edward Montet, "La Propagande Chrestienne et ses Adversaries Musulmans"
Paris 1890, quoted by T. W. Arnold in The Preaching of Islam, London
1913, pp. 413-414.
I am not a Muslim in the usual sense, though I hope I am a "Muslim" as
"one surrendered to God", but I believe that embedded in the Quran and
other expressions of the Islamic vision are vast stores of divine truth
from which I and other occidentals have still much to learn; and 'Islam
is certainly a strong contender for the supplying of the basic
framework of the one religion of the future.'
W. Montgomery Watt, Islam and Christianity Today London 1983, p. lX.
Further readings on Islam :
T. B. Irving, et al. : The Quran: Basic Teachings
Hamuda Abdulati : Islam in Focus
M. Qutb : Islam : The Misunderstood Religion
Maudoodi : Towards Understanding Islam
Maurice Bucaille : The Bible, The Quran And Science
Suzanne Haneef : What Everyone Should Know About Islam and the Muslims.
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Source:
WAMY SERIES On Islam
World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY)
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