What They Say About Islam

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IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST

BENEFICENT, THE MOST MERCIFUL

What they say about Islam?

Islam that was revealed to Muhammad (pbuh), is thecontinuation and culmination of all the preceding revealedreligions and hence it is for all times and all peoples. Thisstatus of Islam is sustained by glaring facts. Firstly, there is no

other revealed book extent in the same form and content as itwas revealed. Secondly, no other revealed religion has anyconvincing claim to provide guidance in all walks of human lifefor all times. But Islam addresses humanity at large and offersbasic guidance regarding all humanproblems. Moreover, it haswithstood the test of fourteenhundred years and has al l thepotentialities of establishing an ideal society as it did under theleadership of the lastProphet Muhammad (pbuh).

It was a miracle that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) could wineven his toughest enemies to the fold of Islam withoutadequate material resources. Worshippers of idols, blindfollowers of the ways of forefathers, promoters of tribal feuds,abusers of human digni ty and blood, became themostdisciplined nation under the guidance of Islam and its Prophet.Islam opened before them vestas of spi ri tual heights andhuman dignity by declaring righteousness as the sole criterionof merit and honour. Islam shaped their social, cultural, moraland commercial life with basic laws and principles which aremost in conformity with human nature and hence applicable inall times as human naturedoes not change.

levelled against it by the so-called unbiased orientalists.

Here we furnish some observations on Islam by great andacknowledged non-Muslim scholars of modern time. Truthneeds no advocates to plead off its behalf. But the prolongedmalicious propaganda against Islam has createdgreatconfusion even in the minds of free and objectivethinkers.

We hope that the following observations would contribute toinitiating an objective evaluation of Islam.

It (Islam) replaces monkishness by manliness. It giveshope 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 Amond in The Preaching of Islam, p. p. 71-72.

Sense of justice is one of the most wonderful ideals of 

Islam, because as I read in the Qur'an I find those dynamicprinciples of life, not mystic but practical ethics for the dailyconduct of life suited to the w hole 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 fanaticalMuslims sweeping through the world and forcingIslam at thepoint of the sword upon conquered races is oneof the most

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point of the sword upon conquered races is oneof the most

equality of status, of opportunity, and of endeavours so manyand so various races of mankind. Islam has still thepower toreconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race andtradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of Eastand West is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition. In itshands l ies verylargely the solution of the problem with which Europe is faced inits relation w ith East. If they unite,the hope of a peaceful issueis immeasurably enhanced. But if Europe, by rejecting the

cooperation of Islam, throws it into the arms of its rivals, theissue can only b e disastrousfor both.

H. A. R. Gibb, Whither Islam,

London, 1932, p. 379.

I have always held the religion of Muhammad in highestimation because of its wonderful vitali ty. It is the onlyreligion which appears to me to possess that assimilatingcapacity to the changing phase of existence which can makeitself appeal to every age. I have studied him - thewonderfulman and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must becalled the Saviour of Humanity. I believe that if a man like himwere to assume the dictatorship of themodern world, he wouldbring it the much needed peaceand happiness: I haveprophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would beacceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to beacceptable to the Europeof today.

G. B. Shaw, The Genuine Islam, Vol.

1, No. 81936.

The extinction of race consciousness as betweenMuslimsis one of the outstanding achievements of Islam and in the

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 building up a whole new world - world of Islam.

The closer we examine th is development the moreextraordinary does it appear. The other great religions wontheir way slowly, painful struggle and final triumphed with theaid of powerful monarchs converted to the new faith.Christianity had its Constantine, Buddhism its Asoka, andZoroastrianism its Cyrus, each lending to his chosen cult themighty force of secular authority. Not so in Islam. Arising in a

desert land sparsely inhabited by a nomad race previouslyundistinguished in human annals. Islam sallied forth on itsgreat adventure with the slenderest humanbacking andagainst the heaviest material odds. Yet Islam triumphed withseemingly miraculous ease, and a couple of generations sawthe Fiery Crescent borne victorious from the Pyrenees to theHimalayas and from the desert of Central Asia to the deserts of Central Africa.

A. M. L Stoddard, quoted in

Islam - The R eligion of All Prophets,

Begum Bawani Waqf, Karachi, Pakistan p. 56.

Islam is a religion that is essentially rationalistic in thewidest sense o f th is te rm considered e tymolog ica l ly and

histor ical ly. T he defini t ion of rational ism as a system thatbases religious beliefs on principles furnished by the reasonapplies to i t exactly. It cannot be denied that many doctr inesand systems of theology and also many superstitions, from theworship of saints to the use of rosaries and amulets, havebecome grafted on the m ain trunk of Muslim creed. But in spiteof the r ich development, in every sense of the term, of theteachings of the Prophet, the Qur'an has invariably kept i tsplace as the fundam ental starting point,and the dogm a of uni tyof God has always been proclaimedtherein with a grandeur, amajesty, an invariable purity and with a note of sure conviction,which i t is hard to f ind surpassed outside the pale of Islam.This f idel ity to the fundamental dogma of the rel ig ion, theelemental simplicityof the formula in which i t is enunciated,

the proo f tha t i tga ins f rom the fe rv id convic t ion o f themissionaries who propagate it, are so many causes to explainthe success of Muhammadan missionary efforts. A creed soprec ise , so s t ripped o f a l l theologica l complex it ies andconsequently so accessible to the ordinary understandingmight be expected

to possess and does indeed possess a m arvellous power of winning its way into the consciences of men.

Edward Montet,

"La Propagande Chretienne et ses Adversaries Musul-mans" Paris 1890,

quoted by T. W. A rnold in The Preaching of Islam, London

1913, pp. 413-414.

I am not a M uslim in the usual sense, though I hope I ama"Muslim" as "one surrendered to God", but I believe that

embedded in the Qur'an and other expressions of theIslamic

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. IX.

Further Readings of Islam:

The Qur'an: Basic Teaching

Islam in Focus

Islam: The M isunderstood Religion

Towards Understanding Islam

The Bible, The Qur'an and Science

What Everyone Should Know About

Islam and the Muslims,

For detailed information of Islam-contact WAMY

Headquarters at Riyadh and branch office at Jeddah.

1. Wamy, P. O. Box 10845, Riyadh 11443,

Saudi Arabia. Tel.: (01)4641669/4655431

2. WAMY, P. O. Box 8856, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Tel. (02)6891962

Or the nearest Muslim Organization or Center in your 

town.

- T. B. Irving, et al. -Hamuda Abdulatif 

- M. Qutb

- Maudoodi

- Maurice B ucaille

- Suzanne Haneef