SIR, YOU SAID IT! by Shabbir Ahmed M.D.

SIR, YOU SAID IT!
by Shabbir Ahmed M.D.

INTRODUCTION
With the Name of God the Instant and Sustaining Source of all Mercy and Kindness.
Billions of people in the last millennium have loved, revered and honored Islam. Conversely, billions have hated, criticized and defamed it. As a matter of fact, the situation applies equally to any other major religion.
Although Islam in its original form is not a religion, the Muslim clergy have indeed reduced it to a set of dogmas, rituals, superstitions, myths, legends, and means of attaining ‘salvation’, the essential hallmarks of a “religion”.
Through the centuries, we come across brilliant minds that have been able to see the diamond in the rough. They have scratched the surface and let the reality shine forth in all splendor. Then they have immediately realized that Islam is not a religion per se although it has been made to appear so. In fact, Islam being the most pragmatic System of Life is a massive challenge to religion.

ABOUT THE TITLE: Let not the title of this booklet be misunderstood as primarily addressing men. It has been chosen for simplicity and for the fact that an overwhelming majority of the quotes given in this booklet have come from men.
A reader may wonder, “Well, I never said it, so why this title?” With the possibility of rare disagreement, the answer is quite simple. The renowned intellectuals, writers, thinkers, theologians, poets, artists and intelligentsia become the voice of a society. Their very popularity hinges upon, and attests to, their ability to echo the silent voice of the masses. How many lines from Aristotle, Plato, William Shakespeare, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln have blended with the intellectual and social fabric of civilizations!
The question may be raised that other greats have said things contrary to what the author has compiled in this booklet. Quite a valid objection, isn’t it? But every writer must do his best to drive home the point he or she is trying to make. Being consciously aware of this fact, and for the sake of intellectual honesty, I have selected quotes from the best of the best and overwhelmingly non-controversial figures.
It is quite natural for the casual observer to judge an ideology by the results it achieves. To paraphrase from the Bible, a tree is known by its fruit.
Mathew 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

To paraphrase from the Qur’an, a good land brings forth decent vegetation.
The Qur’an 7:58 A good soil brings forth decent produce by the leave of its Lord, while the bad one yields that which is of poor quality ——.
This point has been extensively elaborated in my new book, Islam: The True History And False Beliefs. The parables of the tree and soil apply well to the spoiled fruit of today’s counterfeit Islam.
Now let us see what greatness the true Qur’an-based Islam has achieved in the past and how wonderful are its prospects to regain its lost glory.
The central themes of the pristine Islam are service of humanity and benefiting God’s creation. As soon as the dust of myth is wiped off, Islam will once again become the Beacon of Light for all humanity. And surely it will be the front-line force in making this planet a better place to live.
Let me stop here and let us all listen to the great non-Muslim minds, predominantly Western. These greats might very well be echoing the inherent voice of truth within our inner selves.
SOME OUTSTANDING INTELLECTUALS
EXTOLLING ISLAM
• Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and Hero Worship and the Heroic in History
• A. S. Tritton, Islam
• De Lacy O’Leary, Islam at the Crossroads
• Edward Gibbon, History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
• Stanley Lane-Poole, Speeches and Table Talk of the Prophet Muhammad
• Annie Besant, The Life and Teachings of Mohammad
• W. C. Taylor, The History of Muhammadanism and its Sects
• Reverend Bosworth Smith, Muhammad and Muhammadanism
• Simon Ockley, History of the Saracen Empire
• Edward Montet, La Propagande Chretienne et ses Adversaries Musulmans, 1890.
• Dr. Gustav Weil, History of the Islamic Peoples
• Alphonse de LaMartaine, Historie de la Turquie, 1854.
• “Mahatma” Gandhi, Statement published in Young India, 1924.
• Sir George Bernard Shaw, The Genuine Islam, 1936.
• Michael Hart, The 100, A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons In History
• Dr. William Draper, History of Intellectual Development of Europe
• J. W. H. Stab, Islam and its Founder
• Washington Irving, Life of Muhammad
• Arthur Glyn Leonard, Islam, Her Moral and Spiritual Values
• Charles Stuart Mills, History of Mohammadanism
• Philip K. Hitti, History of the Arabs
• Stanley Lane-Poole, Studies in a Mosque
• J. M. Rodwell, Preface to his translation of the Holy Qur’an
• W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca
• D. G. Hogarth, Arabia
• Washington Irving, Mahomet and His Successors
• James Michener, Islam: The Misunderstood Religion
• Lawrence E. Browne, The Prospects of Islam
• K. S. Ramakrishna Rao, Mohammed: The Prophet of Islam
• Jules Masserman, Who Were History’s Great Leaders? TIME Magazine July 15, 1974

In the quotations given below, the Western writers have sometimes used the term Muhammadanism for Islam. They were perhaps unaware that, for a Muslim, Muhammadanism conveys the erroneous impression that Islam was founded by Prophet Muhammad, or that the Muslims might be worshiping him.
Muslims accept no deity other than the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Prophet Muhammad obeyed and propagated the Message of the One and Only God (in Arabic, Allah), the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. Hence, his Mission was essentially the same as that of the earlier Prophets of God. He was the last Prophet Messenger and sent for the entire humanity for all times to come.
Let us begin with the greatest social philosopher of Victorian England, Thomas Carlyle.
Thomas Carlyle - Heroes, Hero Worship, and the Heroic in History London 1841:
…. As there is no danger of our becoming, any of us, Mahometans, I mean to say all the good of him I justly can....
When Pococke inquired of Grotius, where the proof was of that story of the pigeon, trained to pick peas from Mahomet’s ear, and pass for an angel dictating to him? Grotius answered that there was no proof! ....
A greater number of God’s creatures believe in Mahomet’s word at this hour than in any other word whatever. Are we to suppose that it was a miserable piece of spiritual legerdemain [trick], this which so many creatures of the almighty have lived by and died by? ....
A poor, hard-toiling, ill-provided man; careless of what vulgar men toil for. Not a bad man, I should say; Something better in him than hunger of any sort, — or these wild Arab men, fighting and jostling three-and-twenty years at his hand, in close contact with him always, would not revere him so! They were wild men bursting ever and anon into quarrel, into all kinds of fierce sincerity; without right worth and manhood, no man could have commanded them. They called him prophet you say? Why he stood there face to face with them; bare, not enshrined in any mystery; visibly clouting his own cloak, cobbling his own shoes; fighting,
counseling, ordering in the midst of them: they must have seen what kind of man he was, let him be called what you like! No emperor with his tiaras was obeyed as this man in a cloak of his own clouting. During three-and-twenty years of rough actual trial, I find something of a veritable Hero necessary for that, of itself...
These Arabs, the man Mahomet, and that one century, - is it not as if a spark had fallen, one spark, on a world of what proves explosive powder, blazes heaven-high from Delhi to Granada! I said the Great man was always as lightning out of Heaven; the rest of men waited for him like fuel, and then they too would flame...
The lies [Western slander] which well-meaning zeal has heaped round this man [Muhammad] are disgraceful to ourselves only. He was a great soul, one of that who cannot but be earnest. He was to kindle the world; the world’s Maker had ordered so …. A man of truth and fidelity, true in what he did, in what he spake and thought—this is the only sort of speech worth speaking.
A. S. Tritton - Islam 1951:
The picture of the Muslim soldier advancing with a sword in one hand and the Qur’an in the other is quite false.

De Lacy O’Leary - Islam at the Crossroads London 1923:
History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated.
Edward Gibbon - History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire London 1788:
The good sense of Muhammad despised the pomp of royalty. The Apostle of God submitted to the menial offices of the family; he kindled the fire; swept the floor; milked the ewes; and mended with his own hands his shoes and garments. Disdaining the penance and merit of a hermit, he observed without effort of vanity the abstemious diet of an Arab …. The creed of Mohammad is free from ambiguity and the Qur’an is a glorious testimony to the unity of God …. The greatest crime, the greatest “sin” of Mohammad in the eyes of the Christian West is that he did not allow himself to be slaughtered, to be “crucified” by his enemies. He only defended himself, his family and his followers; and finally vanquished his enemies. Mohammad’s success is the Christians’ gall of disappointment …. He did not believe in any vicarious sacrifices for the sins of others.
George Rivorie - Visages de L’ Islam:
He laid the foundation of a universal government. His law was one for all. Equal justice and love for everyone.
Stanley Lane-Poole - Speeches and Table Talk of the
Prophet Muhammad:
He was the most faithful protector of those he protected, the sweetest and most agreeable in conversation. Those who saw him were suddenly filled with reverence; those who came near him loved him; they who described him would say, “I have never seen his like either before or after.” He was of great taciturnity, but when he spoke it was with emphasis and deliberation, and no one could forget what he said....
Sir William Muir - Life of Mohammad, India 1860:
Mohammad brought an end to idol worship. He preached monotheism and infinite Mercy of God, human brotherhood, care of the orphan, emancipation of slaves, forbidding of wine—No religion achieved as much success as Islam did.
Simon Ockley - History of the Saracen Empire 1823:
A rugged, strife-torn and mountaineering people...were suddenly turned into an indomitable Arab force, which achieved a series of splendid victories unparalleled in the history of nations, for in the short space of ninety years that mighty range of Saracenic [Nomad Arabs] conquest embraced a wider extent of territory than Rome had mastered in the course of eight hundred.
The greatest success of Mohammad’s life was affected by sheer moral force. It is not the propagation but the permanency of his religion that deserves our wonder, the same pure and perfect impression which he engraved at Mecca and Medina is preserved after the revolutions of twelve centuries by the Indian, the African and the Turkish proselytes of the Koran.... The Mahometans have uniformly withstood the temptation of reducing the object of their faith and devotion to a level with the senses and imagination of man. ‘I believe in One God and Mahomet the Apostle of God’ is the simple and invariable profession of Islam. The intellectual image of the Deity has never been degraded by any visible idol; the honors of the prophet have never transgressed the measure of human virtue, and his living precepts have restrained the gratitude of his disciples within the bounds of reason and religion.

M. H. Hyndman - The Awakening of Asia:
Mohammad never assigned himself a status more than a common man and a messenger of God. People had faith in him when he was surrounded by poverty and adversity and trusted him while he was the ruler of a great Empire …. A man of spotless character who always had confidence in himself and in God’s help …. No aspect of his life remained hidden nor was his death a mysterious event.
Annie Besant - The Life and Teachings of Mohammad, Madras, 1932:
It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great Prophet of Arabia, who knew how he taught and how he lived, to feel anything but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great messengers of the Supreme. And although in what I put to you I shall say many things which may be familiar to many, yet I myself feel, whenever I reread them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of reverence for that mighty Arabian teacher.
Pringle Kennedy - Arabian Society at the Time of Mohammad:
The height of human achievement and glory was Mohammad.
W. C. Taylor - The History of Muhammadanism and its Sects:
So great was his liberality to the poor that he often left his household unprovided, nor did he content himself with relieving their wants, he entered into conversation with them, and expressed a warm sympathy for their sufferings. He was a firm friend and a faithful ally.
Reverend Bosworth Smith - Muhammad and Muhammadanism, London, 1874:
Head of the State as well as the Church, he was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without the Pope’s pretensions, and Caesar without the legions of Caesar, without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a police force, without a fixed revenue. If ever a man ruled by a right divine, it was Muhammad, for he had all the powers without their supports. He cared not for the dressings of power. The simplicity of his private life was in keeping with his public life.
In Mohammadanism every thing is different here. Instead of the shadowy and the mysterious, we have history.... We know of the external history of Muhammad.... While for his internal history after his mission had been proclaimed, we have a book absolutely unique in its origin, in its preservation, on the Substantial authority of which no one has ever been able to cast a serious doubt.... Absolutely unique in history, Muhammad is a three-fold founder of a nation, of an empire and of a religion. The unlettered one bestowed upon the world the Book which is a miracle, the eternal miracle and the true miracle.

Rev E. Stephenson - My Reflections:
The message of Mohammad, Islam, is nothing but a blessing for mankind—The usher from darkness to light and from Satan to God.
Edward Montet - La Propagande Chretienne et ses Adversaries Musulmans, Paris 1890: [Also in T.W. Arnold in ‘The Preaching of Islam,’ London 1913]
Islam is a religion that is essentially rationalistic in the widest sense of this term considered etymologically and historically.... 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, an invariable purity and with a note of sure conviction, which it is hard to find surpassed outside the pale of Islam.... 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.
Mohammad never assigned himself a status more than a common man and a messenger of God. People had faith in him when he was surrounded by poverty and adversity and trusted him while he was the ruler of a great Empire…. A man of spotless character who always had confidence in himself and in God’s help …. No aspect of his life remained hidden nor was his death a mysterious event. (M. H. Hyndman, The Awakening of Asia).

Dr. Gustav Weil - History of the Islamic Peoples:
Muhammad was a shining example to his people. His character was pure and stainless. His house, his dress, his food - they were characterized by a rare simplicity. So unpretentious was he that he would receive from his companions no special mark of reverence, nor would he accept any service from his servant which he could do for himself. He was accessible to all and at all times. He visited the sick and was full of sympathy for all. Unlimited was his benevolence and generosity as also was his anxious care for the welfare of the community.
Tor Andre - Muhammad, the Man and His Faith:
Islam is a forceful spiritual energy. Its true meaning will manifest itself when it will be implemented on large scale.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Letter to Eckermann 1830, Sir Henry Elliott’s collection, 1865:
The teachings of Islam can fail under no circumstances. With all our systems of culture and civilization, we cannot go beyond Islam and, as a matter of fact, no human mind can go beyond the Koran.

Alphonse de LaMartaine - Historie de la Turquie, Paris, 1854:
Never has a man set for himself, voluntarily or involuntarily, a more sublime aim, since this aim was superhuman; to subvert superstitions which had been imposed between man and his Creator, to render God unto man and man unto God; to restore the rational and sacred idea of divinity amidst the chaos of the material and disfigured gods of idolatry, then existing. Never has a man undertaken a work so far beyond human power with so feeble means, for he [Muhammad] had in the conception as well as in the execution of such a great design, no other instrument than himself and no other aid except a handful of men living in a corner of the desert. Finally, never has a man accomplished such a huge and lasting revolution in the world….
If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astonishing results are the three criteria of a human genius, who could dare compare any great man in history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws, and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples, dynasties, but millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and the souls.
On the basis of a Book, every letter of which has become law, he created a spiritual nationality which blends together peoples of every tongue and race. He
has left the indelible characteristic of this Muslim nationality the hatred of false gods and the passion for the One and Immaterial God. This avenging patriotism against the profanation of Heaven formed the virtue of the followers of Muhammad; the conquest of one-third of the earth to the dogma was his miracle; or rather it was not the miracle of man but that of reason.
The idea of the unity of God, proclaimed amidst the exhaustion of the fabulous theogonies [accounts of the origin and descent of the gods], was in itself such a miracle that upon its utterance from his lips it destroyed all the ancient temples of idols and set on fire one-third of the world. His life, his meditations, his heroic revelings [rebellion] against the superstitions of his country, and his boldness in defying the furies of idolatry, his firmness in enduring them for fifteen years in Mecca, his acceptance of the role of public scorn and almost of being a victim of his fellow countrymen: all these and finally, his flight, his incessant preaching, his wars against odds, his faith in his success and his superhuman security in misfortune, his forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma. This dogma was twofold the unity of God and the immateriality of God: the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with words.
Philosopher, Orator, Apostle, Legislator, Conqueror of Ideas, Restorer of Rational beliefs.... The founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire-that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?

J. H. Denison - Emotions as the Basis of Civilization:
Muhammad saved the human civilization from extinction. Ponder! Which person is it who taught mankind the way to establish the greatest society; the society in which blessings descend upon every individual.
Mahatma Gandhi - Young India, 1924:
The more I study, the more I discover that the strength of Islam does not lie in the sword. The more I desired to know the best of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind.... I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the second volume of the Prophet’s biography, I was sorry there was not more for me to read more of that great life.
The verified sayings of Muhammad are a treasure of wisdom not only for Muslims but for all mankind - (M. K. Gandhi’s Preface to “The Sayings of Muhammad” by Sohrawardi).
Sir George Bernard Shaw - The Genuine Islam, Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936:
If any religion had the chance of ruling over England, nay Europe within the next hundred years, it could be Islam.
…. 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.
Dr. Mawde Royden - The Problem of Palestine:
Mohammad introduced the concept of such Glorious and Omnipotent God in Whose eyes all worldly systems were pieces of straw. Islamic equality of mankind is no fiction as it is in Christianity. No human mind has ever thought of such total freedom as established by Mohammad.

F. J. C Hearushaw - The Science of History:
The Christian World came to wage crusades against Muslims but eventually knelt before them to gain knowledge. They were spellbound to see that Muslims were owners of a culture that was far superior to their own. The Dark Ages of Europe were illuminated by nothing but the beacon of Muslim civilization.
Michael Hart - The 100 A Ranking Of The Most Influential Persons In History, New York, 1978:
My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the secular and religious level.... It is probable that the relative influence of Muhammad on Islam has been larger than the combined influence of Jesus Christ and St. Paul on Christianity.... It is this unparalleled combination of secular and religious influence which I feel entitles Muhammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history.
Dr. William Draper - History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, London 1875:
Four years after the death of Justinian, A.D. 569, was born in Mecca, in Arabia, the man who, of all men, has exercised the greatest influence upon the human race.... To be the religious head of many empires, to guide the daily life of one-third of the human race, may justify the title of a Messenger of God…. The towering personality of Muhammad has left bright and indelible imprints on all mankind…. The man who of all men exercised the greatest influence upon the human race…. During the period of the Caliphs the learned men of the Christians and the Jews were not only held in great esteem but were appointed to posts of great responsibility, and were promoted to the high ranking job in the
government.... He (Caliph Haroon Rasheed) never considered to which country a learned person belonged nor his faith and belief, but only his excellence in the field of learning.
H. N. Spalding - Civilization in the East and West:
Mohammad was the greatest Executive Officer for implementation of the Divine Will. Like other prophets he knew that time will come when all mankind will become one community …. In Islam the believer is a worshiper and a soldier ever ready to go to the battlefield but only for that battle which is waged to eradicate the evil.

Robert Briffault - The Making of Humanity:
The Renaissance of Europe did not take place in the 15th century. Rather it began when Europe learned from the culture of the Arabs. The cradle of European awakening is NOT Italy. It is the Muslim Spain.
J. W. H. Stab - Islam and its Founder:
Judged by the smallness of the means at his disposal, and the extent and permanence of the work that he accomplished, his name in world’s history shines with a more specious luster than that of the Prophet of Mecca. To the impulse which he gave numberless dynasties have owed their existence, fair cities and stately palaces and temples have arisen, and wide provinces became obedient to the Faith. And beyond all this, his words have governed the belief of generations, been accepted as their rule of life, and their certain guide to the world to come. At a thousand shrines the voices of the faithful invoke blessings on him, whom they esteem the very Prophet of God, the seal of the Apostles.... Judged by the standards to human renown, the glory of what mortal can compare with his?
Arthur Glyn Leonard - Islam, Her Moral and Spiritual Values:
It was the genius of Muhammad, the spirit that he breathed into the Arabs through the soul of Islam that exalted them. That raised them out of the lethargy and low level of tribal stagnation up to the high watermark of national unity and empire. It was in the sublimity of Muhammad’s deism, the simplicity, the sobriety and purity it inculcated the fidelity of its founder to his own tenets that acted on their moral and intellectual fiber with all the magnetism of true inspiration.
Charles Stuart Mills - History of Mohammadanism:
Deeply read in the volume of nature, though extremely ignorant of letters, his mind could expand into controversy with the wisest of his enemies or contract itself to the apprehension of meanest of his disciples. His simple eloquence was rendered impressive by a manner of mixed dignity and elegance, by the expression of a countenance where the awfulness of his majesty was so well tempered by an amiable sweetness, that it exerted emotions of veneration and love. He was gifted with that authoritative air of genius which alike influences the learned and commands the illiterate.

Philip K. Hitti - History of the Arabs:
Within a brief span of mortal life, Muhammad called forth of unpromising material, a nation, never welded before; in a country that was hitherto but a geographical expression he established a religion which in vast areas suppressed Christianity and Judaism, and laid the basis of an empire that was soon to embrace within its far flung boundaries the fairest provinces of the then civilized world …. Kingdom of God on Earth: God’s messenger serving as the greatest proponent of human brotherhood, His viceroy on earth in the form of Muhammad.
Islam does not set impossible goals. There are no mythological intricacies in this message. No hidden meanings or secrets and absolutely no priesthood.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 4th & 11th editions:
Muhammad was the most successful of all religious personalities.
Stanley Lane-Poole - Studies in a Mosque:
He was one of those happy few who have attained the supreme joy of making one great truth their very life spring. He was the messenger of One God, and never to his life’s end did he forget who he was or the message which was the marrow of his being. He brought his tidings to his people with a grand dignity sprung from the consciousness of his high office, together with a most sweet humility…. Mohammad was an enthusiast in the noblest sense.
Rev. J. M. Rodwell - The Preface to Translation of the Holy Quran:
Mohammad’s career is a wonderful instance of the force and life that resides in him who possesses an intense faith in God and in the unseen world. He will always be regarded as one of those who have had that influence over the faith, morals and whole earthly life of their fellow men, which none but a really great man ever did, or can exercise; and whose efforts to propagate a great verity will prosper.

W. Montgomery Watt - Muhammad at Mecca, Oxford, 1953:
His readiness to undergo persecution for his beliefs, the high moral character of the men who believed in him and looked up to him as a leader, and the greatness of his ultimate achievement - all argue his fundamental integrity. To suppose Muhammad an impostor raises more problems than it solves. Moreover, none of the great figures of history is so poorly appreciated in the West as Muhammad.... Thus, not merely must we credit Muhammad with essential honesty and integrity of purpose, if we are to understand him at all; if we are to correct the errors we have inherited from the past, we must not forget the conclusive proof is a much stricter requirement than a show of plausibility, and in a matter such as this only to be attained with difficulty.
D. G. Hogarth - Arabia:
Serious or trivial, his daily behavior has instituted a canon which millions observe this day with conscious memory. No one regarded by any section of the human race as Perfect Man has ever been imitated so minutely. The conduct of the founder of Christianity has not governed the ordinary life of his followers. Moreover, no founder of a religion has left on so solitary an eminence as the Muslim Apostle.

Washington Irving - Mahomet and His Successors:
He was sober and abstemious in his diet and a rigorous observer of fasts. He indulged in no magnificence of apparel, the ostentation of a petty mind; neither was his simplicity in dress affected but a result of real disregard for distinction from so trivial a source.
In his private dealings he was just. He treated friends and strangers, the rich and poor, the powerful and weak, with equity, and was beloved by the common people for the affability with which he received them, and listened to their complaints.
His military triumphs awakened no pride nor vain glory, as they would have done had they been effected for selfish purposes. In the time of his greatest power he maintained the same simplicity of manners and appearance as in the days of his adversity. So far from affecting a regal state, he was displeased if, on entering a room, any unusual testimonials of respect were shown to him. If he aimed at a universal dominion, it was the dominion of faith; as to the temporal rule which grew up in his hands, as he used it without ostentation, so he took no step to perpetuate it in his family.

Ramsey Clark, Former U.S. Attorney General, Our Planet 1994, Lecture:
Islam is the only religion that gives dignity to the poor.
James Michener - Islam: The Misunderstood Religion, Reader’s Digest, May 1955, pp. 68-70:
No other religion in history spread so rapidly as Islam. The West has widely believed that this surge of religion was made possible by the sword. But no wise modern scholar accepts this idea, and the Koran is explicit in the support of the freedom of conscience.
Muhammad, the inspired man who founded Islam, was born about A.D. 570 into an Arabian tribe that worshiped idols. Orphaned at birth, he was always particularly solicitous of the poor and needy, the widow and the orphan, the slave and the downtrodden. At twenty he was already a successful businessman, and soon became director of camel caravans for a wealthy widow. When he reached twenty-five his employer recognizing his merit proposed marriage. Even though she was fifteen years older, he married her and as long as she lived remained a devoted husband.
Like almost every major prophet before him, Muhammad fought shy of serving as the transmitter of God’s word sensing his own inadequacy. But the Angel commanded ‘Read’. So far as we know, Muhammad was unable to read or write, but he began to dictate those inspired words which would soon revolutionize a large segment of the earth: “There is one God.”
In all things Muhammad was profoundly practical. When his beloved son Ibrahim died, an eclipse occurred and rumors of God’s personal condolence quickly arose. Whereupon Muhammad is said to have announced, “An eclipse is a phenomenon of nature. It is foolish to attribute such things to the death or birth of a human being.”
At Muhammad’s own death an attempt was made to deify him, but the man who was to become his administrative successor killed the hysteria with one of the noblest speeches in religious history: “If there are any among you who worshiped Muhammad, he is dead. But if it is God you worshiped, He lives for ever.”

Lawrence E. Browne - The Prospects of Islam, 1944:
…. Incidentally these well-established facts dispose of the idea so widely fostered in Christian writings that the Muslims, wherever they went, forced people to accept Islam at the point of the sword.
Under his influence people became united in one bond which they knew not, the bond of true monotheism. (The Eclipse of Christianity in Islam)
K. S. Ramakrishna Rao - Mohammed: The Prophet of Islam, 1989:
My problem to write this monograph is easier, because we are not generally fed now on that (distorted) kind of history and much time need not be spent on pointing out our misrepresentations of Islam. The theory of Islam and sword, for instance, is not heard now in any quarter worth the name. The principle of Islam that “there is no compulsion in religion” is well known …. In the person of the prophet of Islam we see the rarest phenomenon on earth walking in flesh and blood i.e. the union of the theorist, the organizer and the leader in one man.
P. D. Ouspensky - Tertium organum:
Any science that collides with the Koran will turn out to be false.
Jules Masserman - Who Were History’s Great Leaders? TIME Magazine, July 15, 1974:
The greatest leader of all times was Mohammad, who combined all the three functions; religious, political and moral. To a lesser extent, Moses did the same.

Napoleon Bonaparte as Quoted in Cherfils, Bonaparte et Islam, Paris, France:
Moses has revealed the existence of God to his nation. Jesus Christ to the Roman world, Muhammad to the old continent....
Arabia was idolatrous when, six centuries after Jesus, Muhammad introduced the worship of the God of Abraham, of Ishmael, of Moses, and Jesus. The Ariyans [The Unitarian followers of Father Arius] and some other sects had disturbed the tranquility of the east by agitating the question of the nature of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Muhammad declared that there was none but one God who had no father, no son and that the trinity imported the idea of idolatry....
I hope the time is not far off when I shall be able to unite all the wise and educated men of all the countries and establish a uniform regime based on the principles of Koran which alone are true and which alone can lead men to happiness.
Bertrand Russell - History of Western Philosophy, London, 1948:
Our use of phrase ‘The Dark ages’ to cover the period from 699 to 1,000 marks our undue concentration on Western Europe.... From India to Spain, the brilliant civilization of Islam flourished. What was lost to Christendom at this time was not lost to civilization, but quite the contrary.... To us it seems that West-European civilization is civilization, but this is a narrow view.

Herbert George Wells - Happiness of Mankind, Kent, 1938:
The Islamic teachings have left great traditions for equitable and gentle dealings and behavior, and inspire people with nobility and tolerance. These are human teachings of the highest order and at the same time practicable. These teachings brought into existence a society in which hard-heartedness and collective oppression and injustice were the least as compared with all other societies preceding it.... Islam is replete with gentleness, courtesy, and fraternity.
Diwan Chand Sharma - The Prophets of the East, 1935:
Mohammad was the soul of kindness, and his influence was felt and never forgotten by those around him.
Raymond Lerouge - Life de Mohamet:
The Arabian Prophet Mohammad is the founder of a revolution unparalleled in history. He founded a political state that will ultimately embrace the entire planet.
The law of that Government would rest on justice and kindness. His teachings revolve around human equality, mutual cooperation and universal brotherhood.
Dr. Marcus Dods - Mohammad, Buddha and Christ:
Mohammad’s religion reformed all existing dogmas and brought the Arabs ahead of the super powers of the time.

Phillip Hitti - Short History of the Arabs:
During all the first part of the Middle Ages, no other people made as important a contribution to human progress as did the Arabs, if we take this term to mean all those whose mother-tongue was Arabic, and not merely those living in the Arabian peninsula. For centuries, Arabic was the language of learning, culture and intellectual progress for the whole of the civilized world with the exception of the Far East. From the 9th to the 12th century there were more philosophical, medical, historical, religious, astronomical and geographical works written in Arabic than in any other human tongue.
Carra de Vaux - The Philosophers of Islam, Paris, 1921:
Finally how can one forget that at the same time the Mogul Empire of India (1526-1857 CE) was giving the world the Taj-Mahal (completed in 1648 CE) the architectural beauty of which has never been surpassed, and the ‘Akbar Nameh’ of Abul Fazl: That extraordinary work full of life ideas and learning where every aspect of life is examined, listed and classified, and where progress continually dazzles the eye, is a document of which Oriental civilization may justly be proud. The men whose genius finds its expression in this book were far in advance of their age in the practical art of government, and they were perhaps in advance of it in their speculations about religious philosophy. Those poets those philosophers knew how to deal with the world or matter. They observe, classify, calculate and experiment. All the ideas that occur to them are tested against facts. They express them with eloquence but they also support them with statistics.... the principles of tolerance, justice and humanity which prevailed during the long reign of Akbar.

Marcel Clerget - La Turquie, Passe et Pressent, Paris, 1938:
Many proofs of high cultural level of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent are to be found in the development of science and law; in the flowering of literary works in Arabic, Persian and Turkish; in the contemporary monuments in Istanbul, Bursa, and Edirne; in the boom in luxury industries; in the sumptuous life of the court and high dignitaries, and last but not least, in its religious tolerance. All the various influences - notably Turkish, Byzantine and Italian mingle together and help to make this the most brilliant epoch of the Ottomans.
Thomas Arnold - The Call to Islam:
We have never heard about any attempt to compel Non-Muslim parties to adopt Islam or about any organized persecution aiming at exterminating Christianity. If the Caliphs had chosen one of these plans, they would have wiped out Christianity as easily as what happened to Islam during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain; by the same method which Louis XIV followed to make Protestantism a creed whose followers were to be sentenced to death; or with the same ease of keeping the Jews away from Britain for a period of three hundred fifty years.
Michael the Elder (Great) as Quoted in Michael the Elder, Chronique de Michael Syrien, Patriarche Jacobite d’ Antioche, J. B. Chabot, Editor, Vol. II, Paris, 1901:
This is why the God of vengeance, who alone is all-powerful, and changes the empire of mortals as He will, giving it to whomsoever He will, and uplifting the humble beholding the wickedness of the Romans who throughout their dominions, cruelly plundered our churches and our monasteries and condemned us without pity, brought from the region of the south the sons of Ishmael, to deliver us through them from the hands of the Romans. And if in truth we have suffered some loss, because the Catholic churches, that had been taken away from us and given to the Chalcedonians, remained in their possession; for when the cities submitted to the Arabs, they assigned to each denomination the churches which they found it to be in possession of (and at that time the great churches of Emessa and that of Harran had been taken away from us); nevertheless it was no slight advantage for us to be delivered from the cruelty of the Romans, their wickedness, their wrath and cruel zeal against us, and to find ourselves at people.
[Michael the Elder, Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch wrote this text in the latter part of the twelfth century, after five centuries of Muslim rule in that region.]

James Addison - The Christian Approach to the Moslem:
Despite the growth of antagonism, Moslem rulers seldom made their Christian subjects suffer for the Crusades. When the Saracens finally resumed the full control of Palestine the Christians were given their former status as citizens. The Coptic Church, too had little cause for complaint under Saladin’s strong government, and during the time of the earlier Mameluke sultans who succeeded him, the Copts experienced more enlightened justice than they had hitherto known. The only effect of the Crusaders upon Egyptian Christians was to keep them for a while from pilgrimage to Jerusalem, for as long as the Frank were in charge heretics were forbidden access to the shrines. Not until the Moslem victories could they enjoy their rights as Christians.

Marmaduke Pickthall - Tolerance in Islam, Lecture, 1927, Madras, India:
In the eyes of history, religious toleration is the highest evidence of culture in a people.... It was not until the Western nations broke away from their religious law that they became more tolerant, and it was only when the Muslims fell away from their religious law that they declined in tolerance and other evidences of the highest culture. Before the coming of Islam tolerance had never been preached as an essential part of religion....
If Europe had known as much of Islam, as Muslims knew of Christendom, in those days, those mad, adventurous, occasionally chivalrous and heroic, but utterly fanatical outbreaks known as the Crusades could not have taken place, for they were based on a complete misapprehension....
Innumerable monasteries, with a wealth of treasure of which the worth has been calculated at no less than a hundred millions sterling, enjoyed the benefit of the Holy Prophet’s Charter to the monks of Sinai and were religiously respected by the Muslims. The various sects of Christians were represented in the Council of the Empire by their patriarchs, on the provincial and district council by their bishops, in the village council by their priests, whose word was always taken without question on things which were the sole concern of their community....

The tolerance within the body of Islam was, and is, something without parallel in history; class and race and color ceasing altogether to be barriers.
Sir John Bagot Glubb - Reflections on a Great ERA:
The Abbasid Khalifa [Caliph] Al-Ma’mun’s period of rule (813 - 833 CE) may be considered the ‘golden age’ of science and learning. He had always been devoted to books and to learned pursuits. His brilliant mind was interested in every form of intellectual activity. Not only poetry but also philosophy, theology, astronomy, medicine and law all occupied his time.
By Mamun’s time, medical schools were extremely active in Baghdad. The first free public hospital was opened in Baghdad during the Caliphate of Haroon-ar-Rashid. As the system developed, physicians and surgeons were appointed who gave lectures to medical students and issued diplomas to those who were considered qualified to practice. The first hospital in Egypt was opened in 872 AD and thereafter public hospitals sprang up all over the empire from Spain and the Maghrib [Morocco] to Persia.
On the Holocaust of Baghdad (1258 CE) Perpetrated by Hulagu: The city of Haroon and Mamun was systematically looted, destroyed and burnt. Eight hundred thousand persons are said to have been killed. The Khalifa Mustasim was sewn up in a sack and trampled to death under the feet of Mongol horses. For five hundred years, Baghdad had been a city of palaces, mosques, libraries and colleges. Its universities and hospitals were the most up-to-date in the world. Nothing now remained but heaps of rubble and a stench of decaying human flesh.

R. V. C. Bodley - The Messenger, London, 1946:
No man whose external conditions changed so much ever changed himself less to meet them.
James Gavin - Dialogue with a U.S. General:
Among leaders who have made the greatest impact through ages, I would consider Muhammad before Jesus Christ.
Giyani Balbir Singh - Navan Hindustan, 1947:
Those who believe Islam was spread by force are fools who neither know the ways of Islam nor the ways of the world.
W. A. R. Gibb - Whither Islam:
The Message of Mohammad is not a set of metaphysical phenomena. It is a complete civilization.
Rev. B. Margoliouth - Biographies of Mohammad:
The Book revealed to Mohammad is one and unique of its kind. It has left indelible impression on the hearts of humanity. Nothing can overcome its majesty. The Quran has given new dimensions to human thinking. Surprising reforms, stunning success! …. The power that created in Muslims ravenous appetite for knowledge sprung from the Quran.
Sir Richard Gregory - Religion in Science and Civilization:
The Book revealed to Muhammad defines an unalterable guide to individual and collective life of people.
Lewis Mumford - Transformation of Man:
Fellow inhabitants of the planet! Search for the ideal Prophet, who in the 7th century, has shown you the way to total success.

Respected readers,
We have seen a glimpse of the illumination issuing forth from some brilliant minds, mostly Western. Isn’t it time that we listened to these sincere voices and did some of our own reflection instead of getting carried away by the false propaganda?
Why Should We Know Muhammad?
We must, because he was by far the most remarkable and the most influential man that ever set foot on this earth. If we do not know him, we will remain oblivious to what phenomenal potential we as humans are endowed with and how this potential can be actualized.
He preached a most glorious System of Life, founded a state, built a nation, set up a moral code, initiated countless social and political reforms, set forth a dynamic and powerful society, and revolutionized human thought and behavior for all times to come. And he accomplished all these wonders in an astonishingly short span of 22 years!

When Muhammad died in 632 CE, the whole Arabia had changed from paganism and idol worship to the devotion of One True God, from tribal quarrels and wars to national solidarity and cohesion, from drunkenness and debauchery to sobriety and piety, from violence to tranquility, from lawlessness and anarchy to orderly living, from moral bankruptcy to the highest standards of moral excellence. History has never known such a complete transformation of a people or a place before or since.
He was a most versatile personality, a social reformer, a moral guide, a political thinker, a military genius, a superb administrator, a faithful friend, an honest and successful merchant, an ideal neighbor, a wonderful companion, a devoted husband, a loving father, and a farsighted, inspiring leader. And he was a model of perfection in each of these areas.

Yes, there have been other great leaders in the world. But none combines so many qualities to such an amazing level of perfection as did Muhammad. The lives and teachings of other great figures in history are shrouded in the mist of time and legend. There is so much speculation about the time and place of their birth, the mode and style of their lives, the nature and detail of their teachings that it is impossible for humanity today to reconstruct accurately and precisely the personalities and teachings of those great figures. Not so with this man, Muhammad. Not only was he born in the fullest blaze of recorded history, but every detail of his private and public life, of his actions and utterances, has been accurately documented and preserved to our day in one simple Book, the Qur’an.
Muhammad not only preached the most wonderful ideas, but also successfully translated each one of them into action. At the time of his death his teachings were not mere precepts and ideas straining for fulfillment. They had become the very core of life of tens of thousands of perfectly trained individuals. In a few decades, his followers had established the greatest empire in history. Such was the prosperity and peace in this empire that it was almost impossible to find a single person worthy of receiving alms and charity. A young woman could travel alone hundreds of miles without any fear but the fear of God. At what other time or place and in relation to what other political, social, religious system, philosophy or ideology - did the world ever witness such a perfectly astounding phenomenon? The answer is, NEVER AND NOWHERE!

In spite of the phenomenal success that crowned his success, he did not for a moment claim to be anything but only a human being who was chosen and ordained by the Creator to be a teacher of truth to mankind and be a complete model and pattern for their actions. He was a man with a noble and exalted Mission - and his unique Mission was to unite humanity under One God and to teach them the way to honest and upright living in accordance with the Command of God.
Today, after the lapse of some 1,400 years, the life and teachings of Muhammad have survived without the slightest loss, alteration or interpolation. Today they offer the same undying hope for treating mankind’s many ills as they did when Prophet Muhammad was alive. This is our honest claim and this is the inescapable conclusion forced upon us by the critical and unbiased study of the dynamics of human history.

As thinking, sensitive, concerned human beings, we owe it to ourselves to stop for one brief moment and ask, “Could it be that these statements, extraordinary as they sound, are really true? Supposing they are really true and we did not know this man, Muhammad or hear about his teachings - Or did not know him well enough to be able to benefit from his guidance and example. Is it not time we responded to this tremendous challenge and made some effort to know this man?” It will cost us nothing but it may well prove to be the beginning of a brand new vibrant era in our lives.
Come! Let us make a new discovery, know this wonderful man Muhammad, the like of whom never walked this earth, whose example can change our lives and our world for the better.
The reader may ask for a free booklet, “The Ideal Prophet”, by calling 954-746-2115 just for the mailing cost.

THERE IS YET ANOTHER FACET HONORING THE TRUTH OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD:
Authorship of the Qur'an
Who wrote the Qur'an? The non-Muslim's answer to this important question usually sounds like this:
"The Qur'an was authored by a human being; it is not a literal revelation from God. It is a book created by human intelligence, like any other book. It was, as a matter of historical fact, written by Muhammad, in the seventh century A.D."
If this is your view, rest assured that you have plenty of company!
You should also know, though, that this point of view is not without its difficulties. To believe it, you must also believe that Muhammad, peace be upon him:
- Knew that the Earth and heavenly bodies were once a single point, and were separated violently (21:30)
What's more...
- If you don't believe that he had access to special knowledge that made possible this prefiguring of the modern Big Bang theory -- a theory entirely unknown to the Arabs of the seventh century -- you must conclude that 21:30 of the Qur'an is merely an intriguing coincidence, a matter of getting something right by chance.
Perhaps this passage is simply an intriguing coincidence. If it is, however, it is not the only one.
This man, the supposed "author" of the Qur'an, would also have to have:
- Known about the relativity of time (22:47; 23:112-114; 70:4), a subject similarly unknown to Arab tribes of this period.
Either he possessed some extraordinary source of knowledge allowing discussion of this subject thirteen and a half centuries before Einstein, or we are looking at another intriguing coincidence.
Which is it?
- Most non-Muslims will instinctively answer along these lines: "Even if it means granting the text of the Qur'an a second striking coincidental feature, the likeliest explanation is that both passages are merely examples of happenstance."
And yet:
Consider that the same author would also have to have:
- Known that the universe is continuously expanding (51:47).
- Known that matter is created in pairs (36:36). (By the way, this discovery earned the scientist Paul Dirac the Nobel Prize in 1933.)
- Known what modern biological science knows about the foundation of life on Earth, namely that it is water-based (21:30).
- Known that iron is not native to the Earth, coming instead from an extraterrestrial source (57:25).
- Known that the planet Earth travels in an orbit (27:88; 21:33).
- Known that the sun, too, moves in an orbit (37:38), as indeed modern astronomy proves that it does.
- Known that the Earth's atmosphere acts like a protective shield for living creatures (21:32).
- Known that the stages of human development in the womb unfold in a specific, describable sequence (23:14) that has been confirmed by modern experts in human embryology.
- Known that the roots of mountains extend deep into the earth and serve the function of preventing shocks (21:31).
- Known details of how the Earth's rain cycle functions that were mysteries to scientists until the twentieth century (30:48).
- Known what modern oceanographers have now learned, namely that bordering seas meet but do not mingle with one another (55:19-20).
- Known that oceans have complex subsurface wave patterns (24:40).
- Known that, in communities of honeybees, only the females are workers (16:68-69). (The Arabic verb forms can connect only to female beings).
- Known, seven years ahead of time, that the humiliated Byzantine Army of his day would rejuvenate itself and secure a major victory, which in fact it eventually did against the Persians (30:1-4).
Known, two years before he did so, that he would enter Mecca in triumph (48:27).
- Known that the body of the Pharoah who had opposed Moses would be preserved for future generations (10:91-92) -- it is today on display in the Royal Mummies Chamber of the Egyptian Museum.
- Known to refer (12:54) to the Egyptian head of state of Joseph's, peace be upon him, era as king (Aziz-Malik) and not as Pharoah, the word that appears erroneously in the book of Genesis.
- Known that the fabled Arabian lost city of Iram (89:6-8) whose historical existence was confirmed by archaeologists only in 1990, was a historical reality.
- Known that the ancient flood that had beset the southern Arabian people of Saba from their dam system (34:15-17), similarly confirmed by modern archeology, was a historical reality.
- Known the name of Haman (28:38), a historical figure close to the Pharoah of the era of Moses, peace be upon him ... despite the problems that a) the name Haman does not appear in the Torah's version of the story, and b) the ability to translate the hieroglyphic language system of the Egyptians had been utterly lost for centuries at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, and indeed would remain lost until the year 1799. After the discovery in that year of the Rosetta Stone, scholars were able to unlock the mystery of the hieroglyphs and, eventually, to confirm that there was indeed a Haman, unmentioned in the Hebrew scriptures, who was close to this Pharoah in this period, and who was involved in construction (especially of towers and of temples), just as the Qur'an says. If we believe that human authorship is the only possible explanation for the origin of the Qur'an, we must assume either that Muhammad (S), somehow had access to this information, or we must believe that this passage is yet another in a remarkably long series of intriguing coincidences.

How many coincidences do we need to get the message?
The message is simple: no human intelligence could have produced this book in the seventh century.
Please know that there are many, many more such coincidences in the Qur'an.
I have listed here only those that do not require advanced knowledge in such topics as Arabic, mathematics, Islamic history, or classical poetic forms.
Even with the brief list I have provided, there comes, I think, a point at which one is obliged to evaluate the Qur'an's Message carefully, closely, and respectfully. These supposed coincidences are, I believe, clear signs to humankind that the Qur'an's Message is of a special quality, and must not be ignored.
Only the repeated exposure of the individual human heart to the Qur'an's Message can settle such a momentous question, "Who wrote the Qur'an?"
If you are a person who believes that there is no such thing as a divinely inspired revelation, the question is: how many coincidences does it take for you to consider that such a revelation to humanity may be possible?

If you are a person who believes that there is such a thing as a divinely inspired revelation, the question is, how many coincidences are you willing to ignore before considering the possibility that a particular text presents such revelation?
Please know that I am NOT interested in any debate about the possibility that any ONE of these verses I have cited is just a coincidence, or is for some other reason unpersuasive to you.
The truly remarkable thing is that ALL of these features should present themselves in a text supposedly composed by human intelligence -- and the profound unlikelihood of that is the intriguing coincidence I wish to discuss.
Knowing what you now know about these supposed coincidences, do you honestly believe that the Qur'an is simply the product of human intelligence, a book like any other book? Or does it seem more likely to you that its Message is of a special quality?
May God bless you!
Gratefully,
Shabbir Ahmed, M.D.