Islam in Concept
8. WILFRIED HOFMAN:
(Now Murad Hofman). Ph.D.
(Law) Harvard. German. Social Scientist and Diplomat.
Presently German Ambassador in
Al
geria
"For some time now, striving for more and more
precision and brevity, I have tried to put on paper, in a
systematic way, all philosophical truths, which, in my
view, can be ascertained beyond reasonable doubt. In the
course of this effort it dawned o
n me that the typical
attitude of an agnostic is not an intelligent one; that man
simply cannot escape a decision to believe; that the
createdness of what exists around us is obvious; that
'Islam undoubtedly finds itself in the greatest harmony
with overal
l reality. Thus I realize, not without shock,
that step by step, in spite of myself and almost
unconsciously, in feeling and thinking I have grown into
a Muslim. Only one last step remained to be taken: to
formalize my conversion. As of today, I am a Musli
m, I
have arrived."
Present address:
Embassy of the Federal Republic of
Germany, BP 664, Alger
-
gare, Algeria.
9. CASSIUS CLAY:
(Now Muhammad Ali Clay);
American boxer. (Three times world Heavyweight
Champion),
formerly
Christian. (Embraced Islam in
1965)
.
"I have had many nice moments in my life. But the
feeling I had while standing on Mount Arafat on the day
of 'Hajj' (Muslims' pilgrimage), was the most unique. I
felt exalted by the indescribable spiritual atmosphere
there as over a million and a half p
ilgrims invoked God
to forgive them of their sins and bestow on them His
choicest blessings. It was an exhilarating experience to
see to people belonging to different colors; races and
Islam in Concept
76
nationalities, kings, heads of states and ordinary men
from very poor c
ountries all clad in two simple white
sheets praying to God without any sense of either pride
or inferiority. It was a practical manifestation of the
concept of equality in Islam." (Speaking to the daily "Al
-
Madinah" Jeddah, 15 July 1989).
Present address
:
1200E, 49 St., Chicago, ILL 60615.
These were the impressions of a few persons who had
themselves been struck by the SWORD OF TRUTH.
As for the propaganda that it was the sword of steel (i.e.
the force) which was instrumental in the universal
expansion
of Islam, we give below remarks of some
prominent non
-
Muslims refuting this baseless claim:
1. M. K. GANDHI:
"
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
sim
plicity, the utter self
-
effacement of the prophet, the
scrupulous regard for his 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 carrie
d everything
before them and surmounted every trouble
" Young India,
1924.
2. EDWARD GIBBON:
"
The greatest success of
Mohammed's life was
affected
by sheer moral force
without the stroke of a sword.
" History of the Saracen
Empire, London. 1870.
3. A.S.TRI
TON:
"The picture of the Muslim soldier
advancing with a sword in one hand and the Quran in the
other is
quite false.
"
Islam, London, 1951
-
page 21.
Islam in Concept
77
4. DE LACY O'LEARY:
"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
"Islam at
Crossroads, London, 1923
-
page 8
5. K. S. RAMAKRISHNA RAO:
"
My problem to write
this monograp
h 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" Muhammad the Prophet of
Islam, Riyadh 1989
-
page 4.
6. JAMES A. MICHENER:
"No other religion in history
spread so rapidly as Islam ... The West has widely
believed that th
is surge of religion was made possible by
the sword.
But no modern scholar accepts that idea,
and
the Quran is explicit in support of the freedom of
conscience" Islam
-
The Misunders
tood Religion,
Readers Digest (
American Edition) May 1955.
7. LAWRENCE E.
BROWNE:
"
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
."
The Prospects of Islam, London 1944.
Islam in Concept
78
W
HO IS
PROPHET OF ISLAM
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
confirms:
"
a mass of detail in the early sources shows that he was
an honest and upright man who had gained the respect
and
loyalty of others who were like
wise honest and
upright men."
(Vol.12)
BERNARD SHAW
said
about him:
"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 much needed peace and
happiness." (The Genuine
Islam, Singapore. Vol.1, No.
8, 1936)
He was by far the most remarkable man that ever
set foot on this earth. He preached a religion, founded
state, built a nation, laid down a moral code, initiated
numerous social and political reforms, established
powe
rful and dynamic society to practice and represent
his teachings and completely revolutionized the worlds
of human thought and behavior for all times to come.
H
is
N
ame
I
s
MUHAMMAD
(sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
During this short period of 23 years of his
pr
ophethood, he changed the complete Arabian peninsula
from paganism and idolatry to worship of One God from
tribal quarrels and wars to national solidarity and
cohesion, from drunkenness and debauchery to sobriety
and piety, from lawlessness and anarchy to
disciplined
living, from utter bankruptcy to highest standard of
Islam in Concept
79
moral excellence. Human history has never known such a
complete transformation of a people or a place before or
since
-
and IMAGINE all these unbelievable wonders in
JUST OVER TWO DECADES.
L
amartine
, the renowned historian speaking on essentials
of Human Greatness wonders:
"If greatness of purpose,
smallness of means and rounding results are the three
criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any
great man
of
modern history with Muh
ammad? 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, legislation, empires
,
peoples and
dynasties, but mil
lions 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 souls..
his forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was
entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner st
riving
for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic
conversations with God, his death and his triumph after
death; all these attest not to an impostor but to a firm
conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma.
This dogma was two
-
fold. the unit
y 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 the
words. Philosopher, orator, apostle. legislator, warrior,
conquer
or of ideas, restore of rational dogmas, of a cult
without images, the founder of twenty terrestrial empires
and of one spiritual empire
-
that is MUHAMMAD.
As
regards all the standards by which Human Greatness may
be
m
easured, we may well ask, IS THERE AN
Y MAN
GREATER THAN HE?" (Lamartine. Historie de la
Turquie. Paris, 1854, Vol. II. pp. 276
-
277).
Islam in Concept
81
The world has had its share of great personalities.
But these were one
-
sided figures who distinguished
them
-
selves in but one or two fields, such as
religious
thought or military leadership. The lives and teachings of
this great personalities of the world are shrouded in the
mist of time. There is so much speculation about the time
and place of their birth, the mode and style of their life,
the nature
and detail of their teachings and the degree
and measure of their success or failure that it is
impossible for humanity to reconstruct accurately the
lives and teachings of these men. Not so this man.
Muhammad
(sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
accomplished so
m
uch in such diverse fields of human thought and
behavior in the fullest blaze of human history. Every
detail of his private life and public utterances has been
accurately documented and faithfully preserved to our
day. The authenticity of the records so pr
eserved are
vouched for not only by the faithful followers but even
by his prejudiced critics.
Muhammad
(sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
was a religious
teacher,
a social reformer,
an administrative colossus
,
a
moral guide, a faithful friend, a wonderful comp
anion a
devoted husband, a loving father
-
all in one. No other
man in history ever excelled or equaled him in any of
these different aspects of life
-
but it was only for the
selfless personality of Muhammad
(sallallahu alaihi
wasallam)
to achieve such in
-
credible perfection.
Mahatma Gandhi, speaking on the character or
Muhammad
(sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
says in 'Young
India';
"I wanted to know the best of one who holds
today undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of
mankind ... I became more than
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
-
Islam in Concept
80
effacement of the prophet, the scrupulous regard for his
pledges.
His
intense devotion to his friends and
follow
ers, 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."
Thomas Carlyle in his 'Heroes and Hero
-
worship' was
simply amazed as to:
"how
one man single handedly,
could weld warring tribes and wandering Bedouins into a
most powerful and civilized nation in less than two
decades
.
"
Diwan Chand Sha
rm
a wrote:
"Muhammad was the soul
of kindness and his influence was felt and never
forgotten by t
hose around him" (D.C. Sharma. 'The
Prophets of the East', Calcutta, 1935.pp. 12)
Edward Gibbon and Simon Ockley speaking on the
profession of ISLAM write:
"I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD,
AND MUHAMMAD, APOSTLE OF GOD"
is the simple
and invariable profession of Isl
am.
"The intellectual
image of the Deity has never been degraded by any
visible idol; the honor of the Prophet have never
transgressed the measure of human virtues; and his living
precepts have restrained the gratitude of his disciples
within the bounds of
reason and religion"
(History of the
Saracen Empires, London, 1870, p.54).
Muhammad
(sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
was
nothing more or less than a human being. But he was a
man with a noble mission, which was ONLY ONE GOD
and to teach them the way to hones
t and upright living
based on the commands of God. He always described
himself as Servant and Messenger of God," and so
indeed every action of his proclaimed to be.
Islam in Concept
82
Speaking on the aspect of equality before God in
Islam ,
the famous poetess of In
dia, Sarojini Naidu says:
"It was the first religion that preached and practiced
democracy for, in the mosque.
When
the call for prayer
is sounded and worshippers are gathered together.
The
democracy of Islam is embodied five times a day when
the peasant a
nd king kneel side by side and proclaim":
"God Alone is Great."
"I have been struck over and over again by this
indivisible unity of Islam that makes man instinctively a
brother." (S. Naidu, Ideals of Islam, vide
speeches
&
Writings, Madras, 1918, P.169).
In the words of
Prof. Hurgronje:
"the league of
nations founded by the prophet of Islam put the principle
of international unity and human brotherhood on such
universal foundations as to show candle to other nations"
He continues:
"the fact is that no nat
ions of the world
can show a parallel to what Islam has done towards the
realization of the idea of the League of Nations."
The world has not hesitated to raise to divinity,
individuals whose lives and missions have been lost in
legend. Historica
lly speaking none of these legends
achieved even a fraction of what Muhammad
(sallallahu
alaihi wasallam)
accomplished. And all his striving was
for the sole purpose of uniting mankind for the worship
of One God on the codes of moral excellence.
Muhammad
(
sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
or his followers
never at any time claimed that he was a Son of God or
the God
-
incarnate or a man with divinity
-
but he always
was and is even today considered as only a Messenger
chosen by God.
Islam in Concept
83
Micheal H. Hart
in his recently
published book on
rating of men who contributed towards the benefit and
upliftment of mankind writes:" 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 religious and secular
levels." (M.H. Hart, The 100: A ranking of the most
influential persons in History ' , New York, 1987, pp.33).
Today after a lapse of fourteen centuries, the lif
e
and teaching of Muhammad
(sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
have survived without the slightest loss, alteration or
interpolation. They offer the same undying hope for
treating mankind's many ills, which they did when he
was alive. This is not a claim of Muham
mad's
(sallallahu
alaihi wasallam)
followers but also the inescapable
conclusion forced upon by a critical and unbiased
history.
“The
least YOU could do as
a
thinking
and
concerned human being is to stop
for a moment and ask
yourself:
Could these statemen
ts sounding so
extraordinary and revolutionary be really true? And
supposing they really are true and you did not know this
man MUHAMMAD
(sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
or hear
about him
, isn't it time you respond to this tremendous
challenge and put
-
in some
efforts to know him?
It will cost you nothing but it may prove to be the
beginning of a completely new era in your life.
We invite you to make a discovery of this
w
onderful man, 'MUHAMMAD
(sallallahu alaihi
wasallam)
'
,
the like of whom never walked on th
e face of
this earth.
Islam in Concept
84
Further Reading on Islam:
-
T.B. Irving, et al. : The Quran: Basic Teachings
-
Hamuda Abdalati : Islam in Focus
-
M. Qutb : Islam: The Misunderstood Religion
-
Maudoodi : Towards Understanding Islam
-
Maurice Bucaille : The Bible, The Qu
ran and Science
-
Suzanne Haneef : What Everyone Should know About
Islam and the Muslims
The original topic
