Mahatma Gandhi, statement published in 'Young India,'1924.
Sir George Bernard Shaw in 'The Genuine Islam,' Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936.
"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 for 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."
Michael Hart in 'The 100, A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons In History,' New
York, 1978.
Dr. William Draper in 'History of Intellectual Development of Europe'
J.W.H. Stab in 'Islam and its Founder'
Washington Irving in 'Life of Muhammad,' New York, 1920.
Arthur Glyn Leonard in 'Islam, Her Moral and Spiritual Values'
Charles Stuart Mills in 'History of Mohammadanism'
Philip K. Hitti in 'History of the Arabs'
Stanley Lane-Poole in 'Studies in a Mosque'
Rodwell in the Preface to his translation of the Holy Qur'an
W. Montgomery Watt in 'Muhammad at Mecca,' Oxford, 1953.
D. G. Hogarth in 'Arabia'
Washington Irving 'Mahomet and His Successors'
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.
James Michener in ‘Islam: The Misunderstood Religion,’ Reader’s Digest, May 1955, pp.
68-70.
"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 in ‘The Prospects of Islam,’ 1944
K. S. Ramakrishna Rao in 'Mohammed: The Prophet of Islam,' 1989
Jules Masserman in 'Who Were Histories Great Leaders?' in TIME Magazine, July 15,
1974
I wanted 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 of
that great life.
"If any religion had the chance of ruling over England, nay Europe within the
next hundred years, it could be Islam."
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.
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 perhaps justify the title of a Messenger of God.
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 lustre than that of the Prophet of Makkah. 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?
His military triumphs awakened no pride nor vain glory as they would have done had
they been effected by selfish purposes. In the time of his greatest power he maintained
the same simplicity of manner and appearance as in the days of his adversity. So far
from affecting regal state, he was displeased if, on entering a room, any unusual
testimonial of respect was shown to him.
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.
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 or genius which alike influences the learned and commands the
illiterate.
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 the then civilized world.
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'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.
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 that 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.
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.
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.
"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 modern scholar
accepts this idea, and the Qur’an is explicit in the support of the freedom of
conscience."
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.
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.
Perhaps the greatest leader of all times was Mohammad, who combined all the three
functions. To a lesser degree Moses did the same.
Biography of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
Prophet Muhammad (s) in Hindu Scriptures
Prophet Muhammad (s) in Parsi Scriptures
The Last Prophet and Qur'an in Previously Revealed Scriptures
Quotations on Islamic Civilization
Quotations On Moorish Civilizations
Muhammad (saw) : Messenger Of Peace
Sindh - My Motherland My Fatherland
Makhdoom's Quest For The Truth
Makhdoom's Home Page