This page is not created with any intention of keeping with the prevalent defensiveness in the Mulsim society nor to vouch for Islamic supremacy over other religions, people or culture. The point here is: Islamic civilization has a glorious past to lean on and is brimful of lofty ideals and principles which are never highlighted and downplayed in order to serve interests of the propagandists.
Growth of the Islamic Faith?
(JAMES A. MICHENER, THE MISUNDERSTOOD RELIGION, READERS DIGEST (American Edition) May 1955.)
Here are some reasons why Islam prevailed so fast and so wide and continues to grow, despite being surrounded with questions now. aIslamforToday.com, dated March 2000, says that, "Islam continues to draw followers at an estimated rate of 135,000 converts per year. During the Gulf War alone, it was reported that approximately 3,000 Americans converted to Islam."
http://www.islamfortoday.com/america01.htm
(DE LACY O'LEARY, ISLAM AT CROSSROADS, London, 1923)
According to a study conducted in 2001 under the auspices of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in
(This is just an excerpt from reports published by different sources. I don't claim that these figures can't be challenged.)
Now the big question is:
“ Which war took place in this century which converted millions of people to Islam?”- Dr. Zakir Naik, Global Islamic preacher
No Muslim army ever went to
Islam, the religion of the downtrodden, the oppressed, the discriminated, offers equality and bonds of brotherhood and humanity to more than 1.5 billion of men from the black Americans in the USA to the Maori natives of New Zealand
Prophet Mohammed's departing words on his last pilgrimage before his death:
“A white has no superiority over a black, nor a black has any superiority over a white- except by piety and good action”- Muhammad (pbuh)
"How, for instance, can any other appeal stand against that of the Moslem who, in approaching the pagan, says to him, however obscure or degraded he may be 'Embrace the faith, and you are at once equal and a brother.' Islam knows no color line." (S. S. Leeder, VEILED MYSTERIES OF
“During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept in the same bed, (or on the same rug) -- while praying to the same God -- with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white.
We were truly all the same (brothers) -- because their belief in one God had removed the 'white' from their minds, the 'white' from their behavior, and the 'white' from their attitude.”
– MALCOLM X, Black American Human Rights Leader, on his pilgrimage to
(Sarojini Naidu, IDEALS OF ISLAM, vide Speeches & Writings, Madras, India 1918, p. 169)
"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 and 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"
Islamic Civilization As It Is:
Islam is now being discussed everywhere now and in fact there never had been a time in more than 1400 years after Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) when people were any less curious about it. Now Muslims world-over are doubted over flexibility and tolerance on religious and social issues. However, mercy was once Muslims hallmark, especially among Arabians. It was the principal elements in the resolution wrought by Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) in the era that
Islam is a religion without an institutionalized church, without a
Arabs perfected modern numerical system, wrote first treatises on Algebra and formalized discipline of Geometry; made pioneering advances in astronomy, physics inspired by Greek texts that had been suppressed as pagan history by the Europeans. Arabians invented paper mills, an inexpensive substitute for parchment, which led to the birth of publishing industry.
There is no instance of an Islamic state having instituted an Inquisition or organized pogroms for non-Muslims.
In
There was a time when world-recognized thinkers, philosophers, scientists, writers, rulers and politicians had to say following about Islam.
Swami Vivekananda
" ...Even to the Mohammedan rule we owe that great blessing, the destruction of exclusive privilege. That rule was, after all, not all bad; nothing is all bad; and nothing is all good. The Mohammedan conquest of India came as a salvation to the downtrodden, to the poor. That is why one-fifth of our people have become Mohammedans. It was not the sword that did it all. It would be the height of madness to think it was all the work of sword and fire..."
M.K Gandhi
“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-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to this 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.” Young
Prince Charles
"If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilisation owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the straight-jacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the
THOMAS CARLYLE In his ‘HEROES AND HEROWORSHIP’
"How one man single-handedly, could weld warring tribes and wandering Bedouins into a most powerful and civilized nation in less than two
decades."
"The lies (Western slander) which well-meaning zeal has heaped round this man (Muhammad) are disgraceful to ourselves only."
"A silent great soul, one of that who cannot but be earnest. He was to kindle the world, the world’s Maker had ordered so."
"...as if a spark had fallen, one spark, on a world of what seemed black unnoticeable sand; but lo, the sand proves explosive powder, blazes heaven-high from Delhi to Grenada! 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.”
Annie Besant
"But do you mean to tell me that the man who in the full flush of youthful vigor, a young man of four and twenty (24), married a woman much his senior, and remained faithful to her for six and twenty years (26), at fifty years of age when the passions are dying married for lust and sexual passion? Not thus are men's lives to be judged. And you look at the women whom he married, you will find that by every one of them an alliance was made for his people, or something was gained for his followers, or the woman was in sore need of protection."
(Dr Annie Besant (Dr. Annie Besant in 'The Life and Teachings of Mohammad,'
H.G.Wells " The outline of History, "
" Islam prevailed because it was the best social and political order the times could offer. It prevailed because everywhere it found politically apathetic peoples, robbed, oppressed, bullied, uneducated and unorganized and it found selfish and unsound governments out of touch with any people at all. It was the broadest, freshest and cleanest political idea that had yet come into actual activity in the world and it offered better terms that any other to the masses of mankind."
"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."
Sir George Bernard Shaw in '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."
"The world is in dire need of a man with the mind of Muhammad; religious people in the Middle Ages, due to their ignorance and prejudice, had pictured him in a very dark way as they used to consider him the enemy of Christianity. But after looking into the story of this man I found it to be an amazing and a miraculous one, and I came to the conclusion that he was never an enemy of Christianity, and must be called instead the savior of humanity. In my opinion, if he was to be given control over the world today, he would solve our problems and secure the peace and happiness which the world is longing for."
Bertrand Russell in 'History of Western Philosophy,'
"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."
Napolean Bonaparte as quoted in Christian Cherfils, 'Bonaparte et Islam,' Pedone Ed., France, 1914, pp. 105,125
Original references: 'Correspondence de Napolean Ier Tome V piece n du 17/07/1799...'
"Moses has revealed the existence of God to his nation. Jesus Christ to the Roman world, Muhammad to the old continent...
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"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 Qur'an which alone are true and which alone can lead men to happiness."
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"Islam is the fastest-growing religion in
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Already more than a billion-people strong, Islam is the world's fastest-growing religion. ABCNEWS, Abcnews.com
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"Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the
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"But Islam has a still further service to render to the cause of humanity. It stands after all nearer to the real East than
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"It (Islam) replaced monkishness by manliness. It gives hope to the slave, brotherhood to mankind, and recognition of the fundamental facts of human nature." --Canon Taylor, Paper read before the Church Congress at Walverhamton, Oct. 7, 1887; Quoted by Arnoud in THE PREACHING OF ISLAM, pp. 71-72.
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The founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammed. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he? " Lamartine, Historie de la Turquie, Paris 1854, Vol. 11 pp. 276-2727
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"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 level." --Michael H. Hart, THE 100: A RANKING OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN HISTORY,
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"No other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and endeavor so many and so varied races of mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa,
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The nation's claim to be a Christian country is about to meet its first challenge: the number of practicing Muslims is set to overtake Anglican Christians.... There has also been a number of high-profile conversions to Islam from Christianity. These include Mike Tyson, the former world champion boxer; Chris Eubank, the British middleweight boxing champion, who has changed his name to Hamdan; and Cat Stevens, the pop musician, who calls himself Yousef Islam.... Prince Charles courted controversy earlier this year when he reaffirmed his claim that when he succeeds the throne, he does not wish to be the defender of only the Christian faith. Rajeev Syal and Christopher Morgan Sunday Times (
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"I have studied him - the wonderful man - and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ he must be called the saviour of humanity. " George Bernard Shaw in "The Genuine Islam"
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"Muhammad, the inspired man who founded Islam, was born about A.D. 570 into an Arabian tribe that worshipped 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 rumours 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 worshipped Muhammad, he is dead. But if it is God you worshipped, He lives forever." --James A. Michener, "Islam: The Misunderstood Religion," in READER'S DIGEST (American edition), May 1955, pp. 68-70.
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"In little more than a year he was actually the spiritual, nominal and temporal rule of
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"Everything made so much sense. This is the beauty of the Qur'an; it asks you to reflect and reason....When I read the Qur'an further, it talked about prayer, kindness and charity. I was not a Muslim yet, but I felt the only answer for me was the Qur'an and God had sent it to me." Cat Stevens (YusufIslam), former British pop star.
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"Four years after the death of Justinian, A.D. 569, was born at Mecca, in Arabia the man who, of all men exercised the greatest influence upon the human race . . . Mohammed . . . " John William Draper, M.D., L.L.D., A History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, London 1875, Vol.1, pp.329-330
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"Muhammad was the soul of kindness, and his influence was felt and never forgotten by those around him." Diwan Chand Sharma, The Prophets of the East,
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"People like Pasteur and Salk are leaders in the first sense. People like Gandhi and Confucius, on one hand, and Alexander, Caesar and Hitler on the other, are leaders in the second and perhaps the third sense. Jesus and Buddha belong in the third category alone. Perhaps the greatest leader of all times was Mohammed, who combined all three functions. To a lesser degree, Moses did the same." Professor Jules Masserman
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Ahmed Versi, editor of the weekly Muslim News, said the growth of Islam has been constant: "The younger generation of Muslims that I have encountered is becoming more aware of its Muslim identity and is therefore practising its faith with vigour."
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"The extinction of race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the outstanding achievements of Islam and in the contemporary world there is, as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic virtue..." (A.J. Toynbee, CIVILIZATION ON TRIAL, New York, p. 205)
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"Sense of justice is one of the most wonderful ideals of Islam, because as I read in the Qur'an I find those dynamic principles of life, not mystic but practical ethics for the daily conduct of life suited to the whole world." --Lectures on "The Ideals of Islam;" see SPEECHES AND WRITINGS OF SAROJINI NAIDU,
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"History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated." --De Lacy O'Leary, ISLAM AT THE CROSSROADS,
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"The Muslim community is much more aware of its religion and the use that religion plays within its community." Dr Peter Brierley, executive director of the Christian Research Association, a London-based charity
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"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 Saviour of Humanity. I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today." --G.B. Shaw, THE GENUINE ISLAM, Vol. 1, No. 81936.
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"A growing number of Muslims in
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"The extinction of race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the outstanding achievements of Islam, and in the contemporary world there is, as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic virtue." --A.J. Toynbee, CIVILIZATION ON TRIAL,
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"The rise of Islam is perhaps the most amazing event in human history. Springing from a land and a people like previously negligible, Islam spread within a century over half the earth, shattering great empires, overthrowing long established religions, remoulding the souls of races, and building up a whole new world - world of Islam.
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"The closer we examine this development the more extraordinary does it appear. The other great religions won their way slowly, by painful struggle and finally triumphed with the aid of powerful monarchs converted to the new faith. Christianity had its Constantine, Buddhism its Asoka, and Zoroastrianism its Cyrus, each lending to his chosen cult the mighty force of secular authority. Not so Islam. Arising in a desert land sparsely inhabited by a nomad race previously undistinguished in human annals, Islam sallied forth on its great adventure with the slenderest human backing and against the heaviest material odds. Yet Islam triumphed with seemingly miraculous ease, and a couple of generations saw the
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"I am not a Muslim in the usual sense, though I hope I am a "Muslim" as "one surrendered to God," but I believe that embedded in the Quran and other expressions of the Islamic vision are vast stores of divine truth from which I and other occidentals have still much to learn, and 'Islam is certainly a strong contender for the supplying of the basic framework of the one religion of the future.'" --W.
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'I believe in One God and Mohammed 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 honours 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." --Edward Gibbon and Simon Ocklay, HISTORY OF THE SARACEN EMPIRE,
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"He was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without Pope's pretensions, Caesar without the legions of Caesar: without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue; if ever any man had the right to say that he ruled by the right divine, it was Mohammed, for he had all the power without its instruments and without its supports." --Bosworth Smith, MOHAMMAD AND MOHAMMADANISM,
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"His readiness to undergo persecutions for his beliefs, the high moral character of the men who believed in him and looked up to him as 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." --W.
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"The doctrine of brotherhood of Islam extends to all human beings, no matter what color, race or creed. Islam is the only religion which has been able to realize this doctrine in practice. Muslims wherever on the world they are will recognize each other as brothers." Mr. R. L. Mellema, Holland, Anthropologist, Writer and Scholar.
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"It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great Prophet of Arabia, who knows 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 re-read them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of reverence for that mighty Arabian teacher." --Annie Besant, THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF MUHAMMAD, Madras, 1932, p. 4.
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"The universal brotherhood of Islam, regardless of race, politics, color or country, has been brought home to me most keenly many times in my life -- and this is another feature which drew me towards the Faith." Col. Donald S. Rockwell, U.S.A. Poet, Critic and Author.
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"Medieval Islam was technologically advanced and open to innovation. It achieved far higher literacy rates than in contemporary Europe;it assimilated the legacy of classical Greek civilization to such a degree that many classical books are now known to us only through Arabic copies. It invented windmills ,trigonometry, lateen sails and made major advances in metallurgy, mechanical and chemical engineering and irrigation methods. In the middle-ages the flow of technology was overwhelmingly from Islam to Europe rather from Europe to Islam. Only after the 1500's did the net direction of flow begin to reverse." (pg 253) Jared Diamond a world renowned UCLA sociologist, and physiologist won the Pulitzer Prize for his book: "Guns, Germs, and Steel."