By brother forwarded me the following message and asked me to post it on my blog, it’s an interesting read:
It is rather unfortunate that the Christian West instead of sincerely trying to understand the phenomenal success of Islam has considered it a rival religion. During centuries of crusades this trend gained much force and impetus and a huge amount of literature was produced to tarnish the image of Islam.
Truth needs no advocate to plead on its behalf, but the prolonged and malicious propaganda on Islam has created confusion even in the minds of some free and objective thinkers. However, Islam has begun to unfold it genuineness to the modern scholars whose bold and objective observation on Islam belie all the changes leveled against it by so-called unbiased Orientalists.
The following are some observations on the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) by well acknowledged non-Muslims Western scholars and thinkers of modern times which we hope would contribute to initiate on objective evaluation of the Islamic faith.
“If the greatness of purpose, smallness of means and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad (P.B.U.H)? The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled before their eyes. This man moved not only the armies, legislations, empires, people and 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 souls…. His forbearance in the victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations the God, his death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him 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 what God is not.
Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images, the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad (P.B.U.H). As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may ask, is there any man greater than Muhammad?”
(Lamerline “historia de la burquie” ; Paris 1854. Vol 2 pp-276-7)
“He was Ceasar and Pope in one; out he was pope without Pope’s pretensions, Ceasar without the legions of Ceasar; without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue; if ever man had the right to say that he ruled by Divine Right, it was Muhammad, for he had all the power without its instruments and without its supports.”
(Basworth Smith “Mohammad and Mohammadanism.” London 1874, pg 92.)
