non-Muslim scholars view on Islam 1. Michael H. Heart starts the first chapter in his book ‘The 100 : A ranking of the most influential persons in history’ by the following statement.. ‘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.’ i just got surprised a bit when he is saying, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was supremely successful even on secular level. it really matters to understand things one step forward. 2. Whenever I hear the Quran chanted, it is as though I am listening to Music, underneath the flowing melody there is sounding… insistent beat of a drum, it is like the beating of my heart. _Arthur John Arberry, British Orientalist 3. 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. _ Islam at the cross road (Page 8), historian De Lacy O’Leary 4.‘Though I stand side by side with you asa Kaffir, I am a comrade in all your dreams. I stand beside you in your dreamsand aspirations, because the ideals of Islam are so essentially and supremelythe progressive human ideals that no human soul that loves progress can refuseallegiance to those ideals. One has to look back to see how the vision oftomorrow may be linked with the vision of the past; and therefore if, inspeaking of the ideals of Islam, I take you through a long journey into thepast, it is only that you may realise, what only the other day it was myprivilege to say to the young generation: that it is only in her ideals that wefind seeds of immortality, and that if there be today vitality in the Muslimpeople, it is because the seed was sown into the Desert, and the Desertblossomed with roses... ‘Brotherhood is the fundamental doctrinethat Islam taught: --Brotherhood of civic life, of intellectual life, ofspiritual life in the sense of leaving other religions and creeds free to offertheir worship. This is what we call modern toleration, the larger outlook, thisis what we call civilisation; this is what we call the real understanding ofhuman characteristics, the real understanding of those sources that bind humanhearts to one another. sense of justice is one of the mostwonderful ideals of Islam, because as I read the Koran, I find those dynamicprinciples of life: not mystic, but practical ethics for the daily conduct oflife, suited to the whole world. We are fond of saying that we belong to arational age, that we belong to a practical age. If you belong to a practicaland rational age, what more shall you find than those codes of ethics laid downso clearly for your daily conduct? How far-seeing was the wisdom that laid downas religious law those great principles that tended to conserve the Brotherhoodthat the religion taught! _Ideals of Islam by Sarojini Naidu. A talk given tothe Young Mens Muslim Association, Madras, 1917 5. .. Allah Akbar, God is great;—and then also Islam, That we must submit to God. That our whole strength lies in resigned submission to Him, whatsoever He do to us. For this world, and for the other! The thing He sends to us, were it death and worse than death, shall be good, shall be best; we resign ourselves to God.—If this be Islam, says Goethe, do we not all live in Islam? Yes, all of us that have any moral life; we all live so... ..He says, Your salutation shall be, Peace. Salam, Have Peace!—the thing that all rational souls long for, and seek, vainly here below, as the one blessing. Ye shall sit on seats, facing one another: all grudges shall be taken away out of your hearts. All grudges! Ye shall love one another freely; for each of you, in the eyes of his brothers, there will be Heaven enough!.. _ Thomas Carlyle, in his 2nd lecture, The Hero as Prophet. Muhammad: Islam in his book namely On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History published with James Fraser in 1841
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 09:30:33 +0000
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