Why should we read quran?

An old man lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with
his young son. Each morning he was up early sitting at the kitchen table
reading his Quraan .

His son wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every
way he could. One day the son asked, "Papa, I try to read the Quraan
just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget
as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Quraan do?"

The father quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied,
"Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of
water." The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before
he got back to the house. The father laughed and said, "You'll have
to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with
the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the
basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his
father that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went
to get a bucket instead.

The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of
water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to
watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show
his father that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak
out before he got back to the house.

The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he
reached his father the basket was again empty.

Out of breath, he said, "See Papa, it's useless!""So you think it is
useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket. "The boy looked at
the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different.
It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean,
inside and out.

"Son, that's what happens when you read the Quraan. You might not
understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be
changed, inside and out. That is the work of Allah in our lives."

Why She Won't Wear Hijab !

Why She Won't Wear Hijab!
A Discussion by A.Q. Alidost


"I'm so tired."
"Tired of what?"
"Of all these people judging me."
"Who judged you?"
"Like that woman, every time I sit with her, she tells me to wear hijab."
"Oh, hijab and music! The mother of all topics!"
"Yeah! I listen to music without hijab…haha!"
"Maybe she was just giving you advice."
"I don't need her advice. I know my religion. Can`t she mind her own
business?"
"Maybe you misunderstood. She was just being nice."
"Keeping out of my business, that would be nice..."
"But it's her duty to encourage you do to good."
"Trust me. That was no encouragement. And what do you mean `good` ?"
"Well, wearing hijab, that would be a good thing to do."
"Says who?"
"It's in the Qur'an, isn't it?"
"Yes. She did quote me something."
"She said Surah Nur, and other places of the Qur'an."
"Yes, but it's not a big sin anyway. Helping people and praying is more
important."
"True. But big things start with small things."
"That's a good point, but what you wear is not important. What's important
is to have a good healthy heart."
"What you wear is not important?"
"That's what I said."
"Then why do you spend an hour every morning fixing up?"
"What do you mean?"
"You spend money on cosmetics, not to mention all the time you spend on
fixing your hair and low-carb dieting."
"So?"
"So, your appearance IS important."
"No. I said wearing hijab is not an important thing in religion."
"If it's not an important thing in religion, why is it mentioned in the Holy
Qur'an?"
"You know I can't follow all that's in Qur'an."
"You mean God tells you something to do, you disobey and then it's OK?"
"Yes. God is forgiving."
"God is forgiving to those who repent and do not repeat their mistakes."
"Says who?"
"Says the same book that tells you to cover."
"But I don't like hijab, it limits my freedom."
"But the lotions, lipsticks, mascara and other cosmetics set you free?!
What`s your definition of freedom anyway?"
"Freedom is in doing whatever you like to do."
"No. Freedom is in doing the right thing, not in doing whatever we wish to do."
"Look! I've seen so many people who don't wear hijab and are nice people, and so many who wear hijab and are bad people."
"So what? There are people who are nice to you but are alcoholic. Should we all be alcoholics? You made a stupid point."
"I don't want to be an extremist or a fanatic. I'm OK the way I am without hijab."
"Then you are a secular fanatic. An extremist in disobeying God."
"You don't get it, if I wear hijab, who would marry me?!"
"So all these people with hijab never get married?!"
"Okay! What if I get married and my husband doesn't like it? And wants me to remove it?"
"What if your husband wants you to go out with him on a bank robbery?!"
"That's irrelevant, bank robbery is a crime."
"Disobeying your Creator is not a crime?"
"But then who would hire me?"
"A company that respects people for who they are."
"Not after 9-11"
"Yes. After 9-11. Don't you know about Hanan who just got into med school?
And the other one, what was her name, the girl who always wore a white hijab…ummm…"
"Yasmeen?"
"Yes. Yasmeen. She just finished her MBA and is now interning for GE."
"Why do you reduce religion to a piece of cloth anyway?"
"Why do you reduce womanhood to high heals and lipstick colors?"
"You didn't answer my question."
"In fact, I did. Hijab is not just a piece of cloth. It is obeying God in a difficult environment. It is courage, faith in action, and true womanhood.
But your short sleeves, tight pants…"
"That's called `fashion`, you live in a cave or
something? First of all, hijab was founded by men who wanted to control
women."
"Really? I did not know men could control women by hijab."
"Yes. That's what it is."
"What about the women who fight their husbands to wear hijab? And women in France who are forced to remove their hijab by men? What do you say about that?"
"Well, that's different."
"What difference? The woman who asked you to wear hijab…she was a woman, right?"
"Right, but…"
"But fashions that are designed and promoted by male-dominated corporations, set you free? Men have no control on exposing women and using them as a commodity?! Give me a break!"
"Wait, let me finish, I was saying…"
"Saying what? You think that men control women by hijab?"
"Yes."
"Specifically how?"
"By telling women how and what to wear, dummy!"
"Doesn't TV, magazines and movies tell you what to wear, and how to be `attractive'?"
"Of course, it's fashion."
"Isn't that control? Pressuring you to wear what they want you to wear?"
[Silence]
"Not just controlling you, but also controlling the market."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you are told to look skinny and anorexic like that woman on the cover of the magazine, by men who design those magazines and sell those products."
"I don't get it. What does hijab have to do with products."
"It has everything to do with that. Don't you see? Hijab is a threat to consumerism, women who spend billions of dollars to look skinny and live by standards of fashion designed by men…and then here is Islam, saying trash all that nonsense and focus on your soul, not on your looks, and do not worry what men think of your looks."
"Like I don't have to buy hijab? Isn't hijab a product?"
"Yes, it is. It is a product that sets you free from male-dominated consumerism."
"Stop lecturing me! I WILL NOT WEAR HIJAB!
It is awkward, outdated, and totally not suitable for this society ... Moreover, I am only 20 and too young to wear hijab!"
"Fine. Say that to your Lord, when you face Him on Judgment Day."
"Fine."
"Fine."
[Silence]
"Shut up and I don't want to hear more about hijab niqab schmijab Punjab!"
[Silence]
She stared at the mirror, tired of arguing with herself all this time.
Successful enough, she managed to shut the voices in her head, with her own opinions triumphant in victory on the matter, and a final modern decision accepted by the society - but rejected by the Faith:
"Yes!" - to curls on the hair - "No!" - to hijab!
"And he (/she) is indeed a failure who corrupts it [the soul]!"
[Holy Quran 91:10]
Subhana'Allah!!!
"Nay! You prefer the life of this world; While the hereafter is better and more lasting."
[Holy Quran: 87:16-17]

"You are the best community (Ummah) raised up for (the benefit of) humanity; enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah.
"
[Holy Quran: 3:110]

Mathematical Miracles of the Qur'an

WORD REPETITIONS IN THE QUR'AN

Apart from the miraculous characteristics of the Qur'an which we have looked into so far, it also contains what we can term "mathematical miracles." There are many examples of this fascinating Qur'anic aspect. One example of this is the number of repetitions of certain words in the Qur'an. Some related words are surprisingly repeated the same number of times. Below is a list of such words and the number of repetitions in the Qur'an.

The statement of "seven heavens" is repeated seven times. "The creation of the heavens (khalq as-samawat)" is also repeated seven times.

"Day (yawm)" is repeated 365 times in singular form, while its plural and dual forms "days (ayyam and yawmayn)" together are repeated 30 times. The number of repetitions of the word "month" (shahar) is 12.

The number of repetitions of the words "plant" and "tree" is the same: 26

The word "payment or reward" is repeated 117 times, while the expression "forgiveness" (mughfirah), which is one of the basic morals of the Qur'an, is repeated exactly twice that amount, 234 times.

When we count the word "Say," we find it appears 332 times. We arrive at the same figure when we count the phrase "they said."

The number of times the words, "world" (dunya) and "hereafter" (akhira) are repeated is also the same: 115

The word "satan" (shaitan) is used in the Qur'an 88 times, as is the word "angels" (malaika).

The word faith (iman) (without genitive) is repeated 25 times throughout the Qur'an as is also the word infidelity (kufr).

The words "paradise" and "hell" are each repeated 77 times.

The word "zakah" is repeated in the Qur'an 32 times and the number of repetitions of the word "blessing" (barakah) is also 32.

The expression "the righteous" (al-abraar) is used 6 times but "the wicked" (al-fujjaar) is used half as much, i.e., 3 times.

The number of times the words "Summer-hot" and "winter-cold" are repeated is the same: 5.

The words "wine" (khamr) and "intoxication" (saqara) are repeated in the Qur'an the same number of times: 6

The number of appearances of the words "mind" and "light" is the same: 49.

The words "tongue" and "sermon" are both repeated 25 times.

The words "benefit" and "corrupt" both appear 50 times.

"Reward" (ajr) and "action" (fail) are both repeated 107 times.

"Love" (al-mahabbah) and "obedience" (al-ta'ah) also appear the same number of times: 83

The words "refuge" (maseer) and "for ever" (abadan) appear the same number of times in the Qur'an: 28.

The words "disaster" (al-musibah) and "thanks" (al-shukr) appear the same number of times in the Qur'an: 75.

"Sun" (shams) and "light" (nur) both appear 33 times in the Qur'an.

  • In counting the word "light" only the simple forms of the word were included.

The number of appearances of "right guidance" (al-huda) and "mercy" (al-rahma) is the same: 79

The words "trouble" and "peace" are both repeated 13 times in the Qur'an.

The words "man" and "woman" are also employed equally: 23 times.

Will they not ponder the Qur’an? If it had been from other than Allah, they would have found many inconsistencies in it.
(Qur’an, 4:82)

The number of times the words "man" and "woman" are repeated in the Qur'an, 23, is at the same time that of the chromosomes from the egg and sperm in the formation of the human embryo. The total number of human chromosomes is 46; 23 each from the mother and father.

"Treachery" (khiyanah) is repeated 16 times, while the number of repetitions of the word "foul" (khabith) is 16.

"Human being" is used 65 times: the sum of the number of references to the stages of man's creation is the same: i.e.

Human being 65

Soil (turab) 17

Drop of Sperm (nutfah) 12

Embryo ('alaq) 6

A half formed lump of flesh (mudghah) 3

Bone ('idham) 15

Flesh (lahm) 12

TOTAL 65

The word "salawat" appear five times in the Qur'an, and Allah has commanded man to perform the prayer (salat) five times a day.

The word "land" appears 13 times in the Qur'an and the word "sea" 32 times, giving a total of 45 references. If we divide that number by that of the number of references to the land we arrive at the figure 28.888888888889%. The number of total references to land and sea, 45, divided by the number of references to the sea in the Qur'an, 32, is 71.111111111111%. Extraordinarily, these figures represent the exact proportions of land and sea on the Earth today.

We Always Ask...

We always ask, and Al-Quran had answered it...

WE ALWAYS ASK : WHY WAS I TESTED ?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS :

“Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, "We believe", and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false.”

Surah Al-Ankabut (29:2-3)

WE ALWAYS ASK : WHY I NEVER GET WHAT I WANT ?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS :

“It is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.”

Surah Al-Baqarah (2:216)

WE ALWAYS ASK : WHY WAS I BURDENED THIS WAY ?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS :
On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns.”

Surah Al-Baqarah (2:286)

“So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief: (repeated) Verily, with every difficulty there is relief.”
Surah Al-Insyirah (94:5-6)

WE ASK : WHY AM I LOSING HOPE ?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS :

“So lose not heart, nor fall into despair: For ye must gain mastery if ye are true in Faith.”

Surah Al-Imran (3:139)

WE ALWAYS ASK : HOW CAN I FACE IT ?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS :

“O ye who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear Allah. that ye may prosper.”

Surah Al-Imraan (3:200)

“Nay, seek (Allah's) help with patient perseverance and prayer: It is indeed hard, except to those who bring a lowly spirit.”

Surah Al-Baqarah ayat (2:45)

WE ALWAYS ASK : WHAT DO I GET FROM ALL THESE ?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS :
“Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise)...”

Surah At-Taubah (9:111)

WE ALWAYS ASK : TO WHOM COULD I DEPEND ?

AL-QURAN ANSWERS :
“(Allah) sufficeth me: there is no god but He: On Him is my trust,- He the Lord of the Throne (of Glory) Supreme.”

Surah At-Taubah (9:129

WE ALWAYS ASK : I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE !

AL-QURAN ANSWERS :

“...and never give up hope of Allah's Soothing Mercy; truly No one despairs of Allah's Soothing Mercy, except Those who have no faith.”

Surah Yusuf (9:87)

“Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives All sins for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

Surah A-Zumar (39:53)

Islamic method of Slaughtering animals is better


Al Shaddad Bin Aous has quoted this tradition of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) "God calls for mercy in everything, so be merciful when you kill and when you slaughter, sharpen your blade to relieve its pain".Many allegations have been made that Islamic slaughter is not humane to animals. However, Professor Schultz and his colleague Dr. Hazim of the Hanover University, Germany, proved through an experiment, using an electroencephalograph (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) that *Islamic slaughter is THE humane method of slaughter* and captive bolt stunning, practiced by the Western method, causes severe pain to the animal. The results surprised many. 

EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS:

1. Several electrodes were surgically implanted at various points of the skull of all animals, touching the surface of thebrain. 
2. The animals were allowed to recover for several weeks. 
3. Some animals were slaughtered by making a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife on the neck cutting the jugular veins and carotid Arteries of both sides; as also the trachea and esophagusHalal Method. 
4. Some animals were stunned using a captive bolt pistol humane slaughter by the western method. 
5. During the experiment, EEG and ECG were recorded on all animals to record the condition of the brain and heart during the course of slaughter and stunning.  

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: 

I - Halal Method 
1. The first three seconds from the time of Islamic slaughter as recorded on the EEG did not show any change from the graph before slaughter, thus indicating that the animal did not feel any pain during or immediately after the incision. 
2. For the following 3 seconds, the EEG recorded a condition of deep sleep - unconsciousness. This is due to a large quantity of blood gushing out from the body. 
3. After the above mentioned 6 seconds, the EEG recorded zero level, showing no feeling of pain at all. 
4. As the brain message (EEG) dropped to zero level, the heart was still pounding and the body convulsing vigorously (a reflex action of the spinal cord) driving maximum blood from the body: resulting in hygienic meat for the consumer. 

II - Western method by C.B.P. Stunning 
1. The animals were apparently unconscious soon after stunning. 
2. EEG showed severe pain immediately after stunning. 
3. The hearts of the animal stunned by C.B.P. stopped beating earlier as compared to those of the animals slaughtered according to the Halal method resulting in the retention of more blood inthe meat. This in turn is unhygienic for the consumer. 

(Many thanks to Muslim Students Organization - University of Miami)

Quotes On The Qur'an


I can say, I am very mush impressed by finding true astronomical facts in the Qur’aan.

- Professor Yushudi Kusan
Director of the Tokyo Observatory

It is difficult to imagine that this type of knowledge was existing at that time, around 1400 years back. May be some of the things they have simple idea about, but do describe those things in great detail is very difficult. So, this is definitely not a simple human knowledge.

- Professor Dorja Rao

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 Steven (Yusuf Islam)
Former British pop star

I find it very interesting that this sort of information is in the ancient scripture of the Holy Qur’aan, and I have no way of knowing where they would come from, but I think it is extremely interesting that they are there and that this work is going on to discover it, the meaning of some of the passages. Professor Hay: Well, I would think it must be the divine being!

- Professor William W. Hay
One of the best known marine scientist in the United States

It follows, I think, that not only is there no conflict between genetics and religion, but in fact religion can guide science by adding revelation to some traditional scientific approaches. That there exists statements in the Qur’aan shown by science to be valid, which supports knowledge in the Qur’aan having been derived from Allah.

- Joe Leigh Simpson
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the North Western University in Chicago in the United States of America

From my studies and from what I have learned throughout this conference, I believe that everything that has been recorded in the Qur’aan 1400 years ago must be the truth, that can be proved by the scientific means … This Creator must be Allah, or Allah. Therefore, I think this is the time to say ‘Laa ilaaha illallah’, that there is no Allah to worship except Allah, ‘Muhammad Rasool Allah’, Muhammad is messenger of Allah...

- Professor Tagata Tagasone
Formerly Head of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology at the University of Shiang Mai in Thailand. He is now the Dean of the College of the Medicine at the University

I have read the Sacred Scriptures of every religion; nowhere have I found what I encountered in Islam: perfection. The Holy Qur'an, compared to any other scripture I have read, is like the Sun compared to that of a match. I firmly believe that anybody who reads the Word of Allah with a mind that is not completely closed to Truth, will become a Muslim.

- Saifuddin Dirk Walter Mosig
A Scientist from the U.S.

The essential and definite element of my conversion to Islam was the Qur'an. I began to study it before my conversion with the critical spirit of a Western intellectual… There are certain verses of this book, the Qur'an, revealed more than thirteen centuries ago, which teach exactly the same notions as the most modern scientific researches do. This definitely converted me.

- Ali Selman Benoist
Doctor of Medicine, France

We need research into the history of early Middle Eastern oral traditions to know whether in fact such historical events have been reported. If there is no such record, it strengthens the belief that Allah transmitted through Muhammad bits of his knowledge that we have only discovered for ourselves in recent times. We look forward to a continuing dialogue on the topic of science in the Qur’aan in the context of geology. Thank you very much.

- Professor Palmer
A Scientist from the U.S.

Quotes On Islam

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 Arnold in The Preaching of Islam pp. 71-72.

The 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.

- Sarojini Naidu
Lectures on ‘The Ideals of Islam.’
Speeches and Writings of Sarojini Naidu Madras, 1918, p. 167.

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, London, 1923 p. 8.

The extinction of race consciousness 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, 1948, p. 205.

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 Egypt

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

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

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.

- R. L. Mellema
Holand, Anthropologist, Writer and Scholar

It was the first religion that preached and practiced democracy; for in the mosque, when the minaret is sounded and the worshipers are gathered together, the democracy of Islam is embodied five times a day when the peasant and the king kneel side by side and proclaim, God alone is great." The great poetess of India continues, "I have been struck over and over again by this indivisible unity of Islam that makes a man instinctively a brother. When you meet an Egyptian, an Algerian and Indian and a Turk in London, it matters not that Egypt is the motherland of one and India is the motherland of another.

- Sarojini Naidu
Lectures on “The Ideals of Islam

I am a Muslim and... my religion makes me be against all forms of racism. It keeps me from judging any man by the color of his skin. It teaches me to judge him by his deeds and his conscious behavior. And it teaches me to be for the rights of all human beings, but especially the Afro-American human being, because my religion is a natural religion, and the first law of nature is self-preservation....

- Malcolm X
American civil rights activist (1925-1965)

America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have been considered white, but the white attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all together, irrespective of their color.

- Malcolm X
American civil rights activist (1925-1965)

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. Montgomery Watt
Islam and Christianity Today; London 1983, p. IX.

Someone has said that Europeans in South Africa dread the advent Islam -- Islam that civilized Spain, Islam that took the torch light to Morocco and preached to the world the Gospel of brotherhood. The Europeans of South Africa dread the Advent of Islam. They may claim equality with the white races. They may well dread it, if brotherhood is a sin. If it is equality of colored races then their dread is well founded.

- Mahatma Gandhi
Leader who brough the cause of India’s independence from British colonial rule

‘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, London, 1870, p. 54

Despite the growth of antagonism, Moslem (Muslim) rulers seldom made their Christian subjects suffer for the Crusades. When the Saracens finally resumed the full control of Palestine the Christians were given their former status as dhimmis. The Coptic Church, too had little cause for complaint under Saladin's (Salahuddin) strong government, and during the time of the earlier Mameluke sultans who succeeded him the Copts experienced more enlightened justice than they had hitherto known. The only effect of the Crusaders upon Egyptian Christians was to keep them for a while from pilgrimage to Jerusalem, for as long as the Frank were in charge heretics were forbidden access to the shrines. Not until the Moslem victories could they enjoy their rights as Christians.

- James Addison
The Christian Approach to the Moslem, p. 35

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.

- Jared Diamond
UCLA sociologist and physiologist who won the Pulitzer Prize for his book: “Guns, Germs and Steel.”

But Islam has a still further service to render to the cause of humanity. It stands after all nearer to the real East than Europe does, and it possesses a magnificent tradition of inter-racial understanding and cooperation. No other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity, and of endeavors so many and so various races of mankind... Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of East and West is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition. In its hands lies very largely the solution of the problem with which Europe is faced in its relation with the East. If they unite, the hope of a peaceful issue is immeasurably enhanced. But if Europe, by rejecting the cooperation of Islam, throws it into the arms of its rivals, the issue can only be disastrous for both.

- H. A. R. Gibb
Whither Islam; London, 1932, p. 379.

The rise of Islam is perhaps the most amazing event in human history. Springing from a land and a people [which were] previously negligible, Islam spread within a century over half the earth, shattering great empires, overthrowing long-established religions, re-moulding the souls of races, and building up a whole new world - the world of Islam. 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 had its Asoka, and Zoroastrianism had 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 Fiery Crescent borne victorious from the Pyrenees to the Himalayas and from the desert of Central Asia to the deserts of Central Africa.

- A. M. L. Stoddard
Quoted in Islam: The Religion of All Prophets
Begum Bawani Waqf Karachi, Pakistan p. 56.

Islam is a religion that is essentially rationalistic in the widest sense of this term considered etymologically and historically. The definition of rationalism as a system that bases religious beliefs on principles furnished by the reason applies to it exactly... It cannot be denied that many doctrines and systems of theology and also many superstitions, from the worship of saints to the use of rosaries and amulets, have become grafted on the main trunk of the Muslim creed. But in spite of the rich development, in every sense of the term, of the teachings of the Prophet, the Quran has invariably kept its place as the fundamental starting point, and the dogma of unity of God has always been proclaimed therein with a grandeur, a majesty, an invariable purity and with a note of sure conviction, which it is hard to find surpassed outside the pale of Islam. This fidelity to the fundamental dogma of the religion, the elemental simplicity of the formula in which it is enunciated, the proof that it gains from the fervid conviction of the missionaries who propagate it, are so many causes to explain the success of Muhammadan [Muslim] missionary efforts. A creed so precise, so stripped of all theological complexities and consequently so accessible to the ordinary understanding might be expected to possess and does indeed possess a marvellous power of winning its way into the consciences of men.

- Edward Montet
“La Propagande Chretienne et ses Adversaries Musulmans,” Paris 1890.
Quoted by T.W. Arnold in The Preaching of Islam London, 1913, pp. 413-414.

Quotes On Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

Muhammed is the most successful of all Prophets and religious personalities.

- Encyclopedia Britannica

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, Calcutta 1935, p. l 22.

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. 276-277

In little more than a year he was actually the spiritual, nominal and temporal rule of Medina, with his hands on the lever that was to shake the world.

- John Austin
Muhammad The Prophet Of Allah in T.P.'s and Cassel's Weekly for 24th September 1927

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
The Genuine Islam

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 Egypt

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

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, London, 1874, p. 92.

It has been a great pleasure for me to help clarify statements in the Qur’aan about human development. It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God, or 'Allah', because almost all of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later. This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a messenger of Allah.

- Prof. Keith Moore
One of the world’s prominent scientists of Anatomy and Embryology, University of Toronto, Canada.

Thinking about many of these questions and thinking where Muhammad came from, he was after all a bedouin. I think it is almost impossible that he could have known about things like the common origin of the universe, because scientists have only found out within the last few years with very complicated and advanced technological methods that this is the case.

- Prof. Alfred Kroner
One of the world’s most famous geologist

It seems to me that Muhammad was a very ordinary man. He could not read or write. In fact, he was illiterate. We are talking about 1400 years ago. You have someone who was illiterate making profound pronouncement and statements and are amazingly accurate about scientific nature. I personally cannot see how this could be mere chance. There are too many accuracy’s and, like Dr. Moore, I have no difficulty in my mind in concerning that this is a divine inspiration or revelation which led him to these statements.

- Dr. T.V.N. Persaud
Professor of Anatomy and Head of the Department of Anatomy, and a professor of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Since the Prophet Muhammad could neither read nor write, Muhammad must be a messenger who relayed this truth which was revealed to him as an enlightenment by the One Who is an eligible Creator. This Creator must be Allah, or Allah. Therefore, I think this is the time to say ‘Laa ilaaha illallah’, that there is no Allah to worship except Allah, ‘Muhammad Rasool Allah’, Muhammad is messenger of Allah...

- Prpf. Tagata Tagasone
Formerly Head of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology at the University of Shiang Mai in Thailand. He is now the Dean of the College of the Medicine at the University rofessor of Anatomy.

The personality of Muhammad, it is most difficult to get into the whole truth of it. Only a glimpse of it I can catch. What a dramatic succession of picturesque scenes! There is Muhammad, the Prophet. There is Muhammad, the Warrior; Muhammad, the Businessman; Muhammad, the Statesman; Muhammad, the Orator; Muhammad, the Reformer; Muhammad, the Refuge of Orphans; Muhammad, the Protector of Slaves; Muhammad, the Emancipator of Women; Muhammad, the Judge; Muhammad, the Saint. All in all these magnificent roles, in all these departments of human activities, he is alike a hero." ... Muhammad is the "Perfect model for human life.”

- Prof. Ramakrishna Rao
Muhammad the Prophet of 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 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.

- George Bernard Shaw
The Genuine Islam, Vol. 1, No. 81936

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 Person In History, New York: Hart Publishing Company, Inc., 1978, p. 33.

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

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.

He was the most faithful protector of those he protected, the sweetest and most agreeable in conversation. Those who saw him were suddenly filled with reverence; those who came near him loved him; they who described him would say, "I have never seen his like either before or after." He was of great taciturnity, but when he spoke it was with emphasis and deliberation, and no one could forget what he said...

- Lane Poole
'Speeches and Table Talk of the Prophet Muhammad'

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.

- Washington Irving
'Life of Muhammad,’ New York, 1920

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'.

- James Michener
‘Islam: The Misunderstood Religion,’ Reader’s Digest, May 1955, pp. 68-70

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.

- Mahatma Gandhi
Leader who brought the cause of India’s independence from British colonial rule. Statement published in “Young India”, 1924