SIR, YOU SAID IT! Third edition, July 2007 (First edition, August 2002) Shabbir Ahmed, M.D. www.ourbeacon.com [email protected] [email protected] 6440 NW 53 St Lauderhill, Florida 33319 PH: 954-746-2115 Recommendation: The reader may enjoy the last ten pages of the book first. INTRODUCTION With the Name of God the Instant and Sustaining Source of all Mercy and Kindness. Billions of people in the last millennium have loved, revered and honored Islam. Conversely, billions have hated, criticized and defamed it. As a matter of fact, the situation applies equally to any other major religion. Although Islam in its original form is not a religion, the Muslim clergy have indeed reduced it to a set of dogmas, rituals, superstitions, myths, legends, and means of attaining ‘salvation’, the essential hallmarks of a “religion”. Through the centuries, we come across brilliant minds that have been able to see the diamond in the rough. They have scratched the surface and let the reality shine forth in all splendor. Then they have immediately realized that Islam is not a religion per se although it has been made to appear so. In fact, Islam being the most pragmatic System of Life is a massive challenge to religion. ABOUT THE TITLE: Let not the title of this booklet be misunderstood as primarily addressing men. It has been chosen for simplicity and for the fact that an overwhelming majority of the quotes given in this booklet have come from men. A reader may wonder, “Well, I never said it, so why this title?” With the possibility of rare disagreement, the answer is quite simple. The renowned intellectuals, writers, thinkers, theologians, poets, artists and intelligentsia become the voice of a society. Their very popularity hinges upon, and attests to, their ability to echo the silent voice of the masses. How many lines from Aristotle, Plato, William Shakespeare, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln have blended with the intellectual and social fabric of civilizations! The question may be raised that other greats have said things contrary to what the author has compiled in this booklet. Quite a valid objection, isn’t it? But every writer must do his best to drive home the point he or she is trying to make. Being consciously aware of this fact, and for the sake of intellectual honesty, I have selected quotes from the best of the best and overwhelmingly non-controversial figures. It is quite natural for the casual observer to judge an ideology by the results it achieves. To paraphrase from the Bible, a tree is known by its fruit. Mathew 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. To paraphrase from the Qur’an, a good land brings forth decent vegetation. The Qur’an 7:58 A good soil brings forth decent produce by the leave of its Lord, while the bad one yields that which is of poor quality ——. This point has been extensively elaborated in my new book, Islam: The True History And False Beliefs. The parables of the tree and soil apply well to the spoiled fruit of today’s counterfeit Islam. Now let us see what greatness the true Qur’an-based Islam has achieved in the past and how wonderful are its prospects to regain its lost glory. The central themes of the pristine Islam are service of humanity and benefiting God’s creation. As soon as the dust of myth is wiped off, Islam will once again become the Beacon of Light for all humanity. And surely it will be the front-line force in making this planet a better place to live. Let me stop here and let us all listen to the great non-Muslim minds, predominantly Western. These greats might very well be echoing the inherent voice of truth within our inner selves. Note: Any where in this book Muhammad (S) will denote Muhammad, our salutations unto him. SOME OUTSTANDING INTELLECTUALS EXTOLLING ISLAM • Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and Hero Worship and the Heroic in History • A. S. Tritton, Islam • De Lacy O’Leary, Islam at the Crossroads • Edward Gibbon, History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire • Stanley Lane-Poole, Speeches and Table Talk of the Prophet Muhammad • Annie Besant, The Life and Teachings of Mohammad • W. C. Taylor, The History of Muhammadanism and its Sects • Reverend Bosworth Smith, Muhammad and Muhammadanism • Simon Ockley, History of the Saracen Empire • Edward Montet, La Propagande Chretienne et ses Adversaries Musulmans, 1890. • Dr. Gustav Weil, History of the Islamic Peoples • Alphonse de LaMartaine, Historie de la Turquie, 1854. • “Mahatma” Gandhi, Statement published in Young India, 1924. • Sir George Bernard Shaw, The Genuine Islam, 1936. • Michael Hart, The 100, A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons In History • Dr. William Draper, History of Intellectual Development of Europe • J. W. H. Stab, Islam and its Founder • Washington Irving, Life of Muhammad • Arthur Glyn Leonard, Islam, Her Moral and Spiritual Values • Charles Stuart Mills, History of Mohammadanism • Philip K. Hitti, History of the Arabs • Stanley Lane-Poole, Studies in a Mosque • J. M. Rodwell, Preface to his translation of the Holy Qur’an • W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca • D. G. Hogarth, Arabia • Washington Irving, Mahomet and His Successors • James Michener, Islam: The Misunderstood Religion • Lawrence E. Browne, The Prospects of Islam • K. S. Ramakrishna Rao, Mohammed: The Prophet of Islam • Jules Masserman, Who Were History’s Great Leaders? TIME Magazine July 15, 1974 Some of the well known scholars who had the blessed fortune of having learned Arabic by socializing with the Bedouins: - The Swiss Muslim Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in the 1810s. - The British Muslim Sir Richard Burton in the 1850s. - The German (openly non-Muslim, confidentially Muslim) Heinrich von Maltzan during 1860s. - The Austrian Muslim Leopold Weiss (Muhammad Asad) in the 1950s. - The French surgeon Maurice Buccaille in the 1950s. In the quotations given below, the Western writers have sometimes used the term Muhammadanism for Islam. They were perhaps unaware that, for a Muslim, Muhammadanism conveys the erroneous impression that Islam was founded by Prophet Muhammad, or that the Muslims might be worshiping him. Muslims accept no deity other than the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Prophet Muhammad obeyed and propagated the Message of the One and Only God (in Arabic, Allah), the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. Hence, his Mission was essentially the same as that of the earlier Prophets of God. He was the last Prophet Messenger and sent for the entire humanity for all times to come. Let us begin with the greatest social philosopher of Victorian England, Thomas Carlyle. Thomas Carlyle - Heroes, Hero Worship, and the Heroic in History London 1841: …. As there is no danger of our becoming, any of us, Mahometans, I mean to say all the good of him I justly can.... When Pococke inquired of Grotius, where the proof was of that story of the pigeon, trained to pick peas from Mahomet’s ear, and pass for an angel dictating to him? Grotius answered that there was no proof! .... A greater number of God’s creatures believe in Mahomet’s word at this hour than in any other word whatever. Are we to suppose that it was a miserable piece of spiritual legerdemain [trick], this which so many creatures of the almighty have lived by and died by? .... A poor, hard-toiling, ill-provided man; careless of what vulgar men toil for. Not a bad man, I should say; Something better in him than hunger of any sort, — or these wild Arab men, fighting and jostling three-and-twenty years at his hand, in close contact with him always, would not revere him so! They were wild men bursting ever and anon into quarrel, into all kinds of fierce sincerity; without right worth and manhood, no man could have commanded them. They called him prophet you say? Why he stood there face to face with them; bare, not enshrined in any mystery; visibly clouting his own cloak, cobbling his own shoes; fighting, counseling, ordering in the midst of them: they must have seen what kind of man he was, let him be called what you like! No emperor with his tiaras was obeyed as this man in a cloak of his own clouting. During three-and-twenty years of rough actual trial, I find something of a veritable Hero necessary for that, of itself... These Arabs, the man Mahomet, and that one century, - is it not as if a spark had fallen, one spark, on a world of what proves explosive powder, blazes heaven-high from Delhi to Granada! 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... The lies [Western slander] which well-meaning zeal has heaped round this man [Muhammad] are disgraceful to ourselves only. He was a great soul, one of that who cannot but be earnest. He was to kindle the world; the world’s Maker had ordered so …. A man of truth and fidelity, true in what he did, in what he spake and thought—this is the only sort of speech worth speaking. A. S. Tritton - Islam 1951: The picture of the Muslim soldier advancing with a sword in one hand and the Qur’an in the other is quite false. De Lacy O’Leary - Islam at the Crossroads London 1923: History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated. Edward Gibbon - History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire London 1788: The good sense of Muhammad despised the pomp of royalty. The Apostle of God submitted to the menial offices of the family; he kindled the fire; swept the floor; milked the ewes; and mended with his own hands his shoes and garments. Disdaining the penance and merit of a hermit, he observed without effort of vanity the abstemious diet of an Arab …. The creed of Mohammad is free from ambiguity and the Qur’an is a glorious testimony to the unity of God …. The greatest crime, the greatest “sin” of Mohammad in the eyes of the Christian West is that he did not allow himself to be slaughtered, to be “crucified” by his enemies. He only defended himself, his family and his followers; and finally vanquished his enemies. Mohammad’s success is the Christians’ gall of disappointment …. He did not believe in any vicarious sacrifices for the sins of others. George Rivorie - Visages de L’ Islam: He laid the foundation of a universal government. His law was one for all. Equal justice and love for everyone. Stanley Lane-Poole - Speeches and Table Talk of the Prophet Muhammad: 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.... Sir William Muir - Life of Mohammad, India 1860: Mohammad brought an end to idol worship. He preached monotheism and infinite Mercy of God, human brotherhood, care of the orphan, emancipation of slaves, forbidding of wine—No religion achieved as much success as Islam did. Simon Ockley - History of the Saracen Empire 1823: A rugged, strife-torn and mountaineering people...were suddenly turned into an indomitable Arab force, which achieved a series of splendid victories unparalleled in the history of nations, for in the short space of ninety years that mighty range of Saracenic [Nomad Arabs] conquest embraced a wider extent of territory than Rome had mastered in the course of eight hundred. The greatest success of Mohammad’s life was affected by sheer moral force. It is not the propagation but the permanency of his religion that deserves our wonder, the same pure and perfect impression which he engraved at Mecca and Medina is preserved after the revolutions of twelve centuries by the Indian, the African and the Turkish proselytes of the Koran.... The Mahometans have uniformly withstood the temptation of reducing the object of their faith and devotion to a level with the senses and imagination of man. ‘I believe in One God and Mahomet 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 honors 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. M. H. Hyndman - The Awakening of Asia: Mohammad never assigned himself a status more than a common man and a messenger of God. People had faith in him when he was surrounded by poverty and adversity and trusted him while he was the ruler of a great Empire …. A man of spotless character who always had confidence in himself and in God’s help …. No aspect of his life remained hidden nor was his death a mysterious event. Annie Besant - The Life and Teachings of Mohammad, Madras, 1932: It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great Prophet of Arabia, who knew 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 reread them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of reverence for that mighty Arabian teacher. Pringle Kennedy - Arabian Society at the Time of Mohammad: The height of human achievement and glory was Mohammad. W. C. Taylor - The History of Muhammadanism and its Sects: So great was his liberality to the poor that he often left his household unprovided, nor did he content himself with relieving their wants, he entered into conversation with them, and expressed a warm sympathy for their sufferings. He was a firm friend and a faithful ally. Reverend Bosworth Smith - Muhammad and Muhammadanism, London, 1874: Head of the State as well as the Church, he was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without the Pope’s pretensions, and Caesar without the legions of Caesar, without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a police force, without a fixed revenue. If ever a man ruled by a right divine, it was Muhammad, for he had all the powers without their supports. He cared not for the dressings of power. The simplicity of his private life was in keeping with his public life. In Mohammadanism every thing is different here. Instead of the shadowy and the mysterious, we have history.... We know of the external history of Muhammad.... While for his internal history after his mission had been proclaimed, we have a book absolutely unique in its origin, in its preservation, on the Substantial authority of which no one has ever been able to cast a serious doubt.... Absolutely unique in history, Muhammad is a three-fold founder of a nation, of an empire and of a religion. The unlettered one bestowed upon the world the Book which is a miracle, the eternal miracle and the true miracle. Rev E. Stephenson - My Reflections: The message of Mohammad, Islam, is nothing but a blessing for mankind— The usher from darkness to light and from Satan to God. Edward Montet - La Propagande Chretienne et ses Adversaries Musulmans, Paris 1890: [Also in T.W. Arnold in ‘The Preaching of Islam,’ London 1913] Islam is a religion that is essentially rationalistic in the widest sense of this term considered etymologically and historically.... 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.... 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 marvelous power of winning its way into the consciences of men. Mohammad never assigned himself a status more than a common man and a messenger of God. People had faith in him when he was surrounded by poverty and adversity and trusted him while he was the ruler of a great Empire…. A man of spotless character who always had confidence in himself and in God’s help …. No aspect of his life remained hidden nor was his death a mysterious event. (M. H. Hyndman, The Awakening of Asia). Dr. Gustav Weil - History of the Islamic Peoples: Muhammad was a shining example to his people. His character was pure and stainless. His house, his dress, his food - they were characterized by a rare simplicity. So unpretentious was he that he would receive from his companions no special mark of reverence, nor would he accept any service from his servant which he could do for himself. He was accessible to all and at all times. He visited the sick and was full of sympathy for all. Unlimited was his benevolence and generosity as also was his anxious care for the welfare of the community. Tor Andre - Muhammad, the Man and His Faith: Islam is a forceful spiritual energy. Its true meaning will manifest itself when it will be implemented on large scale. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Letter to Eckermann 1830, Sir Henry Elliott’s collection, 1865: The teachings of Islam can fail under no circumstances. With all our systems of culture and civilization, we cannot go beyond Islam and, as a matter of fact, no human mind can go beyond the Koran. Alphonse de LaMartaine - Historie de la Turquie, Paris, 1854: Never has a man set for himself, voluntarily or involuntarily, a more sublime aim, since this aim was superhuman; to subvert superstitions which had been imposed between man and his Creator, to render God unto man and man unto God; to restore the rational and sacred idea of divinity amidst the chaos of the material and disfigured gods of idolatry, then existing. Never has a man undertaken a work so far beyond human power with so feeble means, for he [Muhammad] had in the conception as well as in the execution of such a great design, no other instrument than himself and no other aid except a handful of men living in a corner of the desert. Finally, never has a man accomplished such a huge and lasting revolution in the world…. If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astonishing results are the three criteria of a human genius, who could dare compare any great man in history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws, and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples, 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 the souls. On the basis of a Book, every letter of which has become law, he created a spiritual nationality which blends together peoples of every tongue and race. He has left the indelible characteristic of this Muslim nationality the hatred of false gods and the passion for the One and Immaterial God. This avenging patriotism against the profanation of Heaven formed the virtue of the followers of Muhammad; the conquest of one-third of the earth to the dogma was his miracle; or rather it was not the miracle of man but that of reason. The idea of the unity of God, proclaimed amidst the exhaustion of the fabulous theogonies [accounts of the origin and descent of the gods], was in itself such a miracle that upon its utterance from his lips it destroyed all the ancient temples of idols and set on fire one-third of the world. His life, his meditations, his heroic revelings [rebellion] against the superstitions of his country, and his boldness in defying the furies of idolatry, his firmness in enduring them for fifteen years in Mecca, his acceptance of the role of public scorn and almost of being a victim of his fellow countrymen: all these and finally, his flight, his incessant preaching, his wars against odds, his faith in his success and his superhuman security in misfortune, his forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the 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 telling what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with words. Philosopher, Orator, Apostle, Legislator, Conqueror of Ideas, Restorer of Rational beliefs.... The founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire-that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he? J. H. Denison - Emotions as the Basis of Civilization: Muhammad saved the human civilization from extinction. Ponder! Which person is it who taught mankind the way to establish the greatest society; the society in which blessings descend upon every individual. Mahatma Gandhi - Young India, 1924: The more I study, the more I discover that the strength of Islam does not lie in the sword. The more I desired 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 more of that great life. The verified sayings of Muhammad are a treasure of wisdom not only for Muslims but for all mankind - (M. K. Gandhi’s Preface to “The Sayings of Muhammad” by Sohrawardi). Sir George Bernard Shaw - 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. Dr. Mawde Royden - The Problem of Palestine: Mohammad introduced the concept of such Glorious and Omnipotent God in Whose eyes all worldly systems were pieces of straw. Islamic equality of mankind is no fiction as it is in Christianity. No human mind has ever thought of such total freedom as established by Mohammad. F. J. C Hearushaw - The Science of History: The Christian World came to wage crusades against Muslims but eventually knelt before them to gain knowledge. They were spellbound to see that Muslims were owners of a culture that was far superior to their own. The Dark Ages of Europe were illuminated by nothing but the beacon of Muslim civilization. Michael Hart - The 100 A Ranking Of The Most Influential Persons In History, New York, 1978: 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