What do you have to say about the declarations of the following great men of your history in the credit of the chief of creatures Muhammad?
1. Mahatma Ghandi.
Mahatma Ghandi in a press talk with the famous magazine “Young India” revealed the following about the qualities of our prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing of Allah be with him):
“I want to know the qualities of a man that has captured the mind of millions of people. I am now fully convinced that Islam didn’t gain its esteem position through the use of sword. Rather, it was through the simplicity of the messenger of Allah who was very strict and keeping to his promise. He was persevering and dynamic in dealing with his friends and followers. This is in addition to his excessive braveness and the complete trust he reposed in his Lord and mission. These are the qualities that paved the way for Islam to spread under all difficulties and not the power of sword. After reading the second phase of the prophet’s history, I grieved over not getting more to read about the great life of this man".
2. Rama Krishna Rao
Professor Rama Krishna Rao wrote in his book ‘Muhammad the prophet':
"It is not feasible to grasp every aspect of Muhammad’s personality. Whatever I can produce here about his life is but a little portion gathered from consecutive pictures of his beautiful life. He is Muhammad the prophet, Muhammad the military commander Muhammad the business tycoon, Muhammad the politician, Muhammad the Orator, Muhammad the reformer, Muhammad the shelter of the orphans and protector of the slaves, Muhammad the bringer of woman emancipation and Muhammad the judge. All these magnificent phases of his life in every facets of human existence qualify him to be a champion’’
3. Sarogene Nado (an Indian poet).
"Islam is the first and foremost religion that propagated and implemented democracy. This democracy starts directly from the mosque whereby the Muslims observe five daily prayers. A naïve stands besides the king, all proclaiming Allahu Akbar (Allah is the greatest). What astonished me most is this kind of unbreakable unity that makes each man automatically a brother to another’’
4. The French thinker La martin.
La martin proclaimed the following in page 276-277 of his book: "History of Turkey", published in Paris, 1854:
“If high-mindedness and achievement of baffling results under scarce means are the standards for evaluating the ingenuity of a man, who can have the guts to compare prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be with him) to any of the great personalities of contemporary history in terms of ingenuity? All these paramount personages have produced weapons, propounded laws and established empires but to no avail because they couldn’t achieve more than glories that faded away even before their death. As for the man called Muhammad (blessings and peace be with him), he didn’t only command a military force or propound laws or establish empires, or rule the people and train leaders but he could rule millions of people that could have formed one third of the worlds' population today. Moreover, he got rid of the practices of sacrificing on stone alters, divining arrows, and all sorts of false creeds and religions.
The prophet endured and persevered till Allah granted him victory. All his ambitions were directed towards one goal. He never aspired to build an empire or so. There is no sign of cheat or deception neither in his regular prayers and holy communication with his lord nor his victories over the enemies till he died. All these activities were rather plain evidences of his ability and power to inculcate and imbibe a two dimensional faith: to believe in the unity of Allah and to believe that Allah differs from anything that changes. The first dimension of this belief describes the attribute of Allah which is unification, whereas the other dimension explains what can not be attributed to Allah which is, material nature and similarity to he creature. To achieve the first phase of this belief he had to renounce all the deities invoked besides Allah with sword. As for the second, he only required to wisdom and beautiful preaching to imbibe it.
This is Muhammad the philosopher, the orator, the prophet, the legislator, the warrior, the destroyer of vain desires, the founder of intellectual schools of thought that call to true worship, abstinence from divination and sacrificing on stone alters. He is the founder of twenty empires on earth and one spiritual empire. This is Muhammad (blessings and peace be with him).
In view of all the criteria of human greatness, I wish to enquire if there exist any human being that is greater than Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be with him)?
5. Montgomery
Montgomery Wat said in page 527 of the book, ‘Muhammad in Makkah' 1953:
"The readiness of this man to endure oppression for his beliefs and the high moral rectitude of those who believed and followed him and besides his absolute great achievements are all evidences of his deep-seated probity and integrity. Therefore, to assume that Muhammad was an impostor will create more problems than solve. Rather, no great man of the western history has suffered the kind of injustice Muhammad suffered with regards to the accordance of due respect and recognition".
6. Boswarth Smith
In page 92 of the book “Muhammad and Mohammedanism” London, 1874, Bosworth Smith made the following declaration:
“Muhammad was both a political and religious leader at a time. He was never presumptuous as religious men do. He never had large military corps as Caesar did. He never possessed large battalions or special guard or lofty castle or stable income. If one says that there was somebody that ruled with divine power, he would be Muhammad because he could handle the helm of government without possessing the necessary tools and supporters".
7. Gibbon Oakley.
Edward Gibbon Oakley said in page 54 of the book titled “History of the Eastern Empire” 1870:
“The spread of the Islamic religion is not what is perplexing but the way it could still remain and continue to spread throughout the ages. The wonderful impression Muhammad left in Makkah and Madinah still penetrates into the minds of the Indians, Africans and Turkish whose encounter with the Qur’an is still in its embryonic stage, even after twelve centuries. Muslims have been able to collectively withstand the problems of faith in Allah despite the fact that they only learnt it through mental and human sentiments. The word: “There is no deity worthy of worship besides Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah” is simply the testimony of Islam. The presence of many other gods that people adore besides Allah could not affect their belief in the divinity of Allah (the Exalted, the great). Moreover, the honor and attributes of the prophet didn’t exceed the bounds of normal human attributes. Similarly his lifestyle and the guidance he brought to his followers made them to revere him within the bounds acceptable to reason and religion".
8. Dr. Zuwaimir.
“Dr. Zuwaimir, a Canadian orientalist (1813-1900), said in his book titled: (The East and its customs):
"Muhammad was indeed and beyond all doubts one of the most prodigious Muslim religious leaders. It is true that he was also an able reformer, eloquent speaker, audacious commander and a great thinker. We should not ascribe to him anything that tends to disprove these qualities because the Qur'an he brought with him and his biography all bear witness to these qualities".
9. Saint Helr.
"The esteemed scholar Bertly Saint Herl, a German orientalist, born in Dresden (1793-1884) made this declaration in his book: (Easterners and their beliefs):
"Muhammad was a head of State who passed sleepless nights to protect the life and freedom of humanity. He used to punish criminals according to the demands of his time with consideration of those people who were still naïve. The prophet used to call to the worship of one God. He was very polite and compassionate even to his enemies. Indeed, he possessed two qualities which are the greatest of all human qualities: fairness and compassion".
10. Edward Monte
Edward Monte, a philosopher and a French orientalist, born in Lucada (1817-1894) said towards the end of his book: (The Arabs): "Muhammad was famous for his pure intents, amiability, fair judgment and clear and eloquent speech. In a nut shell, Muhammad was the most faithful, religious and compassionate Arab of his time. He was the best ruler that guided his followers to a life they never dreamt of before. He built for them a transient and religious State that still exists today".
11. Bernard Shaw.
Bernard Shaw, English born in the city of Cania (1817-1902) authored a book titled: (Muhammad), but the British government had it burnt to ashes. He said in the book:
"The World indeed, needs a man with the thoughts of Muhammad. The man that raised his religion to a place of everlasting esteem and regard. It is the only eternal faith that can really entertain all civilizations. Indeed, I see many of my people embracing this faith out of knowledge and conviction. Surely, this religion will gain wider grounds in this continent (Europe).
It is out of ignorance and bigotry that religious men of the Middle Ages have blackmailed the religion of Muhammad. They had regarded him no more than an antagonist of Christianity, but my prudent examination of this man has revealed him to be an outstanding and preternatural being. I also discovered that he was not against Christianity, but rather, he deserves to be addressed as the Savior of Humanity. In my own individual view point, if this man were to rule the world today, he would be very successful in proffering solutions to our problems, in a manner that would ensure the kind of peace and bliss aspired by all humanity".