Bertrand Russell:
"Our use of the phrase 'The Dark Ages' to cover the period from 699
to 1000 marks our undue concentration on Western
Europe � From India to Spain, the brilliant civilisation of Islam flourished.
What was lost to Christendom at this time was
not lost to civilisation, but quite the contrary � To us it seems that
West-European civilisation is civilisation, but this is a
narrow view". (History of Western Philosophy, London, 1948, p.419).
Thomas Carlyle:
"� 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
seemed black unnoticeable sand, but lo, the sand proves explosive powder,
blazes heaven high from Delhi to Grenada: I
said: the Great Man was always as lightening out of heaven; the rest
of the men waited on him like fuel, and then they
too would flame � How one man single-handedly could weld warring tribes
and wandering boudouins into a most
powerful and civilised nation in less then two decades". (On Heroes
and Hero Worship, and the Heroic in History, London,
1918).
George Bernard Shaw:
"I have prophesised about the faith of Muhammed [peace be upon him]
that it would be acceptable tomorrow as it is
beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today."
Annie Besant:
"I often think that woman is more free in Islam than in Christianity.
Woman is more protected by Islam than by the faith
which preaches monogamy. In Al'Quran the law about woman is more just
and liberal. It is only in the last twenty years
that Christian England has recognized the right of woman to property,
while Islam has allowed this right from all times. It
is slander to say that Islam preaches that women have no souls". (The
Life and Teachings of Muhammed, 1932).
Goethe:
"If this be Islam, do we not all live in Islam".
(Writing in the 1770s)
Napoleon Bonaparte:
"Moses has revealed the existence of God to his nation, Jesus Christ
to the Roman world, Muhammed [peace be upon
him] to the old continent�
Arabia was idolatrous when, six centuries after Jesus, Muhammed [pbuh]
introduced the worship of the God of Abraham,
of Ishmael, of Moses and of Jesus [peace be with them]. The ayrians
and some other sects had disturbed the tranquillity
of the East by agitating the question of the nature of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Muhammed [peace be
upon him] declared that there was none but One God Who had no father,
no son, and that the Trinity imported the idea
of idolatry�
I hope the time is not far off when I shall be able to unite all the
wise and educated men of all the countries and
establish a uniform regime based on the principles of the Qur'an which
alone are true and which alone can lead men to
happiness"
(Bonaparte et l'Islam, by Cherfils, Paris: France, pp.105-125)
M. H. Hart:
"My choice of Muhammed (peace be upon him) 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 levels". (The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential
Persons in History, New York, 1978, p.33)
Ghandhi:
"I wanted to know the best of one who holds today undisputed sway over
the hearts of millions of mankind � I became
more than 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 [peace
be upon him], 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 - peace be upon him - biography] I
was sorry there was not more for me to read of a
great life". (Young India).
