Muhammed in Their Eyes

During Crusade Era, many lies were concocted by the missionary and western writers to discredit the Prophet of Islam, his message and his teachings. This continued until recently when scientific discoveries and freedom of thought changed many people’s perception of things, and it became increasingly difficult for falsehood-mongers to pull wool over peoples’ eyes. The following are some testimonies that some non-Muslim scholars, thinkers and political icons had to give about the Prophet of Islam.

Larmatine, the French scholar says:
“If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammed? 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 and 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 souls. . . 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, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; 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, Histoire De La Turquie, Paris, 1854, Vol. II, pp. 276-277)

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon and Simon Oakley say:
“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 an 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 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.)

Bosworth Smith says:
“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, Muhammed and Muhammedanism, London, 1874, p. 92)

Annie Besant says:
“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 Muhammed, Madras, 1932, p. 4)

Mahatma Gandhi, speaking on the character of Muhammed, says in (Young India):
“I wanted to know the best of one who holds today’s 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, the scrupulous regard for his 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 2nd volume (of the Prophet’s biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of the great life.”

Prof. C. Snouck Hurgronje Has the following to say:
“The league of nations founded by the prophet of Islam put the principle of international unity and human brotherhood on such universal foundations as to show candleto other nations.” He continues: “The fact is that no nation of the world can show a parallel to what Islam has done towards the realization of the idea of the League of Nations.”

Prof. Ramakrishna Rao says:
“The personality of Muhammed, 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 Muhammed, the Prophet. There is Muhammed, the Warrior; Muhammed, the Businessman; Muhammed, the Statesman; Muhammed, the Orator; Muhammed, the Reformer; Muhammed, the Refuge of Orphans; Muhammed, the Protector of Slaves; Muhammed, the Emancipator of Women; Muhammed, the Judge; Muhammed, the Saint. All in all these magnificent roles, in all these departments of human activities, he is alike a hero.”

George Bernard Shaw says:
“If a man like Muhamed were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness.to other nations.” He continues: “The fact is that no nation of the world can show a parallel to what Islam has done towards the realization of the idea of the League of Nations.”