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The
sword of islam
The first
few who embraced the "new" religion in Makkah in
the Arabian Peninsula at the hands of the Prophet were his
wife Khadijah, his servant Zaid, and his eleven year old
cousin Ali. Among the ones who later joined this faith
were the honest merchant, Abu Bakr; the iron man of
Arabia, Umar the Great; the shy businessman, Uthman; the
Prophet's brave uncle, Hamza: and the slave of a pagan,
Bilal. They simply couldn't resist the ?MAGIC SWORD? of a
humble and lonely Prophet! The negligible minority of the
believers in this new Faith was soon exiled from Makkah
and they arrived in a city called Yathreb, which later
became known as MADINAH. The Muslim emigrants to Madinah
brought their ?SWORD? with them. The ?SWORD? continued to
work and its magnetic force continued to "pull"
people towards it until all of Arabia joined the Faith.
Compared to the population of the rest of the world at
that time, the Arabs constituted a tiny minority. A
fraction of this minority decided to take the ?SWORD?
beyond the boundaries of the Arabian desert to the mighty
empires of Rome and Persia, the shores of the
Mediterranean, the coast of Malabar and the far away East
Indies Islands. Nation after nation continued surrendering
to this ?SWORD? and joining the Faith.
So sharp was
the edge of the ?SWORD?! It simply conquered the hearts
and bodies yielded automatically. It is the ?SWORD OF
TRUTH?, whose mere shine eliminates falsehood just like
light wipes away darkness.
HAS THE
SWORD GONE BLUNT? NO, FAR FROM IT.
It continues
to pierce the hearts of countless men and women even
today, in spite of the relentless efforts by persons with
vested interests who like darkness to prevail, so that
they may rob people of their good things. Read below the
impressions of some who were recently conquered by the
same ?SWORD?. They are from different countries, speak
different languages, and have different backgrounds.
1.
LEOPOLD WEISS (now Mohammed
Asad): Austrian statesman, journalist, former foreign
correspondent for the Frankfurter Zeitung, author
of Islam at Cross Roads and Road to Mecca,
and translator of the Quran. He embraced Islam in 1926.
"Islam
appears to me like a perfect work of Architecture. All its
parts are harmoniously conceived to complement and support
each other. Nothing is superfluous and nothing lacking,
with the result of an absolute balance and solid
composure."
2.
AHMED HOLT: British Civil
Contractor, traveler in search of the Divine truth, spent
much of his time in research and comparative study of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He embraced Islam in
1975.
"The
SWORD OF ISLAM is not the sword of steel. I know this by
experience, because the sword of Islam struck deep into my
own heart. It didn't bring death, but it brought a new
life; it brought an awareness and it brought an awakening
as to who am I and what am I and for what am I here."
3.
BOGDAN KOPANSKI (now Bogdan
Ataullah Kopanski): originally Polish, now American, Ph.D.
in history and politics, had a very interesting journey to
Islam and faced severe hardships. He was imprisoned twice
by the Polish communist regime (1968, 1981-82). He
embraced Islam in 1974.
"When
I was 12 years old I rejected the illogical and
contradictory faith of the Church. Two years later in 1962
I was fascinated by the victorious struggle of the
Algerian Muslim mujahideen against French colonialism. It
was the first arrow of Islam...The high school and
earliest days of my education in the University, I was a
typical example of the 'rebel generation' of Reds...My way
to the Truth of Al-Quran was slow and unpaved... In 1974 I
visited Turkey, I wrote my M.A. dissertation about Sultan
and Caliph Suleiman Kanuni's policy towards the Polish
Kingdom. There I was hit by the most beautiful voice of
mankind, Adhan, the call to prayer. My hair stood up. An
unknown, powerful force led me to an old masjid in
Istanbul. There, old, smiling, Turkish bearded men taught
me Wuzu, ablution. I confessed to tears, Shahada, and I
prayed my first Salah Maghrib...I swept out the rubbish
ideologies...The first time in my life, my mind was
relaxed and I felt the pleasure of Allah's love in my
heart. I was a Muslim..."
4.
VENGATACHALAM ADIYAR (now
Abdullah Adiyar): Indian, noted Tamil writer and
journalist; worked as a news editor in Dr. M.
Karunanidhi's daily Murasoli for 17 years; assisted
3 former Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu. Received
Kalaimamani Award (Big Gem of Arts) from Tamil Nadu
Government in 1982. He embraced Islam in 1987.
"In
Islam I found suitable replies to nagging queries arising
in my mind with regard to the theory of creation, status
of woman, creation of universe, etc. The life history of
the holy Prophet attracted me very much and made it easy
for me to compare with other world leaders and their
philosophies."
5.
HERBERT HOBOHM (now Aman
Hobohm): German diplomat, missionary and social worker. An
intellectual who has been serving the German diplomatic
missions in various parts of the world. Presently working
as Cultural Attache in German Embassy in Riyadh. He
embraced Islam in 1941.
"I
have lived under different systems of life and have had
the opportunity of studying various ideologies, but have
come to the conclusion that none is as perfect as Islam.
None of the systems has got a complete code of a noble
life, Only Islam has it and that is why good men embrace
it. Islam is not theoretical; it is practical. It means
complete submission to the will of God."
6.
CAT STEVENS now Yusuf Islam:
British; formerly a Christian and a world famous pop
singer. He embraced Islam in 1973.
"It
will be wrong to judge Islam in the light of the behavior
of some bad Muslims who are always shown on the media. It
is like judging a car as a bad one if the driver of the
car is drunk and he bangs it into the wall. Islam guides
all human beings in daily life ? in it's spiritual, mental
and physical dimensions. But we must find the sources of
these instruction, the Quran and the example of the
Prophet. Then we can see the ideal of Islam."
7. Ms.
MARGARET MARCUS
(now Maryam
Jamilah): American; formerly a Jewess, essayist and author
of many books. She embraced Islam in 1962.
"The
authority of Islamic Morals and Laws proceeds from
Almighty God. Pleasure and happiness in Islam are but the
natural by-products of emotional satisfaction in one's
duties conscientiously performed for the pleasure of God
to achieve salvation. In Islam duties are always stressed
above rights. Only in Islam was my quest for absolute
values satisfied. Only in Islam did I at last find all
that was true, good, beautiful and gives meaning &
direction to human life and death.
8.
WILFRIED HOFMAN (now Murad
Hoffman): Ph.D. in law (Harvard); German social scientist
and diplomat.
Presently
German Ambassador in Algeria. He embraced Islam in 1980.
"For
some time now, striving for more and more precision and
brevity, I have tried to put on paper in a systematic way,
all philosophical truths, which in my view, can be
ascertained beyond reasonable doubt. In the course of this
effort it dawned on me that the typical attitude of an
agnostic is not an intelligent one; that man simply cannot
escape a decision to believe; that the createdness of what
exists around us is obvious; that Islam undoubtedly finds
itself in the greatest harmony with overall reality. Thus
I realize, not without shock, that step by step, in spite
of myself and almost unconsciously, in feeling and
thinking I have grown into a Muslim. Only one last step
remained to be taken: to formalize my conversion. As of
today I am a Muslim. I have arrived."
9.
CASSIUS CLAY (now Muhammad Ali):
American; three times World Heavyweight Champion, formerly
a Christian. He embraced Islam in 1965.
"I
have had many nice moments in my life. But the feelings I
had while standing on Mount Arafat on the day of Hajj (
Muslims' pilgrimage), was the most unique. I felt exalted
by the indescribable spiritual atmosphere there as over a
million and a half pilgrims invoked God to forgive them of
their sins and bestow on them His choicest blessings. It
was an exhilarating experience to see to people belonging
to different colors, races and nationalities, kings, heads
of states and ordinary men from very poor countries all
clad in two simple white sheets praying to God without any
sense of either pride or inferiority. It was a practical
manifestation of the concept of equality in Islam."
(Speaking to the daily "Al-Madinah" Jeddah, 15
July, 1989)
These were
the impressions of a few persons who had themselves been
struck by the ?SWORD OF TRUTH?, the Message of Islam,.
AS FOR THE
PROPAGANDA THAT IT WAS THE SWORD OF STEEL, THAT IS, FORCE,
WHICH WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE UNIVERSAL EXPANSION OF
ISLAM, WE GIVE BELOW QUOTATIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF SOME
OF THE PROMINENT NON-MUSLIM SCHOLARS AND LEADERS REFUTING
THIS BASELESS ACCUSATION.
1.
M. K. GANDHI: "...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 his pledges, his
intense devotion to his friends and followers, his
intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God
& his own mission. These, not the sword, carried
everything before them and surmounted every trouble."
(Young India 1924)
2.
EDWARD GIBBON: "The
greatest success of Mohammed's life was effected by sheer
moral force without the stroke of a sword." HISTORY
OF THE SARACEN EMPIRE, London, 1870
3.
A. S. TRITTON: "The picture
of the Muslim soldier advancing with a sword in one hand
and the Quran in the other is quite false." ISLAM,
London, 1951, p. 21
4.
DE LACY O'LEARY: "History
makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical
Muslim, 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." ISLAM AT CROSSROADS, London, 1923,
p. 8
5.
K. S. RAMAKRISHNA RAO: "My
problem to write this monograph is easier because we are
not generally fed now on that (distorted) kind of history
and much time need not be spent on pointing out our
misrepresentations of Islam. The theory of Islam and
sword, for instance, is not heard now in any quarter worth
the name. The principle of Islam, there is no compulsion
in religion, is well known." MOHAMMED THE PROPHET
OF ISLAM, Riyadh, 1989, p. 4
6.
JAMES A. MICHENER: "No
other religion in history spread so rapidly as Islam...The
West has widely believed that this surge of religion was
made possible by the sword. But no modern scholar accepts
that idea, and the Quran is explicit in support of the
freedom of conscience." ISLAM ? THE MISUNDERSTOOD
RELIGION, READERS' DIGEST (American Edition) May 1955
7.
LAWRENCE E. BROWNE: "Incidentally
these well-established facts dispose of the idea so widely
fostered in Christian writings that the Muslims, wherever
they went, forced people to accept Islam at the point of
the sword." THE PROSPECTS OF ISLAM, London,
1944.
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