What the Greats of yore had to say about Prophet Muhammed (PBUH)

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.

George Bernard Shaw

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 had the right to say that he ruled by a right divine, it was Muhummed, 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.

Rev. R. Bosworth-Smith

Philosopher, Orator, Apostle, Legislator, Warrior, Conqueror of ideas Restorer of rational beliefs, 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, Historie de la Turquie, Paris 1854, Vol. 11 pp. 276-2727

I have studied him - the wonderful man - and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ he must be called the saviour of humanity.

George Bernard Shaw in "The Genuine Islam"

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 of reverence for that mighty Arabian teacher.

Annie Besant, The Life and Teachings of Muhammad, Madras 1932, p. 4

In his book, Lamartine 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 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 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.

Palestine : The Way Forward

For over five decades a nation has been attacked, occupied and ghettoized in a manner that would have shamed even Hitler himself. The worst part of this tragedy is that the world powers have so far acted as co-conspirators in this gargantuan crime. Even today these powers are worried of Israel’s safety than the miseries of ordinary Palestinians. No other issue has showcased UN’s impotence like this one. Reality is that this is an organization that can do nothing against the dictates of America and hence justice can never be expected from it.

While the United States and its allies are conspiring to execute a regime change in Iran, ordinary Palestinians languish is jails called west bank and Gaza. Those who live outside, live as refugees in countries that will not recognize them as their citizens. There may be few exceptions but here we are talking about the vast majority. Day after day Israeli forces unleash inhuman and unprecedented violence on hapless Palestinians and nobody utters a word. Even if one Israeli is killed in retaliation all hell break loose.

Here is a nation that occupies another’s land unlawfully, kills, exiles and enslaves thousands of its population. Still, US and its cronies say Israel needs to defend itself. Defend itself from whom? Palestinian teenagers armed with stones? America has armed Israel to the hilt and Israel uses these weapons to massacre civilians. On the other hand Palestinians has lost their lawful homeland, is cut off from the rest of the world and the only weapons it has apart from stones are guns, grenades and crude rockets and they say Israel needs to be defended. Heights of hypocrisy, is the only way to describe this attitude.

The West harps about democracy but treat the democratic choice of the Palestinians with contempt. What is democracy if you can’t accept popular choices? It is none of west’s business whether Hamas recognizes Israel or not. It’s a decision Hamas has to take and whether the Palestinians accept that decision is a choice Palestinians has to make. You can’t force choices down anybody’s throat and call it free and fair democratic process.

The Palestinian problem stems from the illegal imposition of the Zionist state in Palestine by the west.  The reasons given  are that the land belonged to Jews thousands of years ago and the persecutions that Jews suffered through out the ages, which ultimately culminated in the holocaust. Well, holocaust was not perpetuated by Palestinians. If Europe wants to atone for the crime they themselves committed, give a piece of their own land, why grab other’s land for the purpose.

The claim of Promised Land is based on the scripture of the Jews. The same scripture states that there were people in Palestine before the Jews reached there after their escape from the clutches of Pharaoh. And these people were none other than the ancestors of the present day Palestinians. Another thought crosses my mind. Will the white settlers ever give back America to the Red Indians? After all that should be the proper step if we apply the logic of “Israel is the homeland of Jews”.

A more practical analysis of this issue is called for. The Palestinians has been living there for thousands of years. Jews too were there, but only a few of them. Palestinians are not all Muslims but include Christians too. After the creation of Israel at least 5million Palestinians has been exiled and are living as unwanted refugees in different countries. Those who refused to leave live in the occupied lands as one of the worst persecuted lot in the history of mankind. Jews has been migrating to Israel from different corners of the world. The reason they leave their original homelands is not because of any persecution but due to their quest for a better living. These Jews who land up in Israel are settled in illegal settlements built by the Zionist state.  They live a lavish life while the Palestinians, the original inhabitants of the land, live in conditions that even animals will refuse to live in.

You need to be a Palestinian to really grasp the untold miseries inflicted upon them by the Zionist state. To understand the difficulties of life in a refugee camp. The humiliation you face when you need to beg to a foreigner to allow you to cross over to Egypt to give life saying medical treatment to your aged father. The anguish you feel when stopped from getting back in to bury your father in the land that he loved so much. The hopelessness you feel when told by the occupation army at the checkpoints that you can’t go to work on that day. The desperation that sets in you when you see your children cry for food. The terror that inflicts you when Israeli bulldozers tear down your homes. I repeat, only a Palestinian can comprehend the gloom that they are in today.

Nobody is asking for a total destruction of the Jews. What we need is a just solution. A racial, Zionist state has no place in this twenty first-century. A two state solution too will be disastrous. India and Pakistan has already fought three full-scale wars, not to mention the daily skirmishes and numerous proxy wars that are going on between them.  A pluralistic democracy is the only answer. A State in which everyone irrespective of his race and religion will have equal rights.  Those Jews who have already made Israel their home will continue to be the citizens of this new nation. But further migration in today’s scale and manner will have to stop.  The exiled Palestinians should be given a choice to come back. Also a just redistribution of wealth between the two communities should be done.  This I believe is the only just solution possible.

Few words for Gaza

For the last 60 years, while the world looked on, a society has been systematically uprooted, exiled, plundered, humiliated and subjected to genocide. The sufferings of Palestinians have few parallels in history. Their state is on par with that of blacks during slavery, untouchable before Indian Independence and Jews under Hitler. Unless Israel is stopped we will be judged by the generations to come as a generation which failed to stop one of the worst atrocities in Human history. As far as hereafter is concerned let Almighty help us.

After the barbaric Gaza onslaught that killed 1300 Palestinians Israel has continued with the siege for over one year now. Life in Gaza, where no noticeable reconstruction or rehabilitation has happened after the destructive incursion of IDF, has been horrible to say the least. People still live in tents and over crowded buildings. Jobs and income are nonexistent for most. Food supplies is hit, hospitals are ill-equipped and in dire straits. Education still remains a dream for the boys and girls of Gaza. Power situation is terrible. Most amenities modern man takes for granted in most other places are either a luxury or unavailable. Houses, Schools, hospitals etc that were destroyed are yet to be rebuild. Siege makes it impossible to get anything into Gaza. On top of it Israel continues to bomb the tunnels, the lifelines that keep Gaza alive.

Astounding is the silence on the part of the world leaders. The “most powerful man in the world” talks about American values every now and then. What the hell are these values? If it is these values that are keeping him from stopping these atrocities then world will be better off without them. Unless and until US shuts down its support to the Zionist regime atrocities will never end. If the establishment is hell bend on continuing its support to this state sponsored terrorism then its time ordinary Americans spoke out against this monstrosity as it is their interest and safety that is being destroyed because of the Anti Americanism that is being generated around the world. Remember they too are responsible for each death that happens in Gaza due to Israeli aggression and Divine retribution is not mere wishful thinking.

What else can they do?

This week newspapers published some disturbing photographs of settlers in Palestine. In one of the photographs a settler was seen taking out the belongings of a Palestinian from his house and delivering it to the tent outside. The Palestinian is being thrown out of his house for the settler to occupy it. The original owner will henceforth be living in the makeshift tent. The settler was armed with an Israeli court order for the same. In another more disturbing photograph a settler was seen running his car over a Palestinian. By the grace of Almighty God he survived the attack. These incidents highlight the plight of Palestinians in the occupied territories.

What right do these settlers have to unscrupulously occupy others land and belongings? How can they indulge in such cruelty? How come they don’t have to respect any human rights? Aren’t they equally guilty of occupation as is the state of Israel? What right do they have to cry foul when a Palestinian, long enduring humiliation and imposed hardships, blow himself up in their midst? I am not advocating such acts.Women and children should not be subjected to such acts of violence, no matter what. But my question is what else can the Palestinians do given the shamefully biased and unbelievably mean stand of International community on this long standing issue?

Nuclear Threat

Iranian nuclear issue is a concern for the entire world. It has the potential to push the world into another disastrous war. Iran has a responsibility to prove to the world that it will not venture into nuclear weapon manufacturing. The founding father of Islamic republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini had qualified nuclear weapons as unislamic and this has been the stated stand of Iranian governments too. Any divergence from this stand will be a huge blow to their credibility. Nuclear disarmament should be the top priority of the international community and the first step in this direction has to be the steps to achieve non proliferation.


But one issue the world  is conspicuously unaware is the nuclear threat from Israel. What right do they have to possess nuclear weapons? Why haven’t they still signed the NPT? How come nobody is inspecting their nuclear facilities? Does the world have any information on their weapons program? And how come nobody is addressing this threat?

Israel continues to be the world’s most rogue state. Racism is a state policy for them. Zionism is racism, make no mistake about it. No less a statesman than President Carter had likened Israel to the apartheid regime. Its very birth was illegitimate. Since then the kind of humiliation and injustice this terrorist state has imposed on Palestinians have few parallels in world history. Nearly half a million Palestinians have been languishing as refugees as Israel had usurped their land. UN resolutions calling on the Zionist state to withdraw from the Palestinian lands has fallen on deaf ears. Why? Call to freeze the settlement activities by President Obama himself has been turned down.

Cruelty of this state knows no bounds. We saw that in Gaza and Lebanon. We see it daily in Palestine. They shoot helpless kids, humiliate hapless women and torture unarmed men. Words could never describe the Gaza siege and the attack there after. Israel remains the only state outside the nuclear five that has not said that their nuclear capability is for deterrence only. They intend to use it if they deem it necessary. In short Israel is the most dangerous rogue state in the world. They and not Iran are the ones who are holding the world peace hostage. If the world leaders have any sense, If President Obama has any spine they should address the Israeli threat before turning to Iran.

Suicide Bombing

Is suicide bombing justifiable? Like most questions this too cannot be answered by a simple “yes” or “no”. Answer cannot be in black or white, as many shades of grey are involved.  Context is crucial. Blowing themselves up in crowded markets killing innocent civilians cannot be justified in any way. Those who are behind these acts of crime are enemies of humanity, period. No matter what their grouse is, such acts are outright terrorism and the civil society needs to take precautions against the cowardly perpetrators of such grotesque deeds.  And this is true no matter where it happens or who it does. Thus suicide bombings that happen in public places killing innocent civilians in Tel Aviv, Bagdad, Karachi, Kabul and Mumbai are wrong.

 

But what about suicide bombing against an enemy military force waging war against you? Here the answer has to be “yes” as the person involved acquires the high position of Martyr. And Martyrdom is a noble deed. That is the reason why we still hold in high esteem people who gave their lives for the sake of their nation or for a noble cause. That is why we give the highest military honor posthumously. So for example a Palestinian blowing himself up against the Israeli Defense forces when no cease fire is in force cannot be faulted but admired. He is fighting an enemy who has usurped his land, exiled hundreds of thousands of his fellow Palestinians, humiliates his brothers and sisters on a daily basis and Kills without remorse even kids. As far as he is concerned suicide bombing is his last line of defense. But here too care should be taken to spare innocent civilians. Also it should be resorted to only in a state of war and not when a cease fire is in force.

Intention here is not to hail suicide bombing, a world where in such acts needn’t be resorted to is every civilized person’s dream. But to make the point that unfortunately even today in certain parts of the world state of affairs warrants the justification of suicide bombing.

Jesus in Islam

Muslims believe in the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ. See how holy Quran describes his birth.

“Behold! The angels said: "O Mary! Allah giveth thee Glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus. The son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter
And of (the company of) those Nearest to Allah.

"He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the righteous."

She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: Allah createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed A Plan He but saith to it, 'Be', and it is!

Anybody who believes not in the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ is not a Muslim as by doing so he will be denying the word of God. Anybody who does not believe in the miracles performed by Jesus too is not a Muslim for the same reason. Quran says

"And Allah will teach him The Book and Wisdom, The Law and the Gospel,

"And (appoint him) A messenger to the Children Of Israel (with this message):
"I have come to you, With a sign from your Lord, In that I make for you
Out of clay, as it were, The figure of a bird, And breathe into it, And it becomes a bird  By Allah's leave:  And I heal those Born blind, and the lepers, And I quicken the dead, By Allah's leave; And I declare to you What ye eat, and what ye store In your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe.

Muslims believe that Jesus did bring back to life a dead person, that he cured leapers, that he made a bird of clay and breathed life into it. But we also believe that he did all these things by God’s permission and not by himself. These were things commanded to him and he merely carried them out and the ability to do these things was not his but was provided to him by Allah. According to Islam he was a great prophet of Allah.

"Christ, the son of Mary, was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how God makes His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!" (5:75).

The above verse makes it amply clear that Jesus according to Islam is God’s Prophet and not his son. Please see what Quran says.

"He [Jesus] said: 'I am indeed a servant of God. He has given me revelation and made me a prophet; He has made me blessed wheresoever I be; and He has enjoined on me prayer and charity as long as I live. He has made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable. So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)!' Such was Jesus the son of Mary. It is a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute. It is not befitting to (the majesty of) God that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! When He determines a matter, He only says to it, 'Be,' and it is" (19:30-35).

As per Islam Jesus is a great Prophet of Allah. To disbelieve in him is not permitted. At the same time to elevate him to the position of son of God or to ascribe to him divinity is blasphemous and demeaning to The Almighty God. For God according to Quran is

 "Say: He is Allah, the One and Only! Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begets not nor is He begotten. And there is none like unto Him". --- Holy Quran Chapter 112