The Encyclopedia Britannica states:
"....a mass of detail in the early sources show that [Muhammad] was an honest and upright man who
had gained the respect and loyalty of others who were like-wise honest and upright men." (Vol. 12)
George Bernard Shaw said about him:
"He must be called the Savior of Humanity. I believe that if a man like him were to assume the
dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it
much needed peace and happiness." (The Genuine Islam, Singapore, Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936)
Gandhi 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 this 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."
Edward Gibbon and Simon Ockley speaking on the declaration of Islam write:
"I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, AND MAHOMET* , AN 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
honor of the Prophet has never transgressed the measure of human virtues; and his living precepts have
restrained the gratitude of his disciples within the bounds of reason and religion."
History Of The Saracen Empires, London, 1870, p. 54
Michael H. Hart in his recently published book on the ranking of the 100 most influential men in history
writes:
"My choice of Muhammad 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, M.H. Hart, New York, 1978, p. 33
Jules Masserman, an American psychoanalyst, says:
"Leaders must fulfill three functions: 1) Provide for the well being of the led, 2) Provide a social
organization in which people feel relatively secure, and 3) Provide them with a set of beliefs
People
like Pasteur and Salk are leaders in the first sense. People like Gandhi and Confucius, on one hand, and
Alexander and Caesar on the other, are leaders in the second and perhaps the third sense. Jesus and
Buddha belong in the third category alone. Perhaps the greatest leader of all time was Muhammad, who
combined all three functions. To a lesser degree, Moses did the same."
Time magazine, July 15, 1974, article titled "Who were history's greatest leaders?," this quote by Jules
Masserman.
"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 ruled by a right divine, it was
Muhammad, 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."
Reverend Bosworth Smith, Muhammad and Muhammadanism, p. 242
"Serious or trivial, his daily behavior has instituted a canon which millions observe this day with
conscious memory. No one regarded by any section of the human race as Perfect Man has ever been
imitated so minutely. The conduct of the founder of Christianity has not governed the ordinary life of his
followers. Moreover, no founder of a religion has left on so solitary an eminence as the Muslim apostle"
Arabia, D. G. Hogarth, p. 52
"He was sober and abstemious in his diet, and a rigorous observer of fasts. He indulged in no
magnificence of apparel, the ostentation of a petty mind; neither was his simplicity in dress affected but
a result of real disregard for distinction from so trivial a source ... In his private dealings he was just.
He treated friends and strangers, the rich and poor, the powerful and weak, with equality, and was
beloved by the common people for the affability with which he received them, and listened to their
complaints ... His military triumphs awakened no pride nor vain glory, as they would have done had
they been effected for selfish purposes. In the time of his greatest power he maintained the same
simplicity of manners and appearance as in the days of his adversity. So far from affecting a regal state,
he was displeased if, on entering a room, any unusual testimonials of respect were shown to him. If he
aimed at universal dominion, it was the dominion of faith; as to the temporal rule which grew up in his
hands, as he used it without ostentation, so he took no step to perpetuate it in his family."
Mahomet and his successors, Washington Irving, pp. 332-334, 343
"His readiness to undergo persecution for his beliefs, the high moral character of the men who believed
in him and looked up to him as a leader, and the greatness of his ultimate achievement - all argue his
fundamental integrity. To suppose Muhammad an impostor raises more problems than it solves.
Moreover, none of the great figures of history is so poorly appreciated in the West as Muhammad
Thus, not merely must we credit Muhammad with essential honesty and integrity of purpose, if we are to
understand him at all; if we are to correct the errors we have inherited from the past, we must not forget
that conclusive proof is a much stricter requirement than a show of plausibility, and in a matter such as
this only to be attained with difficulty."
Muhammad at Macca, W. Montgomery Watt, Oxford press, p. 53
"It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great prophet of Arabia, who knew
how he taught and how he lived, to feel anything but the 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 reread them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of
reverence for that mighty Arabian teacher."
The Life and Teachings of Muhammad, Annie Besant, p. 4
"Four years after the death of Justinian, C.E. 569, was born in Mecca, in Arabia, the man who, of all
men, has exercised the greatest influence upon the human race
To be the religious head of many empires, to guide the daily life of one third of the human race, may perhaps justify the title of a
Messenger of God."
History of Intellectual Development of Europe, William Draper, MD., LL.D., Vol. I, p. 329-330
2007-10-22 19:33:15
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answer #1
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answered by alee 3
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