| "Islam
is the fastest-growing religion in America, a guide and pillar of stability for many of
our people..." HILLARY RODMAN CLINTON, Los Angeles Times, May 31, 1996, p.3
Already more than a billion-people strong,
Islam is the world’s fastest-growing religion. ABCNEWS,
Abcnews.com
"Islam is the fastest-growing religion
in the country." NEWSDAY, March 7, 1989, p.4
"Islam is the fastest-growing religion
in the United States..." NEW YORK TIMES, Feb 21, 1989, p.1
Moslems are the world's fastest-growing
group..." USA TODAY, The population referance bureau, Feb. 17, 1989, p.4A
"Muhammed is the most successful of all
Prophets and religious personalities. " Encyclopedia Britannica
"There are more Muslims in North America
then Jews Now." Dan Rathers, ABCNEWS
"Islam is the fastest growing religion
in North America." TIMES MAGAZINE
"Islam continues to grow in America, and
no one can doubt that!" CNN, December 15, 1995
"The religion of Islam is growing faster
than any other religion in the world." MIKE WALLACE, 60 MINUTES
"Five to 6 million strong, Muslims in
America already outnumber Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Mormons, and they are more
numerous than Quakers, Unitarians, Seventh-day Adventists, Mennonites, Jehovah's
Witnesses, and Christian Scientists, combined. Many demographers say Islam has overtaken
Judaism as the country's second-most commonly practiced religion; others say it is in the
passing lane." JOHAN BLANK, USNEWS (7/20/98)
"In fact, religion experts say Islam is
the second-largest religion in the United States... Islam has 5 million to 6 million
members, followed by Judaism, with approximately 4.5 million..... And Islam is believed to
be fastest-growing religion in the country, with half its expansion coming from new
immigrants and the other half from conversions." By ELSA C. ARNETT
Knight-Ridder News Service
Professor Keith Moore, one of the
world’s prominent scientists of anatomy and embryology. University of
Toronto, Canada It has been a great pleasure for me to help clarify statements in the
Qur’aan about human development. It is clear to me that these statements must
have come to Muhammad from God, or 'Allah', because almost all of this knowledge was not
discovered until many centuries later. This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a
messenger of Allah.
"But Islam has a still further service
to render to the cause of humanity. It stands after all nearer to the real East than
Europe does, and it possesses a magnificent tradition of inter-racial understanding and
cooperation. No other society has such a record of success uniting in an equality of
status, of opportunity, and of endeavours so many and so various races of mankind . . .
Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and
tradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of East and West is to be
replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition. In
its hands lies very largely the solution of the problem with which Europe is faced in its
relation with East. If they unite, the hope of a peaceful issue is
immeasurably enhanced. But if Europe, by rejecting the cooperation of Islam, throws
it into the arms of its rivals, the issue can only be disastrous for both." --H.A.R.
Gibb, WHITHER ISLAM, London, 1932, p. 379.
"It (Islam) replaced monkishness by
manliness. It gives hope to the slave, brotherhood to mankind, and recognition of
the fundamental facts of human nature." --Canon Taylor, Paper read
before the Church Congress at Walverhamton, Oct. 7, 1887; Quoted by Arnoud in THE
PREACHING OF ISLAM, pp. 71-72.
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
"If a man like Muhammed 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
"How, for instance, can any other appeal
stand against that of the Moslem who, in approaching the pagan, says to him, however
obscure or degraded he may be 'Embrace the faith, and you are at once equal and a
brother.' Islam knows no color line." (S. S. Leeder, VEILED MYSTERIES OF
EGYPT)
Professor William W. Hay is one of the
best known marine scientists in the United States. satellite photography and
emote-sensing techniques. Professor Hay replied: I find it very interesting that this sort
of information is in the ancient scripture of the Holy Qur’aan, and I have no
way of knowing where they would come from, but I think it is extremely interesting that
they are there and that this work is going on to discover it, the meaning of some of the
passages. Professor Hay: Well, I would think it must be the divine being!
Professor Yushudi Kusan: Director of
the Tokyo Observatory,
I can say, I am very mush impressed by
finding true astronomical facts in the Qur’aan.
Professor Alfred Kroner who is
one of the world’s most famous geologists
"Thinking about many of these questions
and thinking where Muhammad came from, he was after all a bedouin. I think it is almost
impossible that he could have known about things like the common origin of the universe,
because scientists have only found out within the last few years with very complicated and
advanced technological methods that this is the case.
Dr. T.V.N. Persaud is a Professor of
Anatomy and Head of the Department of Anatomy, and a professor of Pediatrics and Child
Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is the author
or editor of 25 books, and has published over 181 scientific papers. In 1991, he received
the most distinguished award presented in the field of anatomy in Canada. "It seems
to me that Muhammad was a very ordinary man. He could not read or write. In fact, he was
illiterate. We are talking about 1400 years ago. You have someone who was illiterate
making profound pronouncement and statements and are amazingly accurate about
scientific nature. I personally cannot see how this could be mere chance. There are too
many accuracy’s and, like Dr. Moore, I have no difficulty in my mind in concerning
that this is a divine inspiration or revelation which led him to these
statements."
Joe Leigh Simpson, Professor of
Obstetrics and Gynecology at the North Western University in Chicago in the United
States of America. Professor Simpson said: It follows, I think, that not
only is there no conflict between genetics and religion, but in fact religion can guide
science by adding revelation to some traditional scientific approaches. That there exists
statements in the Qur’aan shown by science to be valid, which supports knowledge in
the Qur’aan having been derived from Allah.
Professor Palmer a scientist from the
U.S.
We need research into the history of early
Middle Eastern oral traditions to know whether in fact such historical events have
been reported. If there is no such record, it strengthens the belief that Allah
transmitted through Muhammad bits of his knowledge that we have only discovered for
ourselves in recent times. We look forward to a continuing dialogue on the topic of
science in the Qur’aan in the context of geology. Thank you very much.
Professor Tagata Tagasone,
formerly Head of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology at the University of Shiang Mai
in Thailand. He is now the Dean of the College of the Medicine at the
University. From my studies and from what I have learned throughout this
conference, I believe that everything that has been recorded in the Qur’aan 1400
years ago must be the truth, that can be proved by the scientific means. Since the Prophet
Muhammad could neither read nor write, Muhammad must be a messenger who relayed this truth
which was revealed to him as an enlightenment by the One Who is an eligible Creator. This
Creator must be Allah, or Allah. Therefore, I think this is the time to say ‘Laa
ilaaha illallah’, that there is no Allah to worship except Allah, ‘Muhammad
Rasool Allah’, Muhammad is messenger of Allah...
Professor Armstrong, Scientist works
at NASA, I am impressed that how remarkably some of the ancient writings seem to
correspond to modern and recent Astronomy. There may well have to be something
beyond what we understand as ordinary human experience to account for the writings that we
have seen.
Professor Dorja Rao, It is difficult
to imagine that this type of knowledge was existing at that time, around 1400 years back.
May be some of the things they have simple idea about, but do describe those things in
great detail is very difficult. So, this is definitely not a simple human knowledge.
"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 level." --Michael H. Hart, THE 100: A RANKING OF
THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN HISTORY, New York: Hart Publishing Company, Inc., 1978, p.
33.
"No other society has such a record of
success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and endeavour so many and so
varied races of mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa, India and Indonesia,
perhaps also the small community in Japan, show that Islam has still the power to
reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition
of the great societies of the East and west is to be replaced by cooperation, the
mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition." (H.A.R. Gibb, WHITHER ISLAM,
p. 379)
The nation's claim to be a Christian
country is about to meet its first challenge: the number of practising Muslims is
set to overtake Anglican Christians.... There has also been a number of high-profile
conversions to Islam from Christianity. These include Mike Tyson, the former world
champion boxer; Chris Eubank, the British middleweight boxing champion, who has changed
his name to Hamdan; and Cat Stevens, the pop musician, who calls himself Yousef Islam....
Prince Charles courted controversy earlier this year when he reaffirmed his claim that
when he succeeds the throne, he does not wish to be the defender of only the Christian
faith. Rajeev Syal and Christopher Morgan Sunday Times (London,
U.K.)
"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"
"Muhammad, the inspired man who founded
Islam, was born about A.D. 570 into an Arabian tribe that worshipped idols. Orphaned
at birth, he was always particularly solicitous of the poor and needy, the widow and the
orphan, the slave and the downtrodden. At twenty, he was already a successful
businessman, and soon became director of camel caravans for a wealthy widow. When he
reached twenty-five, his employer, recognizing his merit, proposed marriage. Even
though she was fifteen years older, he married her, and as long as she lived, remained a
devoted husband. "Like almost every major prophet before him, Muhammad fought shy of
serving as the transmitter of God's word, sensing his own inadequacy. But the angel
commanded 'Read.' So far as we know, Muhammad was unable to read or write, but he
began to dictate those inspired words which would soon revolutionize a large segment of
the earth: 'There is one God.' "In all things Muhammad was profoundly
practical. When his beloved son Ibrahim died, an eclipse occurred, and rumours of
God's personal condolence quickly arose. Whereupon Muhammad is said to have
announced, 'An eclipse is a phenomenon of nature. It is foolish to attribute such
things to the death or birth of a human being. "At Muhammad's own death an
attempt was made to deify him, but the man who was to become his administrative successor
killed the hysteria with one of the noblest speeches in religious history: 'If there are
any among you who worshipped Muhammad, he is dead. But if it is God you worshipped,
He lives forever." --James A. Michener, "Islam: The Misunderstood
Religion," in READER'S DIGEST (American edition), May 1955, pp. 68-70.
"In little more than a year he was
actually the spiritual, nominal and temporal rule of Medina, with his hands on the lever
that was to shake the world." John Austin, "Muhammad the Prophet of
Allah," in T.P. 's and Cassel's Weekly for 24th September 1927.
"Everything made so much sense. This is
the beauty of the Qur'an; it asks you to reflect and reason....When I read the Qur'an
further, it talked about prayer, kindness and charity. I was not a Muslim yet, but I felt
the only answer for me was the Qur'an and God had sent it to me." Cat Stevens
(YusufIslam), former British pop star.
"Four years after the death of
Justinian, A.D. 569, was born at Mecca, in Arabia the man who, of all men exercised the
greatest influence upon the human race . . . Mohammed . . . " John William Draper,
M.D., L.L.D., A History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, London 1875, Vol.1,
pp.329-330
"Muhammad was the soul of kindness, and
his influence was felt and never forgotten by those around him." Diwan Chand Sharma,
The Prophets of the East, Calcutta 1935, p. l 22.
"People like Pasteur and Salk are
leaders in the first sense. People like Gandhi and Confucius, on one hand, and Alexander,
Caesar and Hitler 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
times was Mohammed, who combined all three functions. To a lesser degree, Moses did the
same." Professor Jules Masserman
Ahmed Versi, editor of the weekly
Muslim News, said the growth of Islam has been constant: "The younger
generation of Muslims that I have encountered is becoming more aware of its Muslim
identity and is therefore practising its faith with vigour."
"The extinction of race consciousness as
between Muslims is one of the outstanding achievements of Islam and in the contemporary
world there is, as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic
virtue..." (A.J. Toynbee, CIVILIZATION ON TRIAL, New York, p. 205)
"Sense of justice is one of the most
wonderful ideals of Islam, because as I read in the Qur'an I find those dynamic principles
of life, not mystic but practical ethics for the daily conduct of life suited to the whole
world." --Lectures on "The Ideals of Islam;" see SPEECHES AND
WRITINGS OF SAROJINI NAIDU, Madras, 1918, p. 167.
"History makes it clear however, that
the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point
of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that
historians have ever repeated." --De Lacy O'Leary, ISLAM AT THE
CROSSROADS, London, 1923, p. 8.
"The Muslim community is much more aware
of its religion and the use that religion plays within its community." Dr
Peter Brierley, executive director of the Christian Research Association, a
London-based charity
"I have always held the religion of
Muhammad in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only
religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase
of existence which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him - the
wonderful man and in my opinion for from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the
Saviour 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 the much needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of
Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be
acceptable to the Europe of today." --G.B. Shaw, THE GENUINE ISLAM, Vol.
1, No. 81936.
"A growing number of Muslims in America,
more than 40 percent are African-American," Charles Bierbauer, from the
Senior Washington Correspondent
"The extinction of race consciousness as
between Muslims is one of the outstanding achievements of Islam, and in the contemporary
world there is, as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic
virtue." --A.J. Toynbee, CIVILIZATION ON TRIAL, New York, 1948, p.
205.
"The rise of Islam is perhaps the most
amazing event in human history. Springing from a land and a people like previously
negligible, Islam spread within a century over half the earth, shattering great empires,
overthrowing long established religions, remoulding the souls of races, and building up a
whole new world - world of Islam.
"The closer we examine this development
the more extraordinary does it appear. The other great religions won their way
slowly, by painful struggle and finally triumphed with the aid of powerful monarchs
converted to the new faith. Christianity had its Constantine, Buddhism its Asoka,
and Zoroastrianism its Cyrus, each lending to his chosen cult the mighty force of secular
authority. Not so Islam. Arising in a desert land sparsely inhabited by a
nomad race previously undistinguished in human annals, Islam sallied forth on its great
adventure with the slenderest human backing and against the heaviest material odds.
Yet Islam triumphed with seemingly miraculous ease, and a couple of generations saw the
Fiery Crescent borne victorious from the Pyrenees to the Himalayas and from the desert of
Central Asia to the deserts of Central Africa." --A.M.L. Stoddard,
quoted in ISLAM - THE RELIGION OF ALL PROPHETS, Begum Bawani Waqf, Karachi,
Pakistan, p. 56.
"I am not a Muslim in the usual sense,
though I hope I am a "Muslim" as "one surrendered to God," but I
believe that embedded in the Quran and other expressions of the Islamic vision are vast
stores of divine truth from which I and other occidentals have still much to learn, and
'Islam is certainly a strong contender for the supplying of the basic framework of the one
religion of the future.'" --W. Montgomery Watt, ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY
TODAY, London, 1983, p. ix.
'I believe in One God and Mohammed 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.
"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,
MOHAMMAD AND MOHAMMADANISM, London, 1874, p. 92.
"His readiness to undergo
persecutions for his beliefs, the high moral character of the men who believed in him and
looked up to him as 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." --W. Montgomery Watt, MOHAMMAD AT MECCA, Oxford,
1953, p. 52.
"The doctrine of brotherhood of Islam
extends to all human beings, no matter what color, race or creed. Islam is the only
religion which has been able to realize this doctrine in practice. Muslims wherever on the
world they are will recognize each other as brothers." Mr. R. L. Mellema,
Holland, Anthropologist, Writer and Scholar.
"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 MUHAMMAD, Madras, 1932, p. 4.
"The essential and definite element of
my conversion to Islam was the Qur'an. I began to study it before my conversion with the
critical spirit of a Western intellectual .... There are certain verses of this book, the
Qur'an, revealed more than thirteen centuries ago, which teach exactly the same notions as
the most modern scientific researches do. This definitely converted me."
Ali Selman Benoist, France, Doctor of
Medicine.
"I have read the Sacred Scriptures of
every religion; nowhere have I found what I encountered in Islam: perfection. The Holy
Qur'an, compared to any other scripture I have read, is like the Sun compared to that of a
match. I firmly believe that anybody who reads the Word of Allah with a mind that is not
completely closed to Truth, will become a Muslim." Saifuddin Dirk Walter
Mosig, U. S.A.
"The universal brotherhood of Islam,
regardless of race, politics, color or country, has been brought home to me most keenly
many times in my life -- and this is another feature which drew me towards the
Faith." Col. Donald S. Rockwell, U.S.A. Poet, Critic and Author.
"Medieval Islam was technologically
advanced and open to innovation. It achieved far higher literacy rates than in
contemporary Europe;it assimilated the legacy of classical Greek civilization to such a
degree that many classical books are now known to us only through Arabic copies. It
invented windmills ,trigonometry, lateen sails and made major advances in metallurgy,
mechanical and chemical engineering and irrigation methods. In the middle-ages the flow of
technology was overwhelmingly from Islam to Europe rather from Europe to Islam. Only after
the 1500's did the net direction of flow begin to reverse." (pg 253) Jared
Diamond a world renowned UCLA sociologist, and physiologist won the Pulitzer Prize for
his book: "Guns, Germs, and Steel."
|
Inside
Mosque
