Some tributes to the prophet of Islam

A large number of fair-minded, non –Muslims historians, biographers, Orientalists and theologians have over the centuries paid glowing tributes to the prophet of Islam for his glorious lifework in preaching Islam and the permanence of the Islamic institutions he founded to demonstrate the practicability of his faith. In the following lines some of these encomiums are briefly reproduced.

Edward gibbon, the renowned British historian, wrote in the history of the decline and the fall of the Roman Empire: (1870): “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..”

A British historian, Vincent A. Smith, in his book, the Oxford History of Indian, (1958),
Said: “The rapidity of the spread of Islam, the religion of Muhammad, and the dramatic suddenness with which the adherents of his creed rose to a position of dominant sovereignty constituted one of the marvels, or it might be said, the miracles of history.”

​A.J Toynbee, a British historian, in his historical work, civilization on trial, (1948), wrote: “ 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 British historian, J.W . Draper, in his book, a history of the Intellectual Development of Europe: (1875) described Prophet Muhammad as “the man who of all men has exercised the greatest influence upon the human race”. He adds: “Mohammad possessed that combination of qualities which more than once has decided the fate of empires… 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 messenger of god…”

​French statesman, novelist and poet, alphonse de Lamartine, in historical work, histoire de la Turquie, (1854), wrote:” Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images, the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and one spiritual empire- that is Muhammad. By all the standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask: is there any man greater than he?”

​ British dramatist and playwright, George Bernard Shaw, paid this tribute to Prophet Muhammad” 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. I believe if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving the many problems in a way that would bring it the much-needed peace and happiness.. Europe is beginning to be enamored of the creed of Mohammad.”

​An American historian and author, Michel H. Hart., In his book, The 100-A ranking of the most influential persons in history (1978): commented” 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 in both the religious and secular levels”.
​Modern India’s founder, Mahatma Gandhi, wrote in his newspaper organ, Young India, that he was convinced that Islam was spread not by the sword but by “the rigid simplicity, the utter self effacement of the prophet, the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in god and his own mission”
​British historian, Montgomery Watt, in his book, Mohammad at Mecca (1953) said “His readiness to undergo persecution for his beliefs, the high moral character of the men believed in him and looked up to him as a leader, and the greatness of his ultimate achievement—all argue his fundamental integrity.”
Another British historian, D.G Hogarth in his book, A history of Arabia (1922), Praised the prophet of Islam in these words:…” In his daily behavior has instituted a canon which millions observe to this day with conscious memory. No one regarded by any section of the human race as a perfect man has been imitated so minutely…. No founder of a religion has been left on a solitary an eminence as the Muslim apostle.”

​Eminent Theosophist, Annie Besant, in her book Life and teachings of Mohammad (1932) noted.” 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…”

​ British historians, Bosworth Smith in his book, Mohammad and mohammedanism (1874) said:” Head of the state as well as the church, he was Caesar and pope in one but he was pope without the pope’s pretentions, Caesar without the legions of Caesar. Without standing army, without a body guard, 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 Mohammad, for he had all the power without its instruments and without its supports.”

A British essayist and author, Thomas Carlyle, in his 1881 book on heroes and hero worship, described prophet Muhammad as a veritable hero: “No emperor with his tiaras was obeyed more as this man in a cloak of his own clouting”

​The encyclopedia Britannica describes Prophet Muhammad as “the most successful of all prophets and religious personalities”

Napoleon Bonaparte, according to a French Bonaparte et I’ Islam, published in Paris, held prophet Muhammad and Islam in high esteem and he praised the immense contributions of the Muslims to the humanities and the sciences.