What they said…

Below are some quotes of what different people (mostly Non-Muslims) said about Islam, Muslims, Prophet Mohammad and Quran:

Bosworth Smith

“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, Mohammed and Mohammadanism, London 1874, p. 92:

“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:

“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. This dogma was twofold, the unity of God and the immateriality of God; the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with words.” “Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire; that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?”
Lamartine, Histoire De La Turquie, Paris, 1854, Vol. II, pp. 276-277

Mahatma Gandhi

“I wanted to know the best of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind…. 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 pledges, his intense devotion to his 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 second volume (of the Prophet’s biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of that great life.”

Mahatma Gandhi, statement published in ‘Young India,’1924.

“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 CE, Quoted by Arnond in The Preaching of Islam, p. 71-72.]

“Sense of justice is one of the most wonderful ideals of Islam, because as I read in the Quran, I find those dynamic principles of life, not mystic but practical ethics for the daily conduct of life suited to whole world.”
Sarojini Naidu [Lectures on The Ideals of Islam see Speeches and Writings of Sarojini Naidu, Madras, 1918,p.167.]

“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

“Muhammed is the most successful of all Prophets and religious personalities. ”  
Encyclopedia Britannica

“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.”  
Professor Keith Moore, one of the world’s prominent scientists of anatomy and  embryology.  University of Toronto, Canada

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“However often we turn to it [the Qur’an] at first disgusting us each time afresh, it soon attracts, astounds, and in the end enforces our reverence… Its style, in accordance with its contents and aim is stern, grand, terrible – ever and anon truly sublime — Thus this book will go on exercising through all ages a most potent influence.”

Goethe, quoted in T.P. Hughes’ DICTIONARY OF ISLAM, p. 526.

“A totally objective examination of it [the Qur’an] in the light of modern knowledge, leads us to recognize the agreement between the two, as has been already noted on repeated occasions. It makes us deem it quite unthinkable for a man of Muhammad’s time to have been the author of such statements on account of the state of knowledge in his day. Such considerations are part of what gives the Qur’anic Revelation its unique place, and forces the impartial scientist to admit his inability to provide an explanation which calls solely upon materialistic reasoning.”
Maurice Bucaille, THE QUR’AN AND MODERN SCIENCE, 1981, p. 18.

“The United States is a nation dedicated to religious tolerance and freedom, and President Bush has acted to ensure that the world’s Muslims know that America appreciates and celebrates the traditions of Islam. “Here in the United States our Muslim citizens are making many contributions in business, science and law, medicine and education, and in other fields. Muslim members of our Armed Forces and of my administration are serving their fellow Americans with distinction, upholding our nation’s ideals of liberty and justice in a world at peace.”


Remarks by the President george Bush on Eid Al-Fitr
The Islamic Center of Washington, D.C.
December 5, 2002

“No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.”

Sir Winston Churchill