Opinions about Prophet Muhammad ﷺ from Non-Muslim Philosophers

 

✬ Praise be to Allaah ✬

 

  Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

"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 Person in the History, New York: Hart Publishing Company, Inc., 1978, p. 33).[1]

"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)

"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).[1]

"He (Muhammad) 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."

(George Bernard Shaw, a famous writer , The Genuine Islam, Singapore, Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936).[1]

"The personality of Muhammad, it is most difficult to get into the whole truth of it. Only a glimpse of it I can catch. What a dramatic succession of picturesque scenes. There is Muhammad the Prophet. There is Muhammad the Warrior; Muhammad the Businessman; Muhammad the Statesman; Muhammad the Orator; Muhammad the Reformer; Muhammad the Refuge of Orphans; Muhammad the Protector of Slaves; Muhammad the Emancipator of Women; Muhammad the Judge; Muhammad the Saint. All in all these magnificent roles, in all these departments of human activities, he is alike a hero."[1]

(K. S. Ramakrishna Rao, an Indian (Hindu) professor of Philosophy, in his booklet "Muhammad the Prophet of Islam" calls him the "perfect model for human life.)

"I wanted to know the best of one who holds today 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 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 2nd volume (of the Prophet's biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of the great life."[1]

(Mahatma Gandhi, speaking on the character of Muhammad, peace be upon him, says in 'YOUNG INDIA')

"How one man single handedly, could weld warring tribes and wandering Bedouins into a most powerful and civilized nation in less than two decades."[1]

(English author Thomas Carlyle in his 'Heroes and Hero Worship’)

“You have an illiterate person (Prophet Muhammad) making profound statements that are amazingly accurate, of a scientific nature...I personally can't see how this could be mere chance, there are too many accuracies and like Dr. Moore, I have no difficulty in my mind reconciling that this is a divine inspiration or revelation which lead him to these statements.”

(Dr. T.V.N. Persaud, professor of Anatomy)

"Muhammad was the soul of kindness, and his influence was felt and never forgotten by those around him"
“Muhammad, peace be upon him, was nothing more or less than a human being, but he was a man with a noble mission, which was to unite humanity on the worship of ONE and ONLY ONE GOD and to teach them the way to honest and upright living based on the commands of God. He always described himself as, 'A Servant and Messenger of God' and so indeed every action of his proclaimed to be.”[1]

(Diwan Chand Sharma wrote in "The Prophets of the East", Calcutta, 1935, pp. 12)

"It was the first religion that preached and practiced democracy; for, in the mosque, when the call for prayer is sounded and worshippers are gathered together, the democracy of Islam is embodied five times a day when the peasant and king kneel side by side and proclaim: 'God Alone is Great'... I have been struck over and over again by this indivisible unity of Islam that makes man instinctively a brother."

(Sarojini Naidu, Ideals of Islam, vide Speeches & Writings, Madras, 1918, p. 169)[1]

"The league of nations founded by the prophet of Islam put the principle of international unity and human brotherhood on such universal foundations as to show candle to other nations." He continues, "the fact is that no nation of the world can show a parallel to what Islam has done towards the realization of the idea of the League of Nations."[1]

(Dutch scholar Snouck Hurgronje)

"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 honour 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."

(Edward Gibbon and Simon Ockley, on the profession of ISLAM, write in "History of the Saracen Empires", London, 1870, p. 54)[1]

"He (Muhmmad) is a prophet and not a poet and therefore his Koran is to be seen as Divine Law and not as a book of a human being, made for education or entertainment."

(Wolfgang Goethe, perhaps the greatest European poet ever, Noten und Abhandlungen zum Weststlichen Dvan, WA I, 7, 32)[1]

"His readiness to undergo persecution for his beliefs, the high moral character of the men who believed in him and look up to him as a leader, and greatness of his ultimate achievement all argue his fundamental integrity. To suppose Muhammad was an impostor raises more problems than it solves"

(W Montgomery Watt an Emeritus Professor in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Mohammad At Mecca, Oxford, 1953, p 52).[2]

"He was a Ceaser and a Pope in one; but he was a Pope without Pope's pretensions, Ceaser without legions of Ceasers: 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 Muhammad, for he had all the power without its instrument an d without its supports"

(Reverend Bosworth Smith , Mohammad and Mohammadism, London 1874, p 92).[2]

"... And although in what I put to you I shall say many things which maybe familiar to many, yet I myself feel whenever I re-read them, a new of admiration, a new sense of reverence for that mighty Arabian teacher"

(Annie Besant, a woman's right activist. 'The Life and Teaching of Muhammad', Madras 1932 p 4).[2]

• Sources:[1] Copied from Dr. Dremali Ibrahim-Islamic Resources-Famous Quotes About Muhammad, on 19 March 2008.
  
  [2] Copied from 'What They Say About Muhammad?' by Dar Eshbelia on 19 March 2008.
  
  
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