Syed Ameer Ali

“ Of all the great systems that aim at the elevation of mankind by an appeal to their religious consciousness, the latest-born is the religion preached by the Prophet of Arabia. The fundamental principles of right and wrong are common to all moral creeds; it is in their vitalising force, the life they infuse into humanity and the direction they give to human energies, that we must seek for elements of differentiation. ”

“ The Fall of Granada—Destruction of Moslem Civilisation, 1498 A.C.—And when, after a heroic struggle, the city of the Banu-Nasr, the home of culture, chivalry, and arts, capitulated to its Christian assailants, the glory of Moorish Spain died with the martyrs who were burnt at the stake or slaughtered like sheep regardless of age or sex, or suffocated in the caverns to which they betook themselves for refuge. ”

“ Eruption of the Tartars.—Hardly had the Moslems recovered from the destruction and havoc wrought by the Crusades, when the eruption of the Mongolian savages from the steppes of Tartary, falling like an avalanche, swept away all vestiges of culture and civilisation, and converted Middle and Western Asia into a charnel-house. And although centuries have passed since the sack of Bagdad and other famed centres of Moslem learning and arts, Islâm has not regained yet its true life and progressive vitality. ”

“ The Gospel of Islâm is the Koran—the Book—in which are embodied the teachings and precepts of the Arabian Prophet.
From this first principle, the belief in God, spring all the duties human beings owe to Him and to each other. The recognition by man of God’s divine grace and mercy, and the constant remembrance of His benefactions is the very essence of the Islâmic Faith. ”

“ People do not easily put aside prejudices born of centuries of political and religious antagonism. It may, therefore, be of some interest to know the estimate of the Arabian Teacher formed by his immediate followers and disciples, many of whom were unquestionably men of great intelligence and moral vigour, who readily sacrificed for his Teachings, at a time when he was only a humble and persecuted preacher, wealth, position, and influence, and who, by their character and environment, were not likely to be influenced by light or common worldly motives. ”

“ Knowledge enables its possessor to distinguish what is forbidden from what is not; it lights the way to Heaven; it is our friend in the desert, our society in solitude, our companion when bereft of friends; it guides us to happiness; it sustains us in misery ”

“ Forget not this verse of the Koran, “Mohammed is only a man charged with a Mission; before him there have been men who received the heavenly mission and died”; nor this verse, “Thou too, Mohammed, shall die as others have died before thee.”’
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A great fabric had been built up, under divine guidance, by a master-mind; its foundations were laid in the conscience of mankind. But Islâm was yet in its infancy, at the mercy of hostile forces bent on its destruction. ”

“ Henceforth his life is a record of unceasing struggle to reclaim the Koreish and the surrounding people from idolatry and the practices of heathenism, to teach them their duty to God and man. The first to accept his mission were his beloved wife, his cousin Ali, the son of Abû Tâlib, his uncle, the brave and chivalrous Hamza, the faithful Abû Bakr, and several other men and women who knew him intimately and loved and revered him. Most of them were people of position, wealth, and intelligence; others were simple, honest folk in the lower walks of life. ”

“ Some believe that God can be seen by corporeal sight, others entirely deny it. But all believe that when the human souls are gathered up in the Great Account, the Divine Presence will enfold the Universe. ”

“ He who, standing alone, braved for years the hatred of his people, is the same who was never the first to withdraw his hand from another’s clasp; the beloved of children, who never passed a group of little ones without a smile from his wonderful eyes and a kind word for them, sounding all the kinder in that sweet-toned voice. ”

“ Every Place Sacred to God.—As God’s mercy and power pervade the universe, and every spot is consecrated to His holy name, the orisons may be offered at any place where the worshipper happens to be at the appointed hour. A remembrance even, a humble prayer whispered in the recesses of the heart, is enough to bring down the grace of the Lord, to cleanse it from impurity and strengthen it for the battle of life. And when the Moslem stands before his God, his first prayer is for divine guidance. ”

“ As among the Kulin Brahmins, the Pagan Arabs put no limit on the number of wives a man might have. In certain stages of development polygamy is not an evil. The Arabian Prophet, with a true conception of the social and moral conditions and necessities of the age and the people, dealt with the question in a manner which harmonises with the most advanced standard, and at the same time meets the needs and requirements of the least progressed. ”

“ It is to be hoped that this little book, by helping to give an insight into Islâm as it is understood by its professors, may become the means of removing some of the misapprehensions regarding its true aims and ideals, which are undoubtedly the cause of much of the antipathy prevalent in the West, and of the frequent incentives to a modern crusade.
A little more knowledge on both sides, a little more sympathy between two religions which have a common aspiration—the elevation of mankind—will largely conduce to the promotion of peace and good-will on earth. ”

“ Ostentation and vain display of wealth are as [23] reprehensible as niggardliness. ‘Woe to them that make a show of piety and refuse help to the needy.’ ‘He who spendeth his substance to be seen of men is like a rock with thin soil over it, whereon the rain falleth and leaveth it hard. But they who expend their substance to please God and establish their souls are like a garden on a hill, on which the rain falleth and it yieldeth its fruits twofold ”

“ Under its influence a congeries of warring tribes consolidated into a nation carried aloft for centuries the torch of knowledge. With the fall of their empire, they ceased to be the preceptors of mankind. The younger nations who succeeded to their heritage continued some of their glory in arms, but less in arts and literature. ”

“ When thou makest a covenant, stand to it, and be as good as thy word. Ye may eat of the meat which the men of the land shall bring unto you in their vessels, making mention thereon of the name of the Lord. ”

“ Stir me up to be grateful for Thy favours wherewith Thou hast favoured me and my parents, and to do good works which shall please Thee; and prosper me in my offspring: for to Thee am I turned and am resigned to Thy will.”’ ‘Reverence your mothers, be good to parents.’
Charity.—Those who are kind and compassionate to their fellow beings are the favoured of God. Every act of kindness is charity. ‘Every soul shall bear the good and the evil for which it has laboured ”

“ The belief that divine help is always nigh to relieve the distressed, to help the suffering, to assist the forsaken, arrests the hand of the most despondent or desperate, the most sick and weary with life, from taking his or her own life. ”

“ God is the Mighty, the Strong, the Most High, the Producer, the Maker, the Fashioner, the Wise, the Just, the True, the Swift in reckoning, who [6] knoweth every ant’s weight of good and of ill that each man hath done, and who suffereth not the reward of the faithful to perish.’ But the All-mighty, the All-wise, is also ‘the King, the Holy, the Peaceful, the Faithful, the Guardian over His servants, the Shelterer of the orphan, the Guide of the erring, the Deliverer from every affliction, the Friend of the bereaved, the Consoler of the afflicted ”

“ It is difficult, if not impossible, for any one not endowed with a spirit of sympathy, or the faculty of transporting the mind to the social conditions and moral needs of other times, to do justice to the Teacher of another Faith, especially if that Faith is imagined to be in rivalry with his own. ”

“ A Mussulman is allowed to marry one, two, three, or four wives, provided he can deal with all of them ‘with equity.’ If that be not possible he can marry but one.
Many of the best minds of Islâm have perceived in this rule a virtual prohibition of polygamy. The moral effect of the institution on Mussulman society as a whole can hardly be ignored: it has prevented the growth in Mussulman countries, untainted by foreign social ideas, of that class whose existence is alike an outrage on our humanity and a disgrace to civilisation. ”

“ The Crusades.—The Crusades, which devastated Western Asia for two centuries, and inflicted untold miseries on the unfortunate people exposed to the merciless raids of the hordes of Europe who professed ‘the religion of peace,’ involved the Moslem nations in a life-and-death struggle, during which intellectual development came to a standstill. ”