Sword of Islam

The
first few who embraced the

"new" religion in Makkah in the
Arabian Peninsula at the hands of the Prophet,

were his
wife Khadijah, his servant Zaid and his eleven-year-old cousin Ali.
Among the

ones who later joined this faith were the honest
merchant, Abu Bakr; the iron man of

Arabia, Umar the Great;
the shy businessman, Uthman; the Prophet's brave uncle Hamza and a

slave of a pagan, Bilal. They simply couldn't resist the MAGIC
SWORD of a humble and

lonely Prophet! The negligible
minority of the believers in this new Faith was soon exiled


from Makkah and they arrived in the city called Yathrab which later
became known as

MADINAH.

The Muslim emigrants
to Madinah brought their SWORD with them. The SWORD continued to

"pull" people towards it until the whole of Arabia joined the
Faith. Compared to

the population of the rest of the world
at that time, the Arabs constituted a tiny

minority. A
fraction of this minority decided to take the SWORD beyond the
boundaries of

the Arabian desert to the mighty empires of
Rome and Persia, the shores of the

Mediterranean, the coast
of Malabar and the far away East Indies Islands.

People
after people continued surrendering to this SWORD and joining the Faith.
So

sharp was the edge of the SWORD! It simply conquered
the hearts; bodies yielded

automatically. It is the SWORD
OF TRUTH, whose mere shine eliminates falsehood just like


light wipes away darkness. HAS THE SWORD GONE BLUNT? NO, FAR FROM IT. It
continues to

pierce the hearts of countless men and women
even today - in spite of the relentless

efforts by persons
with vested interests who like darkness to prevail, so that they may

rob people of their good things.

Read below the
impressions of some who were recently conquered by the same SWORD. They

are from different countries, speak different languages and have
different backgrounds.

Their present addresses are also
given. Perhaps you may like to ask them how it feels to

be
struck by the SWORD OF TRUTH.

1. LEOPOLD WEISS (now
Mohammad Asad): Austrian statesman, journalist, former foreign


correspondent for the Frankfuerter Zeitung; author of ISLAM AT THE
CROSSROADS and ROAD TO

MECCA and translator of the Qur'an.
He embraced Islam in 1926. (1) "Islam appears to

me like a
perfect work of Architecture. All its parts are harmoniously conceived
to

complement and support each other. Nothing is
superfluous and nothing lacking, with the

result of an
absolute balance and solid composure."

2. AHMED HOLT:
British Civil Contractor, traveler in search of the Divine truth, spent

much of his time in research and comparative study of Judaism,
Christianity and Islam. He

embraced Islam in 1975. (2) "The
SWORD OF ISLAM is not the sword of steel. I know

this by
experience, because the sword of Islam struck deep into my own heart. It
didn't

bring death, but it brought a new life; it brought
an awareness and it brought an

awakening as to who am I and
what am I and for what am I here?"

3. BOGDAN DOPANSKI
(now Bogdan Ataullah Kopanski): Originally Polish, now American;

Ph.D. in history and politics, had a very interesting journey to
Islam and faced severe

hardships; was imprisoned twice by
the Polish communist regime (1968, 1981-82). He

embraced
Islam in 1974. (3) "When I was 12 years old I rejected illogical and

contradictory faith of the Church. Two years later in 1962 - I was
fascinated by

victorious struggle of the Algerian Muslim
mujahideen against French colonialism. It was

the first
ARROW of Islam.... The high school and earliest days of my education in
the

University, I was a typical example of 'rebel
generation' of Reds.... My way to the truth

of Al-Qur'an
was slow and unpaved.... In 1974 I visited Turkey, I wrote my M.A.

dissertation about Sultan and Caliph Suleiman Kanuni's policy
towards the Polish Kingdom.

There, I was hit by the most
beautiful voice of mankind, the ADHAN, the call to prayer. My


hair stood up. An unknown powerful force led me to old masjid in
Istanbul. There, old

smiling Turkish, bearded men taught me
WUZU, ablution. I confessed to tears SHAHADAH and I

prayed
my first SALAH Maghrib.... I swept out the rubbish ideologies.... The
first time in

my life, my mind was relaxed and I felt
pleasure of Allah's love in my heart. I was a

Muslim...."

4. VENGATACHALAM ADIYAR (now Abdullah Adiyar): Indian, noted Tamil
writer and

journalist; worked as a news editor in Dr. M.
Karunanidhi's daily MURASOLI for 17 years;

assisted 3
former Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu. Received Kalaimamani Award (Big
Gem of

Arts) from Tamil Nadu Government in 1982. He
embraced Islam in 1987. (4) "In Islam I

found suitable
replies to nagging queries arising in my mind with regard to the theory
of

creation, status of woman, creation of the universe,
etc. The life history of the Holy

Prophet attracted me very
much and made it easy for me to compare with other world leaders

and their philosophies."

5. HERBERT HOBOHM (now Aman
Hobohm): German diplomat, missionary and social worker. An


intellectual who has been serving the German diplomatic missions in
various parts of the

world. Presently working as Cultural
Attache in German Embassy in Riyadh. He embraced

Islam in
1941. (5) "I have lived under different systems of life and have had the

opportunity of studying various ideologies, but have come to the
conclusion that none is

perfect as Islam. None of the
systems has got a complete code of a noble life. Only Islam


has it; and that is why good men embrace it. Islam is not theoretical;
it is practical. It

means complete submission to the will
of God."

6. CAT STEVENS (now Yousuf Islam): British;
formerly a Christian and a world famous pop

singer. He
embraced Islam in 1973. (6) "It will be wrong to judge Islam in the
light

of the behavior of some bad Muslims who are always
shown on the media. It is like judging

a car as a bad one
if the driver of the car is drunk and he bangs it into the wall. Islam

guides all human beings in the daily life - in its spiritual,
mental and physical

dimensions. But we must find the
sources of these instructions, the Qur'an and the example


of the Prophet. Then we can see the ideal of Islam."

7.
MS. MARGARET MARCUS (now Maryam Jamilah): American, formerly a Jewess,
essayist and

an author of many books. She embraced Islam in
1962. (7) "The authority of Islamic

Morals and Laws
proceeds from Almighty God. Pleasure and happiness in Islam are but the

natural byproducts of emotional satisfaction in one's duties
conscientiously performed for

the pleasure of God to
achieve salvation. In Islam duties are always stressed above


rights. Only in Islam was my quest for absolute values satisfied. Only
in Islam did I at

last find all that was true, good,
beautiful and which gives meaning and direction to

human
life and death."

8. WILFRIED HOFMAN (now Murad Hofman):
Ph.D. in law (Harvard); German social scientist

and
diplomat; presently German Ambassador in Algeria. He embraced Islam in
1980. (

"For some time now, striving for more and
more precision and brevity, I have tried to

put on paper,
in a systematic way, all philosophical truths, which in my view, can be

ascertained beyond reasonable doubt. In the course of this effort
it dawned on me that the

typical attitude of an agnostic is
not an intelligent one; that man simply cannot escape a


decision to believe; that the createdness of what exists around us is
obvious; that Islam

undoubtedly finds itself in the
greatest harmony with overall reality. Thus I realize, not


without shock, that step by step, in spite of myself and almost
unconsciously, in feeling

and thinking I have grown into a
Muslim. Only one last step remained to be taken: to


formalize my conversion. As of today I am a Muslim. I have arrived."

9. CASSIUS CLAY (now Muhammad Ali): American; three times World
Heavyweight Champion,

formerly a Christian. He embraced
Islam in 1965. (9) "I have had many nice moments in

my
life. But the feelings I had while standing on Mount Arafat on the day
of HAJJ

(Muslims' pilgrimage), was the most unique. I felt
exalted by the indescribable spiritual

atmosphere there as
over a million and a half pilgrims invoked God to forgive them of

their sins and bestow on them His choicest blessings. It was an
exhilarating experience to

see people belonging to
different colors, races and nationalities, kings, heads of states

and ordinary men from very poor countries all clad in two simple
white sheets praying to

God without any sense of either
pride or inferiority. It was a practical manifestation of


the concept of equality in Islam." (Speaking to the daily "Al-Madinah,"

Jeddah, 15 July, 1989.)

These were the impressions
of a few persons who had themselves been struck by the SWORD


OF TRUTH, that is, the Message of Islam. AS FOR THE PROPAGANDA THAT IT
WAS THE SWORD OF

STEEL, THAT IS, FORCE, WHICH WAS
INSTRUMENTAL IN THE UNIVERSAL EXPANSION OF ISLAM, WE GIVE


BELOW QUOTATIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF SOME OF THE PROMINENT NON-MUSLIM
SCHOLARS AND

LEADERS REFUTING THIS BASELESS ACCUSATION.

1. M.K. GANDHI: "....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 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 trouble." YOUNG INDIA, 1924.
(10)



2. EDWARD GIBBON: "The greatest success
of Mohammad's life was effected by sheer

moral force
without the stroke of a sword." HISTORY OF THE SARACEN EMPIRE, London,

1870.

3. A.S. TRITTON: "The picture of the Muslim
soldier advancing with a sword in one

hand and the Qur'an
in the other is quite false." ISLAM, London, 1951, page 21. (12)

4. DE LACY O'LEARY: "History makes it clear, however, that the
legend of fanatical

Muslims, sweeping through the world and
forcing Islam at the point of sword upon conquered

races
is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever

repeated." ISLAM AT CROSSROADS, London, 1923, page 8.


5. K.S. RAMAKRISHNA RAO: "My problem to write this monograph is easier
because we

are not generally fed now on that (distorted)
kind of history and much time need not be

spent on pointing
out our misrepresentations of Islam. The theory of Islam and sword, for

instance, is not heard now in any quarter worth the name. The
principle of Islam, there is

no compulsion in religion, is
well known." MOHAMMED THE PROPHET OF ISLAM, Riyadh,

1989,
page 4.

6. JAMES A MICHENER: "No other religion in history
spread so rapidly as Islam...

The West has widely believed
that this surge of religion was made possible by the sword.


But no modern scholar accepts that idea, and the Qur'an is explicit in
support of the

freedom conscience." ISLAM - THE
MISUNDERSTOOD RELIGION, READERS' DIGEST (American

Edition)
May 1955.

7. LAWRENCE E. BROWNE: "Incidentally these
well-established facts dispose of the

idea so widely
fostered in Christian writings that the Muslims, wherever they went,
forced

people to accept Islam at the point of the sword."
THE PROSPECTS OF ISLAM, London

1944. IF YOU TOO POSSESS A
SOFT, TENDER HEART AND AN OPEN MIND, DO WRITE TO US FOR SOME


BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE WAY OF LIFE CALLED "ISLAM." DO NOT BELIEVE
IN

HEARSAY AND LEARN FROM THE DIRECT SOURCES. WE ARE READY
TO HELP.



ADDRESSES:



1. Muhammad Asad, (deceased recently)

2. Ahmad Holt,
23 Welland Garden Perivale, Middlesex UB6 8SZ, U.K.

3.
Bogdan Ataullah Kopanski, 3013 Harrel Drive, Grand Prairie, TX 75051.

4. Abdullah Adiyar, 1 Ashok Avenue, Rangarajapuram, Kodambakkam,
Madras, India.

5. Aman Hobohm, Cultural Attache, P.O. Box
8974, Riyadh 11492, Saudi Arabia.

6. Yousuf Islam,
Chairman, Muslim Aid, 3 Furlong Road, London, N7, U.K.

7.
Maryam Jamilah, c/o Mohammad Yusuf Khan, Sant Nagar, Lahore, Pakistan.

8. Murad Hofman, Ambassador, Embassy of Federal Republic of
Germany, BP 664, Alger-gare,

Algeria. 9. Muhammad Ali, c/o
Masjid Al-Faatir, 1200 East 49th Street, Chicago, IL 60615.


NOTE: 10. Twentieth century champion of non-violence who lead the
Indian movement of

freedom from British colonization.



RECOMMENDED INTRODUCTORY PUBLICATIONS:




1. III&E Brochure Series may be obtained from the address
given below.



2. WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW
ABOUT ISLAM AND MUSLIMS by Suzanne Haneef, Kazi Publications,


Chicago, IL.

3. ISLAM IN FOCUS by H. Abdulati, American
Trust Publications, Indianapolis, IN.

4. THE BIBLE, THE
QUR'AN AND SCIENCE by Maurice Bucaille, American Trust Publications,

Indianapolis, IN.

5. QUR'AN, AN INTRODUCTION by A.R.
Doi, Kazi Publications, Chicago, IL.

6. HADITH, AN
INTRODUCTION by A.R. Doi, Kazi Publications, Chicago, IL.


7. MUHAMMAD, HIS LIFE BASED ON THE EARLIEST SOURCES by Martin Lings,
Inner Traditions

International, Rochester, VT.


8. LIFE OF MUHAMMAD by A.H. Siddiqi, Kazi Publications, Chicago, IL.

9. HISTORY OF ISLAM by Masud-ul-Hasan, Islamic Publications,
Lahore, Pakistan.

10. THE CULTURAL ATLAS OF ISLAM by I.R.
al-Faruqi and Lois L. al-Faruqi, Macmillan

Publishing
Company, New York, NY.