Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was undoubtedly the most inspirational person to live on earth. His life is an example to all humanity. There is a multitude of books written in every language about the Holy Prophet (PBUH) by Muslims. The Complete personality of Muhammad (PBUH) and undying love for Him in the hearts of Muslims has also inspired the Non-Muslims to study about Islam and Muhammad (PBUH). Many renowned authors and leaders have written about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in great detail. Few excerpts from some of the books by Non-Muslim authors are shared over here:
Michael Hart in “The 100, A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in the History”, New York, 1978, p. 33, says:
“My choice of Muhammad (PBUH) to lead the list of world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in the history who was supremely successful on both the secular and religious level. It is probable that the relative influence of Islam has been larger than the combined influence of Jesus Christ and St. Paul on Christianity. It is this unparalleled combination of the secular and religious influence which I feel entitles Muhammad (PBUH) to be considered to be the most influential single figure in human history.”
George Bernard Shaw in “The Genuine Islam” Vol.No.8, 1936 says:
“I believe 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 much needed peace and happiness. I have studied him – the man and in my opinion is far from being an anti–Christ. He must be called the Savior of Humanity. I have prophesied about the faith of Mohammad that it would be acceptable the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today.”
Annie Besant in “The Life and Teachings of Muhammad”, Madras 1932, p. 4, says:
“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.”
Rev. Bosworth Smith in “Mohammed and Mohammadanism”, London 1874, p. 92, says:
“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.”
Edward Gibbon and Simon Ocklay in “History of the Saracen Empire”, London, 1870, p. 54, says:
“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…The Mahometans have uniformly withstood the temptation of reducing the object of their faith and devotion to a level with the senses and imagination of man. ‘I believe in One God and Mahomet the 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 honors of the prophet have never transgressed the measure of human virtue, and his living precepts have restrained the gratitude of his disciples within the bounds of reason and religion.”
There are many other books by Non-Muslim authors which can be quoted here. All these examples show the respect Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has in the eyes of Non-Muslims.
