2006 - The Muslim Sunrise

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○JesusGod or beloved of God?The late Maulana J. D. Shams“Many attempts haveA lecture delivered by (late) J. D. Shams, Imam of the London Mosque in 1940as part of a series of lectures on “why the early christians accepted islam”.Amost extraordinary and unparalleled change occurred in the 7 th century of the Christianera. Arabia was an arid and isolated peninsula unaffected by events in the rest ofthe world. Its population consisted of barbarous tribes mostly nomads, who lovedthe freedom of the deserts, the starlit sky above, the sandy floor below; despised by others,and dead morally and spiritually. But as Thomas Carlisle says:“To the Arab nation Islam was a birth from darkness into the light.”“Arabia first became alive by means of it. A poor shepherd people roaming unnoticed inits deserts since the creation of the world; a Prophet was sent down to them with a wordthey could believe; see the unnoticed becomes world notable, the small has grown worldgreat; within one century afterwards, Arabia is at Granada on this end, at Delhi on that.”(Heroes & Hero-Worship)Two EmpiresPersian and Rome, the two greatest Empires of the time whom Arabia had to face werebitterly opposed to Islam and tried their utmost to destroy this new religion in its infancybut failed. Persians were mainly Zoroastrians, believers in a God of good and a God of evil,Ormuzd and Ahriman, and worshipped fire. The Roman Empire was Christian believing inthe Godhead of Jesus Christ and the Trinity. In Egypt Christianity was a flourishing religion.The great Church of Clement, of Origin and of Athanasius, showed the success, whichChristianity had achieved in Egypt. But wherever Christianity and Islam met, victory cameto Islam, the inhabitants of the countries in which the struggle took place, became Muslim.This happened in Syria, Palestine, Egypt and parts of Africa. Professor Bosworth Smithwrites in his book “Mohammad and Mohammadenism”: “A great part of the Berbers of thedesert were once Christian and they afterwards changed their religion and became Muslim”.Profound IgnoranceIn these days everybody can see in modern Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone howChristianity is retreating and followers of Christianity are turning towards Islam. ProfessorB. Smith writes:“The most recent historian of India remarks that the people of India are drifting slowly butsurely toward the religion of the Prophet of Arabia rather than towards Christianity which isbeen made to call theattention of theEnglish people to studyIslam but they have notyet made any sincereeffort to understandthis great religion,which has beenadopted by millions oftheir co-religionists inthe past.”12 MuslimSunrise