Islam and Christianity

We have already touched upon the awe and the alarm that the
Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’ felt with
this first revelation. He had never imagined that Allâhu ta’âlâ
would assign him the extremely great and heavy task of
announcing a new religion. Contrary to the recurrent Christian
allegations, the initial five âyats of the Muzammil Sûra, which
purport, “O thou, (Muhammad), folded in garments!” “Stand to
prayer by night, but not all night,” “Half of it, or a little less,” “Or
a little more; and recite the Qur’ân in slow, measured rhythmic
tones.” “Soon shall We send down to thee A WEIGHTY TASK
QUITE DIFFICULT TO CARRY,” (73-1, 2, 3, 4, 5) indicate that
he was not a self-appointed prophet and that he did not even know
that Allâhu ta’âlâ was going to give him a great task and he was
going to endure inconceivably heavy burdens.
How challenging the task was is apparent in the fact that as
soon as Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ began to
publicize Islam he was surrounded by a number of enemies.
Despite all his efforts, the number of Believers was no more than
fifty-six, forty-five men and eleven women, [according to the
account given in Medârij and Zerkânî], by the sixth year of Islam,
as of the day when ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ joined the Believers.
Nevertheless, having an utterly honest, pure, and perfect
personality, and recognizing the paramount importance of the
duty Allâhu ta’âlâ had given him, the Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi
wa sallam’ faced the dangers and endured the difficulties with
great intrepidity and determination, and accomplished the task
with success.
Let us repeat once again that the entire world respects the
Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and no one, with
the exception of a few bigoted priests, has ever criticized him. Let
us read together an article about Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi
wa sallam’ and Islam, which appeared in an encyclopaedia entitled
Kurschner, published in Stutgart, Germany, in 1305 [1888 C.E.].
We have chosen that encyclopaedia as the source of our citation
because books in that category have to abide by the truth as long
as it is possible. What concerns us in this connection is its
comments on the moral quality and the virtues of our Prophet
‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’. Since it reflects the opinions
which the Christian scientists of the previous century entertained
concerning the Islamic religion, we have paraphrased the
following passage in its entirety:
– 144 –