Why Did They Become Muslims

interest in learning. He married Hadîja, the young widow of a
deceased wealthy merchant, who had hired him for the
management of the business she had inherited from her husband.
In 610 he came up with the conviction that he was a prophet
receiving messages from Allah, and embarked on an assiduous
activity to communicate to the idolatrous Arabs the CONCEPT of
ONE ALLAH. Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ believed with all his
heart that Allâhu ta’âlâ had given him this duty. Although the
majority of Meccans were against him, rejected his ideas
vehemently, and even tried to kill him, he would not give up his
struggle, and went on with his activity. Eventually, when the
oppressions of his adversaries were too heavy for him to bear, he
left the city of Mecca, and migrated to Yathrib [Medina]. Muslims
call his migration Hijrat (Hegira) and accept the date as the
beginning of their calendar. Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ found
many supporters in Medina. What he wanted to do was to correct
the Arabs’ religion, idolatry, and to prove to them the unity of
Allah. According to Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’, the religious
essentials communicated by the Prophets Ibrâhîm (Abraham),
Mûsâ (Moses), and Îsâ (Jesus) ‘alaihim-us-salâm’ were the same,
and the religions taught by these Prophets were true. Later,
however, the last two religions were interpolated and turned into
Judaism and Christianity with the wrong tenets and heresies
inserted into them in the course of time. Muhammad ‘alaihissalâm’
was telling everybody that all those former religions were
the continuations of one another and that Islam was the most
consummate and the purest form of all those religions.
“Islam means ‘to submit oneself entirely (to Allah’s Will).’
The Qur’ân al-kerîm is the Holy Book of the Islamic religion.
Whereas in the holy books belonging to the other religions
mention is made only to spiritual matters, the Quar’ân al-kerîm
also contains social, economical and jurisprudential teachings.
These teachings include a number of principles that people should
observe in worldly life, and even several principles of civil code. In
addition, it contains commandments as to how to perform acts of
worship, how to fast, and how to wash, as well as admonitions that
other people and votaries of other religions should be treated
kindly. The Qur’ân al-kerîm commands to struggle against those
non-Muslim governments that perpetrate cruelty. Its basic
essential is to worship one Allah. It prohibits religious images and
icons. It forbids wine and pork. It accepts Mûsâ (Moses) and Îsâ
(Jesus) ‘alaihimassalâm’ as Prophets. Yet it holds these two
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