Islam in History

About the Book

This is meant for general readers, particularly Muslims, who are interested in religion and want to know about Islam, its history and doctrines.

The author has attempted to give an objective view about religion and has gone into remote past in order to show Islam as a revolutionary movement against the background of world history, its contribution to the evolution of human race and the debt the modern Science and civilization owe to it.

The book also takes detailed notice of the current anti-religious forces and of the extent to which rapidly changing economic conditions are affecting religious views, life and practices.

Preface

I make no claim to any thorough research or originality for these essays on “Islam in History.” On the life of the Holy Prophet and the doctrines and history of Islam so much has been written in the East and the West that any attempt on my part to make any further contribution on the subject would appear to be infructuous, perhaps presumptuous.

I have, however, attempted in this short publication to take an objective view of religion in general and Islam in particular, with a view to presenting the existing and further position of both. I found it necessary to go into the remote past in order to show Islam as a revolutionary movement against the background of world history, its contribution to the evolution of human race, and the debt that modern science and civilization owe to it. I have also taken detailed notice of the current anti-religious forces and of the extent to which rapidly changing economic conditions are affecting religious views, life and practices.

One difficulty of a writer in English on Islam is the spelling of Arabic names, places and terms. Some conventional words for these have come into vogue in English but they are not uniformly spelt, some writers using “o” where “u” should be used, and “e” where “a” is the more correct letter. I have not been able to avoid this difficulty and therefore some inconsistencies in spelling will be found in the book. For this I can do no more than offer my apology to the reader.

The book is not meant exclusively for Muslims; the general reader who is interested in religion will find in it some useful informations about Islam, its doctrines and history.

Contents