| NEWSFLASH |
Egypt was won to Islam in the time of the Khalifa Umar. Even though Egypt had been predominantly Christian already for a few centuries, a number of pagan customs were still in practice. One of the most abominable of these customs was the belief, preserved from Paranoiac times, that the Nile demanded a bride every year, and that, were it deprived of a bride it would refuse to flood, thereby causing a drought. So, every year the Egyptians used to choose the most beautiful virgin in the land, dress her up in a bridal gown and throw her into the river to drown. At the time of the Islamization of Egypt, the people still believed and practiced this custom. When the companions of the Prophet heard about this custom they informed the governor that the people were busy choosing and preparing that year’s victim. The governor wrote to the Khalipha Umar in order to receive instructions as to how this should be dealt with: whether to let the people go through with their sacrifice or not. Umar wrote a letter to the Nile via the governor, asking him to throw it into the river. It read: “Oh Nile, if you are running by your own order we are not in need of you, but if you are running by the order of Allah pass on”. The governor delivered the letter to the Nile, and when the Nile flooded as Usual, despite the lack of a bride, the people understood that the Nile was but a means for the Lord to bless them, and had no will of its own. It was a miracle of Islam to end that bad custom which had cost so many thousands of girls their lives. In Arabia itself, at the time of the Prophet, people used to bury their own infant daughters alive, for no reason other than that they were female. It could be said of them that they were the lowest of mankind; and it is enough proof of the truth of Islam that it transformed a society based on such wickedness, injustice and ignorance into a great civilization guided by the highest spiritual principles within a quarter of a century. An objective study of history will show that Islam, as brought to the world by the Holy Prophet, gave civilization a tremendous push forward. The penetration of Islam from the Arabian Peninsula to the Old World resulted in the establishment of magnificent civilizations based in Damascus, then Baghdad, Spain, Anatolia, Central Asia, Egypt and India. If you look even at the ruins left behind by these civilizations, you will be open-mouthed in amazement at the magnificence and harmony of the architecture, and an intimate study of all the aspects of Islamic culture and history, especially Sufism, will breed, must breed admiration. Whether brought about through victory in military conflicts, through the work of Sufi preachers, or the good example set by Muslim merchants and travelers, the spread of Islam cannot be said to have been an “invasion” in the way that we might refer to the German invasion of France or the French invasion of Germany. No, invasions leave only destruction in their wake: burnt fields, pillaged houses, dead bodies. Islam did not spread as a scourge, but brought with it a magnificent civilization wherever it spread. Can anyone claim that those countries would have developed more quickly without Islam at that juncture in history? Hellenistic thought had reached a dead-end Christian doctrines were in a state of conflict and turmoil, and both had become barren. The advent of Islam brought new life to mankind and a vigorous new direction. Before the advent of Islam the whole world was in darkness. He brought the Holy Quran from his Lord Almighty Allah. This Holy Book, Quran i Kareem, is the Mother of all Books (Ummul Kitab). From this book came the Glorious and Majestic Civilization of Islam. When the civilization of Islam was at its height, Europe was in darkness and in ignorance. Islam came with the Lights of Knowledge – Real Knowledge. From that Holy Quran, millions of books have been written. In our days too more and more books are being written. People are reaching to endless knowledge from that book. Is it not sufficient for Mankind to look at the Holy Quran and see what it brought to Mankind? It is blame for Mankind for being so blind and not being able to see what the Holy Quran brought to Mankind, and what kind of Civilization it brought to Mankind? Upto today, no other Civilization has equaled it. So many misconceptions about Islam have flourished in our time. There are two basic reasons for this. One is that the Muslims of our time are such bad examples of their religion – they are as remote from the truth of Islam as the earth is from the distant stars. The second is that Western people don’t bother to take a look at the origins and development of the religion that is so much in the news these days. No one tries to refer to authentic historical sources but blindly accepts the opinions that sensationalist egotistical people in the news media present to them, opinions based on shallow based observations of current events charged with hysterical emotion. This situation is much to the detriment of educated Western people who maintain great pretences of objectivity. The following story should illustrate clearly the likeness of people who rely on television journalism to form their opinions about Islam, rather than seeking accurate historical information. Once upon a time an erudite scholar was traveling through the countryside. He reached a village and went to the mosque to pray. As the prayer began he realized that the village Imam was an ignoramus, making mistakes in the recitation as well as in the movements of the prayer. The scholar addressed the villagers: “Oh people, you must replace that person with a qualified Imam, for this one doesn’t know what he is doing”. The villagers were surprised and asked their Imam: “That person tells us that you are ignorant. What do you say?” The Imam said, “He may say what he pleases, but you may put us to the test and see which one is more learned.” Then the villagers gathered like a peasant jury, to let each press their claims and to pass a verdict. If they saw the letter “I” they would have taken it to be a wooden beam. Then the Imam said to the scholar: “Write the word ‘ox’.” So the scholar put on his glasses and wrote the word ‘ox’ in very beautiful calligraphy. Meanwhile, the Imam sat down and drew a picture of an ox. Then he asked the peasants: “Tell me, which one is a better ox?” “Yours is” they said, and ran the scholar out of town, saying, “You are an imposter! Our Imam is alright and we accept his authority.” |
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