acceptance of Islam, he said that before having accepted Islam, he had been engaged in activities against Islam, but he felt again and again that he was not at the right place, being the Prophet’s rival

that by the grace of God, I have written books on almost every Islamic subject, which, in a contemporary style effectively introduce Islam to the educated. Scholars both in the East and in the West have

my programme in Urdu and English and my speeches on television. The coming into existence of this Islamic literature in a contemporary style was indeed an extraordinary

This commandment has been misrepresented by certain self-styled advocates of Islamic revolution as being political in nature. But this is not so. It is entirely non-political. It only indicates that every

of worship in Islam. For instance, with reference to prayer, the Quran says: “Surely, prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil.” (29:45)B. Family LifeA sane society, from the Islamic point of view

essential, therefore, that the ritual of prayer be imbued with the proper spirit. The third pillar of Islam, alms-giving (zakat), that is, the payment of a fixed amount from one’s earnings to others who are

hearts full of fear….” (23:60) As we know, the pilgrimage to Makkah (hajj), the fourth pillar of Islam, is organized along particular lines, according to the rites and rituals of hajj. But believers are

throughout the rest of the year. Again, it is the spirit of the thing which counts. The fifth pillar of Islam, fasting (sawm) for the whole of the month of Ramadan, is not concerned merely with abstinence from

their appearance. Holding them sacred, he began to worship them. For the first time in human history, Islam succeeded in convincing people that these phenomena of nature were not creators, but only creatures

looked upon by ancient man with reverence, have now become objects of investigation. In other words, Islam started the process of scientific enquiry. The Quran repeatedly enjoins man to reflect on the objects

pondering over the nature of the phenomena of the universe has been accorded the status of worship in Islam. As a result of this thinking, for the first time in known history, all things in the universe have

Prophet said: ‘No house on the earth, small or big, will be left but God will make enter the message of Islam into it.’ This Prophetic tradition has a prediction for the later generations. This prediction does

be made aware of the message of God. In fact, it tells the completion of the universal target of Islamic dawah. This will occur before the Day of Resurrection so that the evidence could be established against

source of spreading the message of God, because different programmes are held daily on the topic of Islam in it. Today, every person, man or woman

Makkah in A.H. 8, had converted, impressed by the political dominance of Islam, rather than from having undergone any profound intellectual transformation or from having attained any such conviction as

earlier followers of the Prophet. They had been accustomed to a free and easy life, and some of the Islamic injunctions—especially zakat5 were more than they could tolerate. Some months before the death of

demagogues had arisen in Yemen and Najd who exploited this situation putting forward a new brand of Islam, according to which there was no need to pay zakat. To give their words more weight, these demagogues—notably

it did: the whole of the Hawazin tribe, won over by the Prophet’s unbounded generosity, accepted Islam. The effects of this event were also felt in Ta’if. The Hawazin and the Thaqif were two branches of

of one large tribe. The Thaqif felt much more threatened by the Hawazin’s conversion to Islam than they had been by the siege of their city. The severance of the Hawazin from their alliance was a mortal

(A.D. 630) a delegation from Ta’if arrived in Madinah. They expressed their willingness to accept Islam, but only under certain quite unusual conditions. They denied right of passage to the Muslims’ army

people of Madinah accepted Islam made it easier for the Muslims’ scattered resources to be brought together in one place, and used more effectively for the furtherance of the Islamic cause. When the Aws and

them, “for today Rabi’ah’s offspring have as good as overcome the Persians.”49 The Prophet saw how Islam had been strengthened by the Ansar taking the Muslims in. He realized that it would now only be a

daughter of Abu Sufyan, a prominent member of the Quraysh, and her husband Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh accepted Islam and emigrated to Abyssinia. There, however, the husband became a Christian. Not long after that he

mellowed, and he converted to Islam one day before the conquest of Makkah. The other aspect of this policy was that of “striking terror” into the hearts of the enemies of Islam. This consisted of mustering