A Rejoinder to Pope's Allegations Against Islam — Page 52
Annie Besant Wrote: "It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and eharacter of the great Prophet of Arabia, who knows how he taught and how he lived, to feel anything but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great messengers of the Supreme. And although in what I put to you I shall say many things which may be familiar to many, yet I myself feel whenever I re-read them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of reverence for that mighty Arabian teacher. " (The Life and Teachings of Muhammad, By Annie Besant, Madras, 1932, P. 4) W. Montgomery Watt wrote: His readiness to undergo persecution for his beHefs, the high moral character of the men who believed in him and looked up to him as leader, and the greatness of his ultimate achievement, all argue his fundamental integrity. To suppose Muhammad an impostor raises more problems than it solves. Moreover, none of the great figures of history is so poorly appreciated in the West as Muhammad. (Mohammad At Mecca, By W. Montgomery Watt, Oxford, 1953, p. 52) Thomas Carlyle wrote: "Our current hypothesis about Muhammad, (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) that he was a scheming Impostor, a Falsehood incarnate, that his religion is a mere mass of quackery and fatuity, begins really to be now untenable to anyone. The lies, which well-meaning zeal has heaped round this man, are disgraceful to ourselves only. . . It is really time to dismiss all 52