Through Force or Faith? — Page 238
?— A Reply to Pope Benedict XVI 238 Manuel is concerned, according to the Pope’s statement, he was a learned man, and knew the Quran well. Had the Emperor in fact studied the Quran thoroughly, as asserted by the Pope, he would have known that more or less the same methods were used by the Quran to convince others as were envisioned by the Emperor himself. The Quran has stated it fourteen hundred years ago ُعْدُا ىٰلِا ِلْيِبَس َكِّبَر ِةَمْكِحْلاِب َو ِةَظِعْوَمْلا ِةَنَسَحْلا Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation ( S u rah an-Na h l, 16:126). This chapter shall explain that, according to the Quran and words of the Holy Prophet, the religion of Islam admonishes to prove one’s view point on the strength of logic. It puts extraor- dinary emphasis on the importance of acquisition of knowledge. Moreover, it shall be shown that the Quran is an unlimited treas- ure-trove of knowledge and wisdom that anyone can use as argu- ments while talking with an opponent. To find out correct information about any religion, it is essen- tial to go to its original revealed Book and to find out what are its seminal teachings and precepts. One should not look at the mores and manners and customs and practices of its followers to make the final determination. It is regrettable that the Pope had a cursory look at Islam and formed his opinion based on some practices of Muslim populace and did not value the need for an unbiased study of fundamental books and teachings of Islam. This kind of attitude would be like someone forming opinion about Jesus and his teachings by looking at centuries old warfare going on between Christian Catholics and Protestants in Northern