identical, simple garments, and no pilgrim may then feel tempted to take pride of place over another. In Islam, man’s life must rotate around God. Circling the holy Ka’bah is but a symbolic representation of this

Similarly, running between Safa and Marwa, two hillocks of the region, gives physical expression to the Islamic precept that the true servant of God should come running at his bidding, that he should have an overwhelming

visual reminder of the day when according to Islam, all men will be assembled before God. On the score of wanting man to be intolerant of the devil, Islam is quite positive, and the casting of stones at

Muslims have adopted the culture of violence in the name of Islam. In this sense the West is right to consider Muslims to be dangerous. Yet Islam, in itself, is a great blessing from God for the whole of

religion, have misinterpreted Islam as a religion of violence. Muslimophobia addresses Muslims rather than anyone else. It is telling Muslims to abandon the wrong interpretation of Islam and shun the gun and bomb

developing misunderstandings about Islam. In this way, people will be able to have a positive understanding of God’s blessing which has been sent for them by God in the form of Islam. In view of the present situation

was now nothing to stop people from accepting Islam. It was as if a large crowd had gathered at the gate of Islam. The gate was thrown open with the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and the crowds flocked in. As

more than 3,000. This was a direct result of the removal of the greatest obstacle to acceptance of Islam—the anger and irritation of the Quraysh which would result from such a move. Bara’ was one of the

to say to later-day people, those who considered the Conquest of Makkah to be the great victory of Islam that the Companions of the Prophet used to consider the Peace Treaty of Hudaybiyyah as the outstanding

in achieving, within the limits set for her by Islam, all those objectives for which it is now considered necessary to make women emerge from the Islamic fold—in the process, divesting themselves of their

their essentially feminine virtues. Whatever she did, she did in the true spirit of Islam. Instead of turning to man, she turned to God. Instead of thinking in terms of the world, she focussed her attention

Pakistan) has failed to unite in the name of Islam but appears to be totally united on the basis of hatred for India. This has given critics an excuse to argue that Islam lacks the capacity to unite the Muslims

Muslims. The Hindustan Times of June 18, 2001, wrote that “Islam does not hold Pakistan together any more, but anti-Indianism does.” If Pakistan adopted a conciliatory approach, its people would develop a

positive approach and attitude to life, which would facilitate the emergence of a new era, wherein Islam, not anti-Indianism, could become the basis for Pakistani unity. It might open all doors to God’s

Islam could be brought to people’s attention, I should have high hopes that the majority of the people who have been misguided would abandon the path of hatred and violence and come back to Islam—“to the

has the indirect support of the majority, who are no less swayed by the political interpretation of Islam. According to Khalil Gibran, “not a single leaf falls from the tree without the silent consent of

of the whole tree.” If then the majority were to withdraw its indirect support and condemn Islamic militancy, these fringe groups would lose their moral courage. That would be the first step. Then the time

opportunities for Islamic success in the field of Dawah. He wrote: “Europeans are willing to accept Islam if it is offered to them in the best way. They have made a comparative study of Islam and other religions

and deed (code of conduct) of the former and the reverse of the latter. The nearest to accepting Islam are the Americans, for there is no hereditary or atavistic enmity and hatred between them and Muslim

significant from the Islamic point of view. One was the correction of the 700-year old orientalism, which in fact amounted to the practical recognition, by the West, of the truth of Islam. The other was the

SPIRITUALITYAccording to Islam, spirituality is not synonymous with being lost in some mysterious world, nor is it such a search as begins from one’s own self and ends in one’s own self. On the contrary, Islamic spirituality

reality of God; his finding a conscious anchorage in the eternal world of realities. The journey of Islamic spirituality passes along known ways and not through unknown valleys. This intellectual discovery

follow Islam but actually stray far from its spirit. They fail to differentiate between God-sent religion and man-made interpretation. At this point, one who calls people to the original Islam becomes

image of Islam had been distorted, it was he, who was ready to take all the risks involved in the process of reviving its original form. One great loss created by these additions to the original Islam was

was the shift in emphasis. Some important teachings of Islam were relegated to the background—for instance, concern for the larger humanity, da’wah, patience, etc. Da‘wah is the greatest mission of the Muslim