severe in my questioning. I hope you won’t mind.” “Not at all,” the Prophet replied. “You can ask what you like.” “Will you swear to me by the name of your God and the God of those before you, and the

is silent he finds himself in the unlimited vastness of the world.FEBRUARY 9 Christianity and IslamDespite recent improvements in global communications, there is still widespread ignorance and misinterpretation

sciences and other secular disciplines. In the wake of latter-day developments in modern science, what had earlier been a matter of external information, i.e. information revealed to the prophets, has

thing to be attained is realization; and in the Hereafter, the last thing to be found is Paradise. What is realization? Realization is another name for the discovery of the truth, that is the highest reality

who opts for the realistic course of action will reach his goal, while one who strives to achieve what is in reality unattainable will certainly be doomed to failure.

This is the reality pointed out in the Quran: Good and evil deeds are not equal. Repel evil with what is better; then you will see that one who was once your enemy has become your dearest friend. (The

and seek out the reality of life. Worldly gain and loss, comfort and distress, did not concern him; what mattered to him was the all-important question of truth and falsehood. This phase of the Prophet’s

the Prophet, came into the Prophet’s house while he and Khadijah were praying. He asked his cousin what they were about. The Prophet told him that this was God’s religion, the path that God had chosen Himself

litter which his fellow Quraysh had put in the street on which he was passing, he said in dismay: “What bad neighbours the Banu ‘Abd al-Manaf are.”34 While the Prophet’s uncle, Abu Talib, was alive, his