The truth, however, is that most Muslims appear to be "fundamental-ist" in the Western sense of the word—in that even "moderate"approaches to Islam generally consider the Koran to be the literal andinerrant word of the one true God. The difference between funda-mentalists and moderates—and certainly the difference between all"extremists" and moderates—is the degree to which they see politicaland military action to be intrinsic to the practice of their faith. In anycase, people who believe that Islam must inform every dimension ofhuman existence, including politics and law, are now generally callednot "fundamentalists" or "extremists" but, rather, "Islamists.

You claim that the evidentiary miracle is present and available, namely, the Koran. You say: 'Whoever denies it, let him produce a similar one.' Indeed, we shall produce a thousand similar, from the works of rhetoricians, eloquent speakers and valiant poets, which are more appropriately phrased and state the issues more succinctly. They convey the meaning better and their rhymed prose is in better meter. … By God what you say astonishes us! You are talking about a work which recounts ancient myths, and which at the same time is full of contradictions and does not contain any useful information or explanation. Then you say: 'Produce something like it'‽

Did my father talk to me? It's true, he didn't say a lot to me, but I knew what had to be done. No need for big speeches. He taught me the fundamentals of our religion: My son, Islam is simple: you are alone responsible for yourself before God, so if you are good, you will find goodness in the afterlife, and if you are bad, you'll find that instead. There's no mystery: everything depends on how you treat people, especially the weak, the poor, so Islam, that means you pray, you address the Creator and don't do evil around you, don't lie, don't steal, don't betray your wife or your country, don't kill- but do I really need to remind you of this?

I desired to praise the Chosen One and was hinderedBy my own inability to grasp the extent of his glory.How can one such as I measure an ocean, when the ocean is vast?And how can one such as I count the stones and the stars?If all of my limbs were to become tongues, even then –Even then I could not begin to praise him as I desired.And if all of creation gathered together in an attemptTo praise him, even then they would stint in his due.I have altogether ceased trying – awestruck, clinging to courtesy,Tempered by timidity, glorifying his most exalted rank.Indeed, sometimes silence holds within it the essence of eloquence,And often speech merely fodder for the faultfinder.

طبيعة الإسلام تفرض على الأمة التي تعتنقه أن تكون أمة متعلمة ترتفع فيها نسبة المثقّفين، وتهبط أو تنعدم نسبة الجاهلين.

ونحن على ثقة أنه لو درس شيوخ المسلمين العلوم الكونية وعرفوا أسرار سنة الله في خليقته لما كثرت الملاحدة وفشت المناكير

The universe and the events in it are thus perfect examples to imitate. However, no matter how perfect the example is, everyone will draw and interpret objects according to their abilities. Charles Lako, commenting on aesthetics once said, that the magnificent scene at sunset would remind a farmer of the rather unaesthetic thought of dinner; the physicist, not of beauty or ugliness, but of the rightness or wrongness of the analysis of a matter. Thus, for Lalo, the sunset is beautiful only for those who are aware of beauty. Therefore, only those who see with God and hear with God can appreciate the beauty that spreads throughout existence as their senses are tuned to the spiritual realms.

It takes no more research than a trip to almost any public library or college to show the incredibly lopsided coverage of slavery in the United States or in the Western Hemisphere, as compared to the meager writings on even larger number of Africans enslaved in the Islamic countries of the Middle East and North Africa, not to mention the vast numbers of Europeans also enslaved in centuries past in the Islamic world and within Europe itself. At least a million Europeans were enslaved by North African pirates alone from 1500 to 1800, and some Europeans slaves were still being sold on the auction blocks in the Egypt, years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed blacks in the United States.

أستطيع أن أجهر في صراحة بأن المسلم لن يتم إسلامه إلا إذا كان سياسياً، بعيد النظر في شؤون أمته، مهتماً بها، غيوراً عليها

إن أمة تفخر بالموالي والعبيد كما تفخر بالأشراف لأمة عظيمة وإن ديناً يتساوى فيه البشر ليستحق الخلافة في الأرض ..كل الأرض

By the time of the arrival of Islam in the early seventeenth century CE, what we now call the Middle East was divided between the Persian and Byzantine empires. But with the spread of this new religion from Arabia, a powerful empire emerged, and with it a flourishing civilization and a glorious golden age.Given how far back it stretches in time, the history of the region -- and even of Iraq itself -- is too big a canvas for me to paint. Instead, what I hope to do in this book is take on the nonetheless ambitious task of sharing with you a remarkable story; one of an age in which great geniuses pushed the frontiers of knowledge to such an extent that their work shaped civilizations to this day.

كل لحظة من لحظات الحياة تقدم للمسلم فرصة جديدة للعبادة..وهو بدوره يطمح ليجعل من حياته الدنيوية نموذجا للعبادة المستمرة

إن المسلمين أمةٌ واحدة، خرجت من بين دفتي كتاب واحد، وما أوطانها وشعوبها وقبائلها وقومياتها إلا آيات وسور في هذا الكتاب.

You have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad (jihad alakbar).”His followers asked him what that greater jihad was. “The struggle against your passionatesoul,”2 he replied.‘So what does this greater jihad entail?’ I asked him.‘It is the effort to practise our faith,’ Gai replied. ‘To pray five times every day is an effort, to veilone’s selfish desires and conduct life in accordance with Islamic ethics and laws. The greatest“spiritual warriors” are the saints armed not with weapons but with prayer and prayer beads.’ Whileit all made sense I wanted to know more about the idea that we needed to go out and fight jihad

Religion is also a process of healing, I discovered – a healing of the soul. Even our language pointsto this relation. The words ‘holy’, ‘wholesome’ and ‘healing’ all have the same root. (In German, thisis even more striking: heilig, heil and heilen.) Muslims believe that all humans are born in a state ofpurity, our fitra, and it is only in the course of our lives that we tarnish our soul through bad habitsand wrong behaviour. Through spiritual practices such as prayer, recitation of Quran and dhikr wecan cleanse these acquired ‘black spots’ in our soul and return towards our original primordialnature.1 More so, dhikr is said to enliven the heart.