By Dr. Slama Abd AL-Hady

(Original source: http://www.55a.net/firas/english/?page=show_det&id=326&select_page=108 )

(Edited by Defending-Islam.com Staff)

1.    Islam continues to be successful in the developed world, and elsewhere, because its call is in accordance with the natural directions of mankind. It advocates the best of human values, such as tolerance, love, mercy, truthfulness and sincerity.  Islam educates people and lifts them up to righteous conduct, good manners and virtue. It addresses humanity and logic, heart and soul, feelings and thoughts, etc. Its call is distinguished from others by its logic, truth, realized origins, realism, balance and moderation. It urges the people by the verses of The Holy Qur’an to think, analyze, investigate and discover the world around us where the beauty of the creation of God is seen in every thing. One of its verses states these facts as follows:

“Do they not think within themselves: How did Allah create the heavens and the earth and what is between them too in righteousness with truth, and all will be sustained up to an appointed term (the day of resurrection)? And surely most of the people are deniers of the meeting of their Lord (in the Day of resurrection).” (30: 8)

2.    The word “Muslim” means one who submits to the will of God, regardless of their race, nationality or ethnic background. Becoming a Muslim is a simple and easy process that requires no pre-requisites. One may convert alone in privacy, or he/she may do so in the presence of others, by pronouncing the “Shahada”, the testimony of faith, with full faith in One God. Such “Shahada” is the first and most important of the five pillars of Islam. With the pronunciation of this testimony, or “Shahada”, with sincere belief in God. God defines himself in the Qur’an by logical statements as:

“Surely your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six periods of time, and He is firm in power; He throws the veil of night over the day, which it pursues incessantly; and (He created) the sun and the moon and the stars, made subservient by His command; surely to Him belongs the Whole Creation and Keeping every thing in order (tied by firmed Laws). Blessed is Allah, the Lord of the Whole universe (worlds).” (7: 54)

This testimony of faith is formed of seven words: I testify “La ilah illa Allah, Muhammad rasoolu Allah.” The translation of which is: “I testify that there is no true god (deity) but God (Allah), and that Muhammad is a Messenger (Prophet) of God.”

3.    Belief in Islam is not built on dogmas or magic tales like salvation and great bloody sins. It is free from submission to any body other than God or to believe in a power other than the power of God or of any idol. The relation in Islam between God and man is a direct relation that does not need any interference of people like Popes, priests, church men for confession or any other ambiguities. Islam convinces Muslims of the day of resurrection, the Day where each man, or woman, will be rewarded for his deeds in a logic approach. The verses of Qur’an state these facts as follows:

“How do you then think that We had created you in vain (for nothing) and that you shall not be returned to Us (to be rewarded for your deeds)? And in similar verses: [23:78-79] And He is Who created your abilities to hear and to see as well as created your hearts (internal organs that make our life possible); little is it that you give as thanks (for such gifts). And He is Who inserted you in the earth (after its arrangement to suit our life on it), and to Him you shall be returned and gathered (to be rewarded).” (23: 115)

4.    Islam pays due attention to both the soul and the body. It neither suppresses physical desires nor allows extravagance in this regard; it makes a balance between the natural inclination to enjoy life and to worship God. It forbids desires that come under the heading of depravity and pervSersion. It builds the peace between the man, himself, his parents, his family, his society, his present life, the whole universe and his future life.

5.    People embrace Islam because they find security, comfort and peace in it. They see the simplicity of the faith and in the way of converting to Islam. They see in Islam a cure for their problems, and through it they are able to get rid of their feelings of confusion, anxiety and loss. They find in the Holy Qur’an the complete guide to a peaceful life, the evidence of Muhammed (Salla Allahu alayhi wa Sallam)’s truth as a God’s prophet, the Miracles in all scientific and logical fields, the luminance, the Wisdom, the Law, the logic, the reasons and God’s light. The pleasure of faith in Islam is incredible.

6.    Islam is the religion of the fitrah (Pure Logic and sensation), i.e. the natural inclination or pattern on which God (Allah) has created mankind. For this reason, people of sound minds and upright inclinations embrace Islam by their nature. According to a Hadith (Muhammed (Salla Allahu alayhi wa Sallam)’s sayings): “Each child is born in a state of fitrah (pure logic and natural sensation) which leads him to think about His Creator, Allah), then his parents may convert him to Judaism, Christianity or any other illogic belief”. This means that Allah has created mankind with the potential to learn the truth, accept the pure monotheism and submission to One God (Allah). In other words, their natural inclination is to be Muslims and to submit their feelings to Allah. For this reason the one who becomes a Muslim after having been a disbeliever of Islam is described as having been “reverted” to Islam, as this is more correct than saying that he “converted.” So, worship in Islam is simple and easy to perform. It is performed in a direct relation between the man and His God.

7.    When Islam enters a country where there is no great legacy of arrogance, it spreads quickly because of its strength as a religion of logic and values. You may also see that Islam is suitable for all people, educated and uneducated, male and female, old and young; poor and rich; everyone finds in it what he or she wants and needs to have a happy life of satisfaction. Those who become Muslim in developed countries realize what their country’s civilization and laws, which have been fabricated from men’s whims and desires, have done to them, and they realize the extent of the misery in which people in such developed countries are living. They see how prevalent psychological illnesses, nervous breakdowns, insanity and suicides are, despite the technological advances and great number of discoveries and inventions and modern systems of management. This is because all of that is concerned only with the materialistic desires which satisfy their bodies, but it neglects the inward humanities and fails to nourish and nurture the heart and soul.

The golden age of Islam had started since the mission of the Prophet Muhammed (Salla Allahu alayhi wa Sallam) and lasted in the sixteenth century and was recognized as a Muslim scientific revolution, an expression introduced with many scholars as Donald Rutledge Hill and Ahmad Y Hassan. Such revolution led to the emergence of modern sciences in all the scientific fields.

The number of important and original Arabic works written on the mathematical sciences is much larger than the combined total of Latin and Greek works on the mathematical sciences. Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) was a polymath, a pioneer of modern optics and the scientific method. Muslim scientists placed a greater emphasis on experimentation than previous ancient civilizations (for example, Greek philosophy placed a greater emphasis on rationality rather than empiricism), which was due to the emphasis on empirical observation found in the Qur’an and Sunnah, and the rigorous historical methods established in the science of Hadith. Muslim scientists thus combined precise observation, controlled experiment and careful records with a new approach to scientific inquiry which led to the development of the scientific method. In particular, the empirical observations and experiments of Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) in his Book of Optics (1021) are seen as the beginning of the modern scientific method, which he first introduced to optics and psychology. Rosanna Gorini writes:

"According to the majority of the historians al-Haytham was the pioneer of the modern scientific method. With his book he changed the meaning of the term optics and established experiments as the norm of proof in the field. His investigations are based not on abstract theories, but on experimental evidences and his experiments were systematic and repeatable."

Most of Muslims in the Arab region are starting now a new age of civilization and scientific development. However, neither the entire East is Muslim or the entire west Christian. So, we may find Islamic contributions in many fields of the modern sciences and world development too. In other words, some Islamic countries may have slowed down in the field of scientific method and research. The reason for this is not due to any sort of misleading by Islam, but due to lack of understanding the real values of Islam. Such understanding was the power that motivated the Muslims during their golden age in the past, and it will motivate them in the future, In shaa’ Allah .

However, Islam will continue to succeed, with the permission of Allah, so long as those who work for its sake are sincere and its followers adhere to it and believe in it, and apply its perfect laws.