As an Islamic scholar wrote on the advent of the 15th century of the Hijrah calendar 22 years ago, “It (the advent of the 15th century) is indeed a unique occasion to ponder that the Islamic Era did not start with the victories of Islamic wars, nor with the birth or death of the Prophet nor even with the Revelation of the Qur’an itself. It starts with Hijrah, or the sacrifice for the cause of Truth and for the preservation of the Revelation.
Friends are no means only a means for ‘time-pass’ or entertainment. Indeed friendship is more profound than that. Friendship and companionship are inseparable aspects of an individual’s life. Experience has shown, too, that many friendships have changed the destiny of individuals and their course of life. Friends influence each other’s ways, faith, and religion.
Islam is a “total way of life.” It has provided guidance in every sphere of life, from individual cleanliness, rules of trade, to the structure and politics of the society. Islam can never be separated from social, political, or economic life since religion provides moral guidance for every action that a person takes. The primary act of faith is to strive to implement God’s will in both private and public life.
Over the last two centuries the Islamic world has been under another transformation from the West. The Europeans who came in the 19th and 20th centuries to militarily colonize the Muslim world did not convert like the Turks and Mongols. For the first time, Muslims were politically subjugated the European empires of Russia, Holland, Britain, and France.
The revelation of the Qur’an was not an isolated event in time. It was a constant stream of verses descending to Muhammad PBUH throughout the 23 years of his prophethood in Makkah and Madinah. The Prophet PBUH appointed numerous Companions of his to serve as scribes, writing down the latest verses as soon as they were revealed. Mu’awiya ibn Abu Sufyan and Zaid bin Thabit were among the scribes who had this duty.
A nation suffering from the mental maladies mentioned in the above verse cannot hope to recover its power of original thinking without changing its inner self. And without the power of original thinking, a nation that is down and being pushed around, as we are, cannot acquire power over its own world let alone acquiring power over the forces of the outer world.
The importance of inductive reasoning is so great in the eyes of the Qur’an that at numerous places it calls those who do not use it as animals—and even worse than animals: “For the worst of beasts in the sight of Allah are the deaf and the dumb, those who understand not.” (8:22) “Many are the Jinns and men we have made for Hell
While there is an estimated 8 million Muslims in the United States, a 2010 study Ogilvy Noor, a marketing firm, demonstrated that this demographic is often neglected American businesses. Yet they find that the American Muslim consumer market is worth approximately $170 billion!
When Islam becomes the religion of a state it does not compel non-Muslims to accept it. Some Western writers tell us that it was attempts at such compulsion that caused the famous European Wars of Religion that led finally to secularism and the relegating of religion to the private sphere.
This aside, the Qur’an has many miraculous attributes, certifying that it is the revelation of God. A number of scientific discoveries, that could only be attained in the 20th and 21st centuries, were declared in the Qur’an 1400 years ago. This information, that was impossible to verify scientifically at the time of the Qur’an’s revelation, has proved once again that it is the word of God.