Everything made so much sense. This is the beauty of the Qur'an; it asks you to reflect and reason... When I read the Qur'an further, it talked about prayer, kindness and charity. I was not a Muslim yet, but I felt the only answer for me was the Qur'an and Allah had sent it to me.286 (Yusuf Islam [Cat Stevens], former British pop star)
I am not a Muslim in the usual sense, though I hope I am a "Muslim" as "one surrendered to God," but I believe that embedded in the Quran and other expressions of the Islamic vision are vast stores of divine truth from which I and other occidentals have still much to learn, and "Islam is certainly a strong contender for the supplying of the basic framework of the one religion of the future."287 (From the book Islam and Christianity Today)
The essential and definite element of my conversion to Islam was the Qur'an. I began to study it before my conversion with the critical spirit of a Western intellectual... There are certain verses of this book, the Qur'an, revealed more than thirteen centuries ago, which teach exactly the same notions as the most modern scientific researches do. This definitely converted me.288 (Ali Selman Benoist, France, Doctor of Medicine)
I have read the Sacred Scriptures of every religion; nowhere have I found what I encountered in Islam: perfection. The Holy Qur'an, compared to any other scripture I have read, is like the Sun compared to that of a match. I firmly believe that anybody who reads the Word of Allah with a mind that is not completely closed to Truth, will become a Muslim.289 (Saifuddin Dirk Walter Mosig)
The strength of the Koran is that a Muslim, or anyone, can open it to any page and get a message dealing with life's meaning.290 (The well-known theologian John Esposito)
I hope the time is not far off when I shall be able to unite all the wise and educated men of all the countries and establish a uniform regime based on the principles of Qur'an which alone are true and which alone can lead men to happiness.291 (French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte)
A speech by Bill Clinton which described how influenced he was by the Qur'an
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In his last year in the White House, former US President Bill Clinton received a number of Muslims during Ramadan. At the meeting, which began with a reading from the Qur'an, Clinton used verses from the Qur'an in his own address and frequently stated his interest in Islam:
And I thought it was particularly moving that Imam read the passage from the Koran that said that Allah created nations and tribes that we might know one another, not that we might despise one another. There's a wonderful passage in the Hebrew Torah, which warns people never to turn aside the stranger, for it is like turning aside the most high God. And the Christian Bible says that people should love their neighbor as themselves. But it's quite wonderful to say that Allah created the nations and tribes that they might know one another better... Let me say, also, that there is much that the world can learn from Islam. It is now practiced by one of every four people on Earth. Americans are learning more in our schools and universities. Indeed, I remember that our daughter took a course on Islamic history in high school and read large portions of the Koran, and came home at night and educated her parents about it, and later asked us questions about it... So I ask you again to rededicate yourselves in this coming year to making sure that others in this country truly understand and appreciate the faith you embrace, its practices, its beliefs, its precepts and its inclusive humanity... The Koran also teaches, in addition, to the fact that we should do unto others as we wish to have done to us, and reject for others what we would reject for ourselves, but we should also make a commitment to live in peace…296
George W. Bush:
"It's [the Qur'an is] a very thoughtful gift."
On 26 September 2001, President George W. Bush held a substantive meeting with American Muslim leaders, and said that "the teachings of Islam are the teachings of peace and good." During this meeting, Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), presented a copy of the Holy Qur'an to President Bush. During a brief press conference after the meeting, the President expressed his pleasure saying:
And I want to thank you very much for the-the gift you gave me, Imam, the Koran. It's a very thoughtful gift. I say, "Thank you very much for the gift." He said, "It's the best gift I could give you, Mr. President." I appreciate that very much.297
On September 17, 2001, President Bush visited the Washington Islam Center mosque, one of the oldest in the United States. In his speech, he emphasized that Islam is a religion of peace and that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 have nothing to do with the teachings of Islam or the sincere Muslims of the world, all of whom deplore terrorism. Bush stated that those who inflict harm on innocent and civilian Muslims are just as in the wrong as those who carry out terrorist attacks. At this crowded meeting, covered live by a large number of domestic and international television stations, President Bush read the following verse from the Qur'an:298
"In the long run, evil in the extreme will be the end of those who do evil. For that they rejected the signs of Allah and held them up to ridicule." (Qur'an, 30:10)
286. www.al-sunnah.com/call_to_islam/articles/what_they_say_about_islaam.html.
287. W. Montgomery Watt, Islam and Christianity Today (London: 1983), ix.
288. www.al-sunnah.com/call_to_islam/articles/what_they_say_about_islaam.html
289. Ibid.
290. John Esposito, quoted in Jacqueline Blais’ “People Want to Know, So Koran is Best Seller,” USA Today, 27 November 2001.
291. Napoleon Bonaparte, quoted in Christian Cherfils’ Bonaparte et Islam (Bonaparte and Islam) (Paris, France: 1914), 125.
296. www.amaana.org/ISWEB/ramadan.htm.
297. www.ama-nj.org/bush_meeting.html.
298. “Remarks by the President at Islamic Center of Washington, D.C.,” 17 September 2001, http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/islam/s091701b.htm..
