These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to this friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. Mahatma Gandhi, speaking on the character of Muhammad, (pbuh) says in (Young India): "I wanted to know the best of one who holds today's undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind.I became more than convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society and system of belief, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history." Read the whole speech: George Bernard Shaw says: If a man like Muhamed were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness.
The medieval Islamic world, from Central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. It is a failure which stems, I think, from the straitjacket of history which we have inherited. "if there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilisation owe to the Islamic world. Quote from speech of the Prince Charles, Prince of Wales at at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.