محمد حميد الله سفير الإسلام وأمين التراث الإسلامي في الغرب

Muhammad Hamidullah: Safir al-Islam wa Amin al-Turath al-Islami fi al-Gharb

Professor Dr. Nūr al-Dīn ʿItr writes: “…This, dear reader, is the biography of a man unlike other men—a man who remained silent about himself and devoted himself to his mission of calling to the guidance of his Lord… In all his affairs he remained directed towards a single purpose: daʿwah, Islam, knowledge, and scholarly research, casting aside worldly ambitions such as reputation, publicity, wealth, or fame. He followed the path of the ascetics, giving freely of the wealth he possessed just as he gave of the knowledge and learning he had.

It is a biography that causes the emotions to overflow with love, veneration, appreciation, reflection, and humility, on account of the incidents it contains and the virtues of knowledge, action, and worship that it portrays. All of this makes it rich in lessons at which one ought to pause—and how numerous they are! Space does not permit us to expound them all, but we must pause at some examples of them, particularly those that our age needs more than others and which people and educators tend to overlook… The lessons to be drawn from the life of this remarkable man are many.

And this book—written by our dear brother, today’s friend and yesterday’s faithful student, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Mājid al-Ghawrī—is before you. Reflect upon it, and reflect upon it again, and take from it what will benefit your life in this world and the Hereafter."

Dr Muhammad Ajaj al-Khatib writes: "“…This is a comprehensive biography of one of the leading contemporary Muslim scholars from the Indian subcontinent. His efforts bore such fruit that more than thirty thousand French people embraced Islam at his hands—and it is said that the number was around fifty thousand—including thinkers, prominent figures, intellectuals, and students. He mastered approximately ten international languages and spared no effort in serving Islam, the Muslims, and humanity as a whole, doing so with knowledge and insight, serenity, calmness, and humility, while avoiding reputation and fame. He was one of those effective contemporary Islamic models who lived in the West for the sake of Islam, serving it through his speech, his pen, and the example of his life.

What I have mentioned is but a small part of the abundant material presented by Ustādh Sayyid ʿAbd al-Mājid al-Ghawrī al-Nadwī in his valuable book, Muḥammad Ḥamīdullāh: Ambassador of Islam and Custodian of the Islamic Heritage in the West… The author of the book exerted considerable effort in gathering the material for this biography.”"