What Did Napoleon Say About Islâm?

The following paraghraps are the selections from the statements made by Napoleon Bonaparte, non-Muslim, who believed in Allâhu ta’âlâ and admired Islam; these statements reflect his views of Islam. Now let us read with attention to what he said [1]:

Napoléon I (1769-1821 [1237 A.H.]), who went into history as a military genius and statesman, when he entered Egypt in 1212 [C.E. 1798], admired Islam’s greatness and genuineness, and even considered whether he should become a Muslim. The following excerpt was paraphrased from Cherfils’s book (Bonapart et Islâm):

“Napoléon said:

The existence and unity of Allâhu ta’âlâ, which Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, had announced to his own people and Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ to his own ummat, was announced by Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ to the entire world. Arabia had become totally a country of idolaters. Six centuries after Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’, Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ initiated the Arabs into an awareness of Allâhu ta’âlâ, whose existence prophets previous to him, such as Ibrâhîm (Abraham), Ismâ’îl, Mûsâ (Moses) and Îsâ (Jesus) ‘alaihim-us-salâm’, had announced. Peace in the east had been disturbed by the Arians, [i.e. Christians who followed Arius], who had somehow developed a degree of friendship with the Arabs, and by heretics, who had defiled the true religion of Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ and were striving to spread in the name of religion a totally unintelligible credo which is based on trinity, i.e. God, Son of God, and the Holy Ghost. Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ guided the Arabs to the right way, taught them that Allâhu ta’âlâ is one, that He does not have a father or a son, and that worshipping several gods is an absurd custom which is the continuation of idolatry.”

At another place in his book he quotes Napoléon as having said, “I hope that in the near future I will have the chance to gather together the wise and cultured people of the world and establish a government that I will operate [in accordance with the principles written in Qur’ân al-kerîm.”

[1] Ref: These paragraphs are quoted from the book “Why Did They Become Muslims?” page 17. “Why Did They Become Muslims?” contains a few paraphrased selections from the statements made by some of the many non-Muslim, who are famous great commanders, statesmen and scientists celebrities who believed in Allâhu ta’âlâ and admired Islam; these statements reflect their views of Islam. As you read them you will hear from the very tongues of these respectable people why the Islamic religion is superior to other religions. In fact, reading these explanations will provide you with an opportunity to see and admire once again the high merits of our religion, and thus feel and offer gratitude to Allâhu ta’âlâ for having been Muslims. The book is published by Hakikat Kitabevi, Istanbul. You can find the whole book and the other valuable books in the web site www.hakikatkitabevi.com.tr and download in PDF format for Adobe Acrobat Reader, EPUB format for iPhone-iPad-Mac devices and MOBI format for Amazon Kindle device.