Godfrey Higgins was a British Orientalist, historian and a prominent advocate for social reform. He showed brave and sympathetic views towards Prophet Muḥammad (peace be upon him) and Islam by his contribution ’Apology for Muḥammad’, published in 1829. In his book Higgins tried to reject medieval European attacks on Islam and develop a more accurate and clear picture of Prophet Muḥammad. He wrote:
“Nothing is so common as to hear the Christian priests abuse the religion of Muḥammad for its bigotry and intolerance. Wonderful assurance and hypocrisy!
Who was it expelled the Moriscoes from Spain because they would not turn Christians?
Who was it murdered the millions of Mexico and Peru, and gave them all away as slaves because they were not Christians?
What a contrast have the Mohammedans exhibited in Greece! For many centuries the Christians have been permitted to live in the peaceable passion of their properties, their religion, their priests, bishops, patriarchs and churches”.1
Godfrey Higgins compared the attitude of Christian marauders with the Muslim conquerers.
“In all the history of the Caliphs, there cannot be shown anything half as infamous as the inquisition, nor a single instance of an individual burnt for his religious opinion; nor, do I believe, put to death in a time of peace for simply not embracing the religion of Islam.
Thus, this was the impact of the teachings of the Mohamed gave to the Muslims that Islam is not a religion of force, pressure and compulsion, it is a faith or belief by heart”.2
With this paragraph Higgins refuted those, who demonstrate Islam as religion of “terrorism” and prophet Muḥammad (peace be upon him) as founder of religion of tyranny and arrogance.
1. Higgins, Godfrey, Apology for Mohamed, Lahore, 1829, pp. 123-24
2. Ibid, p. 52