THE UNIVERSALITY OF ISLAM

The Universality of Islam ~ 178 ~ and another. This belief kindled a universal spirit which caused people to regard all countries as their own, and to think of every nation as a member of a great world family. Before the coming of Islam, the Arabs had been a race apart, living in seclusion from the rest of the world. But once they had embraced Islam, they were led to mix with other nations and to become their companions and partners on life’s journey. Under the influence of Islam, Arab tribalism, with its straining after short-term gains, and its reverence for some and scorn for others, gave way to the kind of internationalism which had respect for the whole of humanity. The Arabs had their vision so broadened by Islam that they crossed land and sea to give full expression to their new concept of fraternal living. No mountain was too high for them to climb. No ocean was too deep for them to cross. The Arabs now made advances in every field. In navigation, for instance, they produced men of the calibre of Ahmad ibn Majid. He it was who guided the famous explorer, Vasco da Gama, on his voyage across the oceans at the end of the 15th century to