all the beautiful thoughts, words and expressions, never mind how artistically constructed, remain like ringing bells or clanking cymbals unless they are backed up by a powerful personality charged with high spirituality. and that type of super spirituality comes only as jesus (pbuh) put it through "fasting and prayer" (matthew 17: 21).

muhummed (pbuh) practised what he preached. after his demise someone asked his dear wife ayesha siddiqa about the life-style of her husband. she said. "he was the qur’an in action." he was the walking qur’an. he was the talking qur’an. he was the living qur’an.

"if these men and women, noble, intelligent, and certainly not less educated than the fishermen of galilee, had perceived the slightest sign of earthliness, deception, or want of faith in the teacher himself, mohammed’s hopes of moral regeneration and social reform would all have been crumbled to dust in a moment."

"spirit of islam" by sayed amir ali, page 21