Muslims Before Muhammad:-
One of the greatest FALLACIES that Muhammadan Islam has been able to foster upon the HUMAN INTELLECT for the last 1400 years has been their success in MONOPLOLISING the term ISLAM only to themselves by ignoring and perverting LANGUAGE, HISTORY and REALITY.
It is without a doubt a FACT, that any MONOTHEIST - one who believes in the One and Only God - is automatically a MUSLIM. This FACT is based on the Quran and the Arabic language.
Islam means SUBMISSION ( to the will of One God), ONLY.
2: 127 And remember Abraham and Isma`il raised the foundations of the House (with this prayer): "Our Lord! accept (this service) from us for thou art the All-Hearing the All-Knowing.
128 "Our Lord! make of us Muslims [Muslimeen] bowing to Thy (Will) and of our progeny a people Muslim [Umma Muslimata] bowing to Thy (Will) and show us our places for the celebration of (due) rites; and turn unto us (in mercy); for Thou art the Oft-Returning Most-Merciful.
130 And who turns away from the religion of Abraham but such as debase their souls with folly? Him We chose and rendered pure in this world: and he will be in the Hereafter in the ranks of the righteous.
131 Behold! his Lord said to him: "Bow (thy will to me)" [Aslim] He said:
"I bow (my will) [Aslamtu] to the Lord and Cherisher of the universe."
132 And this was the legacy that Abraham left to his sons and so did Jacob; "O my sons! Allah hath chosen the faith for you; then die not except in the faith of Islam [Muslimoon] "
133 Were ye witnesses when death appeared before Jacob? Behold he said to his sons: "What will ye worship after me?" They said: "We shall worship thy Allah and the Allah of thy fathers of Abraham Isma`il and Isaac the one (true) Allah to Him we bow (in Islam) [Muslimoon] ."
135 They say: "Become Jews or Christians if ye would be guided (to salvation)." Say thou: "Nay! (I would rather) the religion of Abraham the true and he joined not gods with Allah."
136 Say ye: "We believe in Allah and the revelation given to us and to Abraham Isma`il Isaac Jacob and the Tribes [Asbat] and that given to Moses and Jesus and that given to (all) Prophets from their Lord we make no difference between one and another of them and we bow to Allah (in Islam) [Muslimoon]."
*** All the named PROPHETS above, Abraham Isma`il Isaac Jacob and the Tribes, Moses and Jesus and (all) Prophets were HEBREW Prophets who existed from 2500 to 600 years BEFORE Muhammad and his Quran, and according to the Quran they were ALL Muslims.
Hence, being a Muslim has absolutely nothing to do with either Muhammad or his Quran ***
Moreover, there were also believers called Hanifs; people who believed in the
God of Abraham. These, mostly men, preceded Muhammad and his 'Islam' by decades if not centuries.
Among the most important are ones mentioned in the Quran: Hud of the Ad people; Saleh of the Thamud and Sho'ayb of the Medyan.
The Arabic sources mention the following also:
Hanzala bin Safwan; Khaled b. Senan; Amer b. Zareb al Adwani; Abdullah al Quda'I; Amr b. Fadl; the eloquent poet and orator, Qass b. Sa'eda al Iyadi and last but not least Omayya b. Abi's-Salt, a contemporary of Muhammad and a member of the Thaqif tribe at Ta'ef , a renowned Hanif who advocated monotheism.
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 8.168 Narrated byAbu Huraira
The Prophet said, "The most true words said by a poet were the words of Labid. He said, i.e. 'Verily, everything except Allah is perishable and Umaiya bin Abi As-Salt was about to embrace Islam .
Also mentioned in Ahadith:
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid ( Muhammad's wife); Waraqa b. Nawfal (her uncle); Obaydullah b. Jahsh; Uthman b. al Howayreth and Zayd b. Amr b. Nufayl.
All of the above actually used the name ALLAH since it was very familiar to them long before Muhammad appeared on the scene.
The path to Monotheism in Arabia was already laid down before Muhammad was even borne by the Jews of Arabia, centuries BEFORE Muhammad and his Quran ***
