Lamartine: 'If greatness of purpose, smallness of means and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhummed? The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man Muhummed moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of men (and women); and more than that the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and the souls. On the basis of a Book, every letter of which has become law, he created a spiritual nationality which blended together peoples of every tongue and of every race … The idea of the unity of God, proclaimed amidst the exhaustion of fabulous theologies, was in itself such a miracle that upon its utterance from his lips it destroyed all the ancient superstitions…Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational beliefs, of a cult without images: the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhummed. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?' (Lamartine, Historie de la Turquie, Paris 1854, vol. II, pp. 276-7)

Bosworth-Smith: 'He was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pop without Pope's pretensions, Caesar without the legions of Caesar: without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue; if ever any man had the right to say that he ruled by the right divine, it was Mohammad, for he had all the power without its instruments and without its supports.'
(R. Bosworth-Smith, Mohammad and Mohammadanism, London 1874, p.92)

Mahatma Gandhi: 'I become more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme for life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and his own mission. These and not the sword, carried everything before them and surmounted every trouble.'
(M.K. Gandhi, Young India, 1924).

Sir George Bernard Shaw: 'I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him - that wonderful man - and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the saviour of humanity. I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today.
(G.B. Shaw, The Genuine Islam)

Montgomery Watt: 'His readiness to undergo persecutions for his beliefs, the high moral character of the men who believed in him and looked up to him as leader, and the greatness of his ultimate achievement all argue his fundamental integrity. To suppose Mohammed an impostor raises more problems than it solves. Moreover, none of the great figures of history is so poorly appreciated in the West as Mohammed.'
(M. Watt, Mohammed at Mecca, Oxford, 1932, p.52)

Michael H. Hart in his recently-published book on ratings of men who contributed towards the benefit and upliftment of mankind writes: 'My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels. '(M.H. HART, 'The 100: A ranking of the most influential persons in Hisotry', New Your, 1978, pp.33).