Notes from the Publisher…
The Things Which Humans Should Know
Tolstoy’s treatise about Muhammad (PBUH), the messenger of Islam, has been known amongthe publishers for long years, but hidden from the readers in North America. Because theworld-wide known writer’s interest in Muhammad’s narrations and compilation of them for the purpose to share them with the Russian nation was very important in the world of belief and culture.It demanded serious attempts and research to discover and publish Tolstoy’s treatisecompiled from the narrations based on “Muhammad’s (PBUH) Narrations” by Indian scholar Abdullah al-Suhravedi. Even though we knew how important it was Tolstoy’s compilationand publish of the narrations of the Messenger of Islam, but we considered it better if wewould turn out such collection into a project together with the supportive elements. And wedecided to compile Tolstoy’s writings and jokes relating to Muslims and Islam in this book inyour hands under the different headings. We reached to official documents for the purpose toget the questioned letters and jokes, and then introduced them it to you under the new edition preserving their originality.Tolstoy’s compilation and publish of Muhammad’s (PBUH) narrations in the TsaristRussia was a quite big event. We definitely knew it. Because it could help to imagine andincrease awareness what feelings and thoughts Tolstoy lived during their compilation. But themost important was his desire to compile, to share with people and publish this small treatiseas a sign of possibility of his being Muslim and admiration to Islam.Our goal is not to attempt to betray subconscious thoughts by introducing not existingevent, thought or writing rather than to uncover the hidden curtains over the existed thingsthat we believe in them and introduce them with documents, knowledge and sources. For ushis words “If human being has truly had a right of choice, every Christian and every human being with conscious would accept Mohammedanism: one God and His Messenger withoutdoubt and suspicion” were valuable like the knowledge and meaning combining one book.And humans should know change in famous writer’s culture and its pains.
Rasih YilmazFaruk Arslan