INTRODUCTION

I saw Islam and I became attached to it.

Before I saw it, I had heard about it. What I saw was the opposite of what I had heard. Only then did I grasp the meaning of the adage : "Between truth and falsehood there are only four digits. Seeing is truth, hearing is falsehood". I also understood the  false charges the West had unjustly imputed to Islam, thus turning its beauty into ugliness, its purity into squalor, its courage into terror, its faith into atheism, and its mercy into cruelty. In this way, Islam's virtues became shortcomings, and its prophesy turned into blasphemy of God.

Islam has been the target of defamation and fabrication for many centuries.

With the passage of time, however, things changed, generally speaking, for the situation is no longer the same as before. True Islam has gradually begun to reveal itself to Westerners, especially in France, where the number of Muslims is about three million, the scholars and thinkers of whom have greatly contributed to re"storing to Islam its former glory".

However, the radical movement which has emerged in some Arab-Islamic countries has prompted the West to raise many questions about a religion that was once revealed as a guidance and a mercy for the Worlds. Due to this radical movement,  Islam, which is an example of tolerance and kindness,  appears to Westerners as a religion of fanaticism and terrorism.

In its essence and origin, Islam is a religion of mercy and peace, of kindness and tolerance, and of knowledge and enlightenment; it is not a religion of violence, fanaticism and ignorance.

My goal in writing this book, Islam as I  Came to Know it, is to cast light on the true nature of this religion which I loved and still love.

May Allah grant us success.

Nasri Salhab