Prophet Mohammad and all major Arab historians were touched by India's ancient knowledge, while the invaders from Europe and Central Asia sought to demoralise the people of the country to establish their rule, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said on Friday.
Khan said it is a matter of pride that Muslims are practising Islam in the country.
"Whenever someone invades from outside to rule they try to demoralise the country by breaking its people's self-confidence and claim they have come to civilise them. Whatever Muslim invaders from Central Asia had said (about India), but the Prophet who never came to India and, sitting in Medina, had once said he felt cool breeze of knowledge coming from the land of India and that's what Iqbal also stated," Khan said.
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Speaking at a programme at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), Khan said he had mentioned this in Deoband and underlined that it is a "matter of pride for Muslims that they are practising Islam in India, the country whose knowledge the Prophet was touched by."
The Islamic seminary Darul Uloom is located in Deoband.
He further said, "When people in India were writing huge books...the people of England were living in caves and they think they civilised us."
Stating there are five old civilisations in the world, Khan said that while the Iranian civilisation was known for its glory, Chinese for their skill, Romans for their beauty and the Turks for their bravery, India was the only civilisation known for its knowledge and wisdom.