Islam — The Religion of Humanity by Maulana Muhammad Ali (d. 1951) was first published in 1928, being a condensed version of the author’s introductory Preface in his monumental 1917 publication The English Translation of the Holy Quran, with Commentary. This popular booklet ran into numerous reprints, with hundreds of thousands of copies being distributed free all over the world. It was also translated into many languages including French, German, Dutch, Italian, Hungarian, Polish and Chinese.
In view of the popularity of this booklet, it was felt that it should be expanded to give greater details of the noble teachings of Islam. Since its original publication, Maulana Muhammad Ali had produced such highly-acclaimed and invaluable books as The Religion of Islam (1936), The New World Order (1944), Living Thoughts of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (1947), and the revised edition of his Translation of the Holy Quran with Commentary (1951). It was also felt that the unique exposition of Islam contained in these books should be made available in a very concise form.
Islam — The Religion of Humanity has, therefore, been enlarged by incorporating suitable passages from the above and other books of the Maulana. While retaining the original form of the booklet, existing sections have been amplified and some new sections added. In making these additions, some minor editing was necessary to ensure continuity and balance in the text.
Such a revised edition was first published in 1980. The present edition contains further revision and addition of the same kind, and was first published in 1985. The work of revision was conceived and carried out by the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore (U.K. branch), based in Wembley, London, through Dr. Zahid Aziz, who also did the typesetting and the preparation of the camera-ready copy for the 1985 edition.