The Islamic view of history can be explained in terms of
the philosophy of ideals, as presented by late Dr. Muhammad Rafiuddin
(1904-1969), former director of Iqbal Academy (Karachi, Pakistan). According to
him, the unchanging characteristic of the human nature — ingrained, of course,
by Almighty Allah (SAW) — is that the motivating force behind all human
endeavors is the urge for ideals. Thus, different stages of the life of a
culture-civilization, i.e., birth, growth, decline, and death, can be correctly
understood only in terms of this philosophy of ideals, briefly described in the
following paragraphs.
A number of individuals inspired by a single ideal organize themselves in the form of an ideal-group, e.g. a primitive tribe or a modern state. Their ideal may be a certain personality, a supernatural belief, or a social theory. By definition, members of the ideal-group believe their ideal to be the highest possible form of Beauty and Perfection. They make an effort to realize the ideal in practice, the result of their effort being the intellectual, cultural, and behavioral framework of that particular culture-civilization, including their language, religion, art, music, poetry, architecture, morality, philosophy, science, and law.
Initially, Almighty Allah (SWT) allows the culture-
civilization to freely prosper and develop in all directions. In due course of
time, however, the inherent defects and internal conflicts of the wrong ideal
start manifesting and the ideal-group begins to deteriorate. Ultimately, over a
variable period of time, the
culture-civilization gradually dies and disappears, making way for the
next and possibly better ideal to capture the imagination and passion of a
fresh generation, and the process repeats itself on a relatively higher plane
of evolution. One Qur’anic verse summarizes this entire process in these words:
Do they
not see how
many generations We did
destroy before them, whom We
had firmly established in the
land as We have not established you, and showered abundant rain on them, and
made rivers lap at their feat, yet whom We destroyed for their sins, and raised
new generations after them? (Al- An‘aam 6:6)
A deep study of history will show that the social evolution of humanity is progressing in a particular direction. Adopting and discarding one ideal after another, it is destined to reach the ultimate, permanent, and stable culture-civilization which will be based on the Right Ideal, i.e., an ideal which is in harmony with the human nature, and therefore free from all possible defects. This culture-civilization of the future will be characterized by the domination of the Right Ideal; in other words, by the domination of Islam. We shall return to this topic later in this treatise.
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