| THE QUR'ANIC FOUNDATIONS AND THE STRUCTURE OF MUSLIM SOCIETY By: Dr. Muhammad Fazl-ur-Rahman Ansari – B.Th., M.A. Ph.D. President: World Federation of Islamic Missions. In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful "- - - - - and we have revealed unto thee (o Muhammad pbuh) the Book as an exposition of all things, and as a Guide, a Mercy and Glad tidings to the Muslims" 16/89 al-quran. FORWARD. DR. SIR MOHAMMAD IQBAL ON THE PREDICAMENT OF MODERN HUMANITY AND THE WAY OUT. The modern man with his philosophies of criticism and scientific specialism finds himself in a strange predicament. His Naturalism has given him an unprecedented control over the forces of nature, but has robbed him of his faith in his own future. It is strange how the same idea affects different cultures differently. The formation of the theory of evolution in the world of Islam brought into being Rumi's tremendous enthusiasm for the biological future of man. No cultured Muslim can read passages as the following without a thrill of joy: Low in the earth I lived in realms of ore and stone; And then I smiled in many-tinted flowers; Then roving with the wild and wandering hours, O'er earth and air ocean's zone, In a new birth, I dived and flew, And crept an ran And all the secret of my essence drew; Within a form that brought them all to view – And lo, a Man! And then my goal, Beyond the clouds, beyond the sky, In realms where, none may change or die – In angle form; and then away Beyond the bounds of night and day, And Life and Death, unseen or seen, Where all that is hath ever been, As One and Whole, (Rumi: Thadani's Translation) On the other hand, the formulation of the same view of evolution with far greater precision in Europe has led to the belief that 'there now appears to be no scientific basis for the idea that the present rich complexity of human endowment will ever by materially exceeded. This is how the modern man's secret despair hides itself behind the screen of scientific terminology - - - - Thus, wholly overshadowed by the results of his intellectual activity, the modern man has ceased to live soulfully, i.e. from within. In the domain of thought he is living in open conflict with himself; and in the domain of economic and political life, he is living in open conflict with others. He finds himself unable to control his ruthless egoism and his gold-hunger which is gradually killing all higher striving in him and bringing him nothing but life-weariness. Absorbed in the 'fact', that is to say, the optically present source of sensation, he is entirely cut off from the unplumbed depths of his own being. In the wake of his systematic materialism has as last come that paralysis of energy which Huxley apprehended and deplored - - - - - -Modern atheistic socialism, which possess all the fervor of a new religion has a broader outlook; but having received its philosophical basis from the Hegelians of the left wing, it rises in revolt against the very source which could have given it strength and purpose. Both rationalism and atheistic socialism, at least in the present state of human adjustments, must draw upon the psychological forces of hate, suspicion, and resentment which tend to impoverish the soul of man and close up his hidden sources of spiritual energy. Neither the technique medieval mysticism nor nationalism nor atheistic socialism can cur the ills of a despairing humanity. Surly the present moment is one of great crisis in the history of modern culture. The modern world stands in need of biological renewal. And religion, which in its higher manifestations, is neither dogma, nor priesthood, nor ritual, can alone ethically prepare the modern man for the burden of the great responsibility which the advancement of modern science necessarily involves, and restore to him that attitude of faith which makes him capable of winning a personality here and retaining it Hereafter. It is only by rising to a fresh vision of his origin and future, his whence and whither, that man will eventually triumph over society motivated by an inhuman competition, and a civilization which has lost its spiritual unity by its inner conflict of religious and political values. From: Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam . pp. 176-178.
IF YOU LIKED IT PLEASE PASS IT TO OTHERS PLEASE JOIN MY GROUP by visiting Group Home Page: ISLAMIC EDUCATIONAL – INFORMATIVE – LITERATURE & MORAL/MODEST ARTICLES – FOR MUSLIM UMMAH. Sister Linda Flis Ahmed is a new revert to Islam – has created Islamic Yahoo Group: Asdiqaa_Muslimin @yahoogroups.com Asdiqaa_Muslimin@yahoogroups.com : Please join the group & Share your contributions. (operating from The U.K) English – Urdu - Arabic Asdiqaa_Muslimin promotes mainly comparative religion & the true essence of Islam, which is PEACE. Muslims who are educating others about Islam must do so in the manner prescribed by the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Please JOIN: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Asdiqaa_Muslimin Read more on her Home Page.
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To seek the knowledge is blessed duty of every Muslim male and female. The first word of Holy Quran is "Iqra" is showing the importance of education.
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