Islam

"This Book, there is no doubt in it, is a guide to those who keep their duty." The Holy Quran.

This study cannot cover the detail and circumstances which proceeded and accompanied the advent of Islam. The only thing we can do is to give a brief survey of some aspects of life in tile important countries of that time.

It is easy for the observer of the history of humanity shortly before the mission of Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) and the advent of Islam to realize that the world, from end to end, was filled with grievances that the groans were heard everywhere.

In Persia, where the Chosroes were absolute rulers and fire was deified and worshipped, various grievances resulted in the emergence of Mani in the third century A. D. He called for celibacy and outlawed marriage as a means of hastening the extinction of the human race and, by cutting out posterity to enable light to overcome darkness. Mani was followed by Mezdek who declared that people are born equal, with no difference between them, and that they should have equal shares in life. Because the accumulation of wealth and women were the chief ambition of men, he according to Shabrastani's «Creeds and Cults», declared women a common property and allowed people to possess wealth in equal shares as in the case of water, fire and fodder. In this context, Professor Arthersil says that the Iranian society was based on classes on the lines of lineage and profession. Between the different classes there was a wide and unbridged gap. The government forbade commoners to purchase the properties of the princes or dignitaries; it was the Sassanian political principles that everybody had to be satisfied with the position he inherited from his forefathers and not to look forward to anything move. Nobody was permitted to adopt a profession other than that, for which he was fit; no person of humble origin was allowed by the Thanian kings to hold positions close to them. Even the commoners had different status and each class had its own specific position in society.

In the Roman Empire there were the same grievances which weakened its position. The afflictions of its citizens were many; taxes and duties were doubled to the point that, everybody was angry with the government. They hated it deeply and were happy to have any other foreign government to replace it. In 532 A.D., thirty thousand people died in the capital because of the revolutions and disturbances which took place.

Justice, as Sealle says, was marketed and bargained for and bribery and treason were encouraged by the nation. Gibbon also states that at the end of the sixth century, the state reached the final stage of decay. Previously, it was like a big tree in the shade of which the nations of the world took shelter. Later, nothing remained of that tree except, the trunk which was withering away. The same point is, mentioned by Butler who says that the Romans used to collect tolls from every individual in Egypt along with other taxes. According to him the taxes collected by the Romans were beyond the paying capacity of the people. They were also collected in an unfair manner, but although the populace was annoyed by injustice they found themselves unable to escape it since they lived under ruthless control. Nor could they reach their goal by any other external means. In an attempt to express their displeasure they involved themselves in controversial arguments and sterile metaphorical discussions. A monk of that time describes how controversies were to be found everywhere, in the markets, at the cloth merchants, the money changers and food dealers. If someone wanted to exchange a gold coin, he had to enter into an argument as to what was created and what was not. Again, if somebody wanted to enquire about the price of greed, he would get as an answer that the Almighty Allah came from the son and the son was obedient to him. If he asked whether his bath had warm water the attendant would reply saying that the son was created from nothingness.

The same was also true of China, for the people there disturbed by many ideas to which no solution could be offered, whilst the complicated problems increasing day after day. There were three religions in China, Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. They either fell short of serving man's purposes or were themselves too weak. They soon disappeared and the Chinese were left without any religious message by means of which they could solve the problems of the world.

In the Arabian peninsula we find paganism dominant. Gambling was something to be proud of and usury the order of the day. Women were considered as objects of enjoyment and were deprived of their right to live in a dignified manner; the new-born girl was sometimes killed immediately. Wars would break out for any trivial reason and there were many symptoms of decadence.

Al-Tabari says in his commentary upon The Holy Quran that in pre-Islamic days man used to gamble away his family and wealth. If he lost the game he sat sad and looked at his money being transferred to somebody else's hands and this, in turn, engendered enmity and hatred.

It could be said that, as a whole, the world had not even one virtuous nation, or a single society founded on morals. There were no governments based on justice and righteousness, no leadership established on science and wisdom, nor a religion revealed to a prophet to lead mankind to prosperity and safety. These grievances, despite their different causes, prompted all peoples to look for a savior who would remove injustice and oppression and who would inculcate a new spirit into their souls. This was not a reason for the advent of Islam - these grievances could have been treated by the revival of past messages and the need was not so very pressing for a new prophet and a new religion.

But the need for Islam stemmed from another direction which made it very necessary for humanity to have a new religion which would, through the amalgamation of the spiritual with the material, be able to realize for humanity its purposes and objectives. The need for such a religion was urgent and its function was to lead the people to an effective and noble life which would recognize earthly needs and sublime virtues. For all these reasons, Islam came to make the world happier and the peoples safe from tyrants. "That is the right religion - but most people know not".

Allah has honored man and given him a mind and made him superior to all others. Man's mind has developed since Adam, the father of all mankind and yet during the course of time, the mind of man became weakened and in need of aid to help it ahead.

To promote the faculties of the mind, Allah sent consecutive messages with a number of messengers. Each one of those messengers tried to gain the confidence of his people. Miracles were matters which suited the immature nature and mentality of peoples to whom the prophets were assigned and, for this reason, these miracles were material phenomena which had to be believed in by the beholders and which gave the people the impression that the messengers had the support of a supernatural power.

Man's mind and logic did not realize that it was Allah who created everything and that Allah was Right and Omnipotent. To prove this we need not go back to the days of past prophets and see how they tried to convince their peoples. We will simply review some of the events which occurred some twenty-five centuries ago.

when Allah sent Moses to his people. He gave him qualities which could not be denied. He (Moses) was called from the right side of the valley in the blessed spot of the busy. Allah says what means:

"O Moses, surely I am Allah, the Master of the worlds : And cast down thy rod So when he saw it in motion as if it were a serpent, he turned away retreating, and looked not back. O Moses, come forward and fear not; surely thou art of those who are secure. Insert thy hand unto thy bosom, it will come forth white without evil, and remain calm in fear. These two are two arguments from Your Master to Pharaoh and his chiefs. Surely they are a transgressing people. (The Holy Quran).

These miracles clearly prove the supremacy of mind's logic and show how materialist conception overcomes the spiritual one.

Five or six centuries later, Jesus was sent to his people to ask them to believe in Allah. As a proof of his having the support of Allah and that he was inspired by Him he treated the sick and revived the dead. when Allah will say what means :

" O Jesus, son of Mary, remember My favor to thee and, to thy mother, when I strengthened thee with the Holy Spirit; thou spokest to people in the cradle and in old age, and when I taught thee the Book and the Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel, and when thou didst deternible out of clay a thing like the form of a bird by My permission, then thou didst breathe into it and it became a bird by My permission; and thou didst heal the blind and the leprous by My permission; and when thou didst raise the dead by My permission; and when I withheld the Children of Israel from thee when thou camest to them with clear arguments .. but those of them who disbelieved said: This is nothing but clear enchantment. (The Holy Quran).

This shows how the miracle had developed according to the development of man's mind. From having been concerned with mere matter, it became matter which resulted from heart and feeling. In Jesus' preaching, the call for considering the sentiments of pity, forgiveness and affection was mingled with another call which had no support of logic. This was the call to believe in the Divinity of Allah and, again, it proves that up to that time the mind was in so mature as to be able to realize the supreme truth about Allah and He was One, on Whoa all depend and that He begets not, nor is begotten and who has no equal.

At the time of Moses and Jesus, Egypt's sciences, philosophy and law passed to Greece and Rome where they conquered the minds of peoples. It is from them that the Greek philosophy and literature took the best. when the mind developed, together with its capacity for logic, it noted that material miracles could not be taken as mental or logical proofs.

Allah has ordained that logic a mind was the crowning quality of human life, provided that logic should not be void of sentiment and spiritual considerations. Mind should compromise between logic, reason, the sentiment and the spirit, all combined together. In this way, it can discover the maximum qualities of humanity and could also discover the secrets of the universe. This was embodied in Islam, the message of which was assigned to Islam's Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdllah, Peace be upon Him. Muhammad's message called for righteousness and reasoning supported by sentimental and spiritual considerations. Allah says what means:

"In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, and the ships that in the sea with that which profits men, and the water that Allah sends down from the sky, then gives life therewith to the earth after his death and spreads in it all (kinds of) animals, and the changing of the winds and the clouds made subservient between heaven and earth, there are surely signs for a people who understand. Allah says what means: In this creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day there are surely signs for men of understanding. Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and (lying) on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth. Allah, Thou has not created this in vain. Glory be to thee. Save us from the chastisement of the Fire. (The Holy Quran).

Since religion lay at the pinnacle of mental maturity, it had to include solutions for all the problems of man. With Islam mankind will be in no need of another religion. To achieve all these goals, the tenets of Islam are to correspond with the nature and aspirations of man. They seek his welfare even in the case when man, for some reason, has no affiliation to them. Allah says what means :

"So set thy face for religion, being upright the nature made by Allah in which He has created men. There is no altering Allah's creation. That is the right religion - but most people know not." (The Holy Quran).

With that call man can dispense with any other appeal since it would be purposeless. For this reason, Muhammad's miracle was represented in that Holy Book which was revealed to him, containing positive power corresponding with humanity in its climax of development. It deals with all human necessities, leaving nothing on earth without careful study. It safeguards for all peoples, and all generations, progress, prosperity and stability. Allah says what means:

" This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor to you and chosen for you Islam as a religion. (The Holy Quran).