Individual, Not Group

INDIVIDUAL, NOT GROUP The right method of the interpretation of history is to view the individuals rather than the humanity in totality. T he correct interpretation of human history, in reality, can be only one – one that is in accordance with the Creator’s scheme of things. The Quran enjoys the position of an authentic source on this subject. Its study tells us which interpretation of history is in accordance with God’s creation plan. A great number of historians, past as well as present, have compiled many books on history, but these books are no more than chronicles, for they fail to reveal the meaningfulness of human history. According to these books, history appears to be a jungle of meaningless events. The English historian, Edward Gibbon (d. 1794) has aptly put it as follows: “History, which is indeed, a little more than the register of crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.” What is worth noting as regards the interpretation