STRESSING ON THE BASICS

~ 51 ~ for the ocean to be formed. There has to be steam in the engine for it to move at all. There are two ways of working. One is to draft the whole plan before the launching of the mission. Another is to start with the basics, the foundations. While the first method is adopted by the legislature, the second is adopted by a movement, for the first method will do the movement more harm than good. That is why messengers of God emphasized the basics in order that the foundation may take root. In the early period of Islam only the fundamentals were revealed for a long time. It was only with the advance of time that other things followed. Thus a solid foundation was gradually built, without which no edifice can be constructed. From the Islamic point of view, it is by the grace of God that we are able to work on an individual or social level. Man takes certain initiatives which come to fruition only when God approves of and blesses them. Once a person asked the Maulana why the Muslims were not entrusted with power on earth. He replied: “When you are not applying God’s commandments