The Alarm of Doomsday

THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF HUMAN HISTORY the doors to freedom of thought. Therefore, God Himself intervened in human history through the Companions of the Prophet. This, in essence, was not merely a political change: it was the initial stage of the forthcoming scientific revolution. The two big monarchical empires of the Byzantines and the Sassanids were dismantled by the Companions of the Prophet, resulting in the establishment of an open atmosphere of scientific research. (21:18). An ancient prophet prophesied the same revolutionary event in the Bible: He looked and startled the nations. And the everlasting mountains were scattered. (Habakkuk, 3:6) Here “the everlasting mountains” means those political ‘mountains’ that existed from ancient times in the form of imperial powers. The renowned French historian, Henri Pirenne, (d. 1935) refers thus to the demolition by Islam of this absolute imperialism: “Islam changed the face of the globe. The traditional order of history was overthrown.” (Henri Pirenne, History of Western Europe, p. 46) Two Aspects of the Scientific Revolution From one point of view, the west’s revelation of the secrets of nature gave expression to the signs of God’s creation. From another, more material point of