The Policy of the Prophet

they benefit from pollination, they should continue with this practice. I had only made a guess and formed an opinion. There is no need to follow my opinion in such matters. If, on the other hand, I say anything about God, it must be adhered to. Because I never say anything untrue when I am speaking of God.” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2363) The Prophet’s advice amounted to de-linking religion and science. In this way scientific research found an atmosphere of freedom in which to advance. Subsequently, for the first time in human history, scientific knowledge began to develop without the intervention of religion, and gradually reached the present stage of its development. Today, once again, man is faced with a more serious impasse. That is, despite extraordinary progress in science and technology, human life is beset with all kinds of problems, and there appears to be no sign of getting rid of them. This modern dilemma, in brief, is the unwillingness to recognize that freedom should have its limits. Modern man hailed personal liberty as the summum bonum but failed to set boundaries to it. Therefore, freedom became akin to permissiveness, which can lead only to anarchy. All the afflictions of western society today are traceable to this. Now man requires an ideology, which specifies distinct areas of freedom, and draws the line between desirable and undesirable actions. Only Islam can provide this kind of ideology. Today the time is ripe for people to open their hearts to Islamic ideology. For one thing, the fall of communism has produced an ideological vacuum, which Islam alone can fill. In the present world, we have countries, which are economic super-powers and military superpowers. But the place of the ideological super-power remains vacant, and that belongs, potentially, to Islam alone. There is only one obstacle to the realization of this potential and that is Muslim movements having taken a violent course in present times. These movements present Islam to the world in the guise of a violent religion. That is why modern man shies away from it. He develops a bias against it. But when this prejudicial state of affairs is brought to an end, and Islam is presented to the world as a non-violent religion, with a peaceful ideology, once again humanity will welcome it with open arms. There is no religion of this kind today except Islam. It is Islam and Islam alone which meets all human needs. Individually, there are many men and women who, having studied Islam, have acknowledged its very special qualities. Out of these, some acknowledge the virtues of Islam in the ideological sense. Others have gone further and accepted Islam as a total way of life. Dawah Activism Islamic activism, in respect of its method, is based on non-violence, and in respect of its goal, on dawah. Dawah, in fact, is another name for the peaceful struggle to propagate Islam. It would therefore be true to say that Islamic activism and dawah activism are synonymous. The work of dawah is no simple task. It enjoys a pivotal position. When this work is performed with thoroughness, all other difficulties will automatically be overcome. On this subject the Quran