Prophetic Guidance for the Modern Age

progress in civilization, man is not able to secure peace and contentment. There is no doubt about it that the most damaging factor is the acceptance of this modern concept of absolute equality between men and women. For details see the book titled: “Women in Islam” by the author. In this matter, had man adopted the guidance given by the Prophet of Islam, he would never have suffered any lack of balance. One of the realities conveyed by God through the Prophet of Islam concerns the law of nature, viz. the creation of man and woman having been done in such a way that each of them has been given something which the other has not been given. In this way both go together to make a whole. Neither is complete in himself or herself. But when they both join together a complete whole is produced. This is the reality, which has been thus expressed in the Quran: You are members one of another. (The Quran, 3:195). This finds expression in a Hadith in these words: Truly women are half of men (Sunan abu Dawood, Hadith No. 236). One aspect of the knowledge that man receives from the Prophet may be called the divine scheme of things. That is, the Prophet tells us what God’s scheme in life for man and the universe is. This is essential for an understanding of life on earth. Those who are oblivious of this reality can never make a successful plan in life. For instance, thinkers of modern times may have devised ideal plans for the building of society, but these have largely failed to contribute anything positive to humanity, because of the unnatural premises which these thinkers took as their point of departure, i.e. they envisioned a social system in which all sections of society would find an equal position. When we judge this projection by the criterion of nature, we find a basic weakness in the underlying theory. The difference existing between men socially and economically is not in reality traceable to exploitation. Nor is it due to the plotting of tyrants. The real difference stems from the fact that people are born different. For instance, some are more intelligent, some are less intelligent; some are strong, some are weak; some find every opportunity to work, while others are faced with some accident or early death; some are born in favourable circumstances, while others live and die in penury. This difference, created by nature itself, is largely the result of the different status of people in society. And this difference is related to external factors, which are beyond human control. Then how can human beings ever root out these differences? Socialist thinkers hold that all the resources of production should be taken over by the government so that it may enforce equality among all people by the use of state power. When the socialist system attempted to do so, it was revealed that this artificial effort to produce equality had killed something greater, and that was the incentive to action. In the socialistic system no one was the owner; all were salaried government servants. This bid