The Issue of Mindset

mentality stemmed from polytheistic beliefs. This is referred to by the term fitnah in the Quran (8:39). It was only by dint of the Prophet and his Companions’ struggles that this mindset was destroyed. Subsequently, the age of the mindset based on divine guidance dawned. It was founded on Tawheed, the oneness of God. This mindset remained dominant for about a thousand years after that. With the end of the 18th century, a new phase in human history began. This new age was, once again, based on deviation from the right path. It was based on atheistic ideologies. In the Islamic period, God was the centre of human thought, shaping human activities. However, in the new age, Nature took the place of God and became the new basis of human thought and actions. This fundamental transformation in people’s mindset resulted in a complete change in all practical aspects of human life, so much so that even those people who still believed in God did not remain unaffected by this all-pervasive intellectual storm. The development of this new mindset took place over a long period, and numerous people played a crucial role in it. The iconic figure of this new age was Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). Newton studied