Capability and Alertness

that a journalist observes’ when compiling a story. These principles have been illustrated by a special term in journalism: inverted pyramid. For instance, a building, 21-storeys in height, is being constructed in town. When a journalist makes a story out of this, his first sentence will be: ‘21-storey building constructed.’ Clearly, the 21st storey was the last thing to be built. First the plan was laid; then the ground was prepared; then the foundations were dug, and construction started from the base, until finally the top storey was erected. But, in the news story, it is the twenty-first storey that comes first. One can say that if science attaches importance to real value, then journalism attaches importance to news value. This contradiction in the two major departments of life has caused chaos on earth. The principles which we adopt in science with successful results, we fail to adopt in the rest of our lives; there, we put the contrary principles into practice. The result of this contradiction is that the success which we have obtained in science, we have not been able to obtain in ordinary life. We can, by scientific means, construct a superbly planned town, but in this same town we cannot live superbly planned lives. Science has enabled us to manufacture machines which work with technical perfection, but we cannot make man fulfill his duty with the same technical perfection. The thing which is flashed most in the newspapers is that which has the most news value. The most successful press conference is one which is convened on some major public issue. We would like this situation be changed. We would like to see the same realistic posture that is adopted in the world of physics, adopted in the world of man also. Islam holds that Quran is God’s light to man, guiding him on the path to this life of realism. The summary of its teachings is that man should adopt the religion that the whole universe has adopted: Are they seeking a religion other than God’s, when every soul in heaven and earth has submitted to Him, willingly or by compulsion? (Quran, 3:83) The relation between the Quran and the universe is the same as that between theory and demonstration in science. The Quran is the theory of what the universe follows on a practical level. The Quran tells us of the existence of God, and the universe, with its superb design, confirms the truth of this. The Quran, further, tells man to bow before the Lord, just as the trees cast their shadows on the ground, prostrating themselves before God in all humility.