ISLAM—CREATOR OF THE MODERN AGE

Law of Nature Man can exercise his freedom but he cannot change the course of nature. Dutifulness A rights-based ideology is focused upon what has to come from others, whereas a duty-based ideology starts with the self. What brought about this thinking in the Arabs in the first place, considering that they had been submerged in the same backwardness as the rest of the world of that time? There can be only one answer: the creed of monotheism. The Arabs, after the advent of Islam, were imbued with the spirit of monotheism, while others practiced polytheism. This difference caused the divergence in their histories, one shaped by the course of events, the other shaping history itself. Henri Pirenne acknowledged this as a historical fact: “Islam changed the face of the globe. The traditional order of history was overthrown.” There is no doubt that the scientific revolution was set in motion by the Arab Muslims. But the initial stimulus came from the new way of thinking which had been made possible by Islam. Logically, the history of science can no longer extol the achievements of just one nation, but shows science as a gift of the religion sent by God Almighty for the eternal guidance of mankind. o