THE QURANIC CONCEPT OF HISTORY

Since time immemorial, man had deprived man of religious freedom. But as time went on, circumstances changed until, in the seventh century, the Prophet and his Companions found the opportunity to put an end to the monarchical system, in the process throwing open the doors of religious freedom to all men and women. At present, history is passing through this phase of freedom. According to the creation plan of the universe, man is not destined to be the master of history. Man is only the manager of his own person. He should not try to become the controller of events. Man is responsible only for controlling his own self: his principal objectives should be to remain on monotheism and see to it that he is just in all his dealings with other fellow beings throughout his life. This is religion (ad-Din) and following it in one’s life is to uphold religion (Iqamat-e-Din). In ancient times, the kings tried to control the course of history. But this went against God’s creation plan. Therefore, God brought the institution of monarchy to an end. The present age is thus one of freedom and democracy, a situation which could not have come to exist without the intervention of God. The Muslims of the present age have failed to understand this divine creation plan. According to their self-styled interpretation of God’s religion, they have come to regard their duty as being to establish their own rule throughout the world. It is as if once again they are attempting to become the controllers of human history. This is indisputably at variance with the scheme of the Almighty. It has never been the will of God that human beings should be allowed to carry such intentions into effect. On the contrary, the responsibility of Muslims is, first and foremost, to become subservient to God, rather than become the managers of human history. This is why the self-styled jihad of present times has become a total failure. All that the self-styled jihad of Muslims has done, far from putting them in control of history, is to reduce them as a community to a state of ruination. o According to the creation plan of the universe, man is not destined to be the master of history. Man is only the manager of his own person.