Islam The Only way by Anisuddin Aahmad

Islam The Only way
by
Anisuddin Aahmad

Contents

1. Our Modern Age
      Remedies aggravate troubles
      The image of religion damaged
      Religion—the only way
2. The Present World---A Stock Taking
       Knowledge
       Energy and Power
       Wealth
        Food
       Clothing
       Housing
       Medical Aid
      The Robot Age
 3. Foundation of Modern Civilization
       Atheism
       Utilitarianism
       Epicureanism
       Liberalism
       Secularism
       Nationalism
       Modern democracy
       Darwinism
       Dialectical process        
4. Struggle of Aspirations
       War on the dining table
5. The Solutions Presented by Our Modern Civilization
        The communist View
        The Capitalist View
6. Islam Shows the Way?
        What is man?
7. Islam shows the way
8. A misunderstanding Removed.

 OUR MODERN AGE

The present age has grown to be far richer than the previous ones in many respects. The vast treasures of its ideas and scientific knowledge, the fabulous amount of its material wealth and its marvelous achievements in the domain of science and technology have no parallel in human history. But this is only one side of the picture. The other side is dark and gloomy. The preset age suffers acutely from the lack of moral and spiritual values. This is, probably, the first period in human history, which has completely discarded moral and spiritual values in man’s life.

This great lacuna in the life of man has upset everything and thrown him quite out of gear. Consequently all our learning, experience and material wealth instead of promoting pleasures and happiness are actually adding to our sufferings and miseries almost every moment. The very redeeming factors have turned hostile and the humanity at large has been caught in a death trap.

Our modern age has, on the one hand, given rise to such systems and ideologies which are inspiring baser feelings in man. They are arousing in him immoral passion, uncontrollable selfishness, and insatiable greed and ambitions. They are exciting in him giant forces of division and disruption, hatred and enmity, jealousies and bickering. All these have combined to make man assume the role of a devil bent upon riding roughshod over the rights and privileges of others. On the other hand with the help of increasing knowledge and skill of science and technology an unprecedented stockpile of destructive weapons has come into being threatening the very existence of man on earth. It is said that the stock-piles of germs, poison gases and nuclear warheads are more than sufficient to deprive the earth of all traces of life on it. But the destructive aspirations of man still remain to be appeased. He is out to invent such a weapon as would blow up the entire world is one single stroke. Thus, both the ideological and material resources are jointly proceeding forward to annihilate mankind from the surface of the earth.

Thirdly, the constructive genius of man is ceaselessly producing articles of comforts and luxuries. Even these apparent blessings have become a bone of contention due to the lack of a moral code. Every nation on national level and every individual in smaller spheres is striving to appropriate everything for himself with complete disregard to the rights of others. This has been rendered inevitable under the impact of a highly selfish mind hatched up by our modern civilization. In fact, this very trend of mind is responsible for the rabid corruption at all levels and accounts for all the ills and misgivings obtaining in the present world.

Remedies aggravate troubles

The most interesting aspect of the situation is that everybody appears to be completely overwhelmed by the glitter and gimmicks of the modern civilization. So far most of us appear to have failed to read the signs of destructive forces actively playing havoc behind. The result is bound to be tragic. All our efforts to ameliorate the condition of man have actually resulted in the aggravation of all our troubles and added considerably to our already existing miseries and distress. This is because the remedy is being thoughtlessly searched out in places where it is wholly absent. On the other hand we have completely discarded every source where the remedy is to be found. This is the main grit in the wheel. The vacuum created by the absence of moral and spiritual moorings is the main cause of the disastrous dislocation in man’s life. The remedy lies in filling this vacuum. But the greatest tragedy is that the modern mind has nursed a number of prejudices and misunderstandings against religion and morality and is fanatically opposed to them. Unfortunately, the anti-religion elements of our society have full control over political power, scientific knowledge and material resources. Therefore, they have got an upper hand in almost every walk of life. These elements have played and are playing hell with religion. In spite of its tall talks of enlightenment, liberalism and open mindedness, this class is indulging in all sorts of prejudices and irrational attitude against religion, the wonder-drug which can cure the world of all its ills.

The Image of Religion Damaged.

The responsibility of the anti-religious attitude sits mainly on the brows of the advocates of religion. Their misdoings, characterlessness and irreligious activities have largely contributed to the spread of innumerable misunderstandings against it. The image of religion in the eyes of people has been totally destroyed. Nobody can even imagine that religion can ever come to the rescue of man solving the maze of intricate problems confronting the world today. Today religion has become a sign of ignorance, backwardness and superstition. It is regarded a bundle of absurd rites and rituals and a collection of fantastic dogmas. It is simply a private affair between man and God. It has no touch with the problems facing the modern man. It has the wonderful opium effect that detaches man fro the realities of life and shuts him up in the four corners of superstition and ignorance. In short religion which had been the only source of inspiration and guidance since the very descent of man on this planet has now become a badge of backwardness and disgrace. Every step towards religion is tantamount to getting close to backwardness and every step away from religion amounts to a step forward towards enlightenment and progress. This is the picture of religion the world has made out due to gross negligence and inaction of the advocates of religion and morality. Consequently, religion has been dethroned from its august office of guiding and conducting human affairs.

Religion—the only way

This dethronement has deprived man of his real anchorage. That great void thus caused has resulted in an unprecedented disorder in the life of man all the world over. Things have almost reached a climax and the very existence of man stands in jeopardy. Now the position is that man has grown allergic about religion and is groping in the dark in quest of a remedy. But the remedy lies in religion ad religion alone. Religion alone can save humanity and take it to the path of peace and progress. Any attempt to save humanity

Without religion is bound to fail. If the lot of man is not doomed on this planet he cannot but accept religion as his only guide and redeemer. There is no way out. There is however still time for our redemption. We have not yet reached the point of no return.

To understand the point it is very necessary to have a cursory glance on the preset world. This will help us to read the writings on the wall.

The Present World---A Stock Taking

1.Knowledge: 

The most prominent characteristic which distinguishes modern age from that of other periods of history is its unparalleled achievements in the domain of knowledge, science and technology. Learning has undergone all round development. There are innumerable branches of knowledge developing by leaps and bounds. The means and materials of acquiring knowledge is available almost everywhere. A large number of centres of learning have grown up throughout the world. Universities, libraries, educational institutions, publishing houses, presses and many other institutions are constantly institutions far exceeds the number of students in days gone by. It is said that the number of institutions taking part in spreading learning directly or indirectly comes up to 40 lacs. In other words there is one such institution on every thousand persons. It is also estimated that about half a million words are printed every second. Learning and knowledge are being developed in all spheres---physical, biological and psychological. In every field the caravans of leaning are on the march. Atoms are being split up. Journey to Moon is being carried on. The oceans are being explored. Efforts are being made to know the secrets and mysteries of nature. The development of knowledge has actually reached a new high. This is why Julian Huxly has characterized the unprecedented upheaval in knowledge as knowledge explosion”.

2. Energy and Power:  There is a well known saying “knowledge is power”. This means knowledge presupposes power. Knowledge without power and power without knowledge are unthinkable. They are the two faces of the same coin. The existence of knowledge has already been established. Let us see if it is confirmed by the presence of power in our hands. The truth is established in this respect as well, for we have power at our disposal in proportion to our knowledge. Like knowledge our power too has grown both in quantity and quality. It is highly difficult to make an estimate of it and it is almost impossible to estimate its possibilities. Let us examine a few examples. We are all familiar with coal, vapour, mechanical power, electricity, magnetism, light, sound, etc. All of them are so big that to call them giant forces is to ridicule them. We daily experience some of their performances. Coal and vapour drive carriages and factories. Magnetism, sound, light, petrol and mechanical power do innumerable delicate works both big and small with ease and comfort. Electricity serves us like the most obedient servant by driving train and fans, drawing water from under the ground, irrigating lands and doing a countless other works known to everybody. But all these powers have been eclipsed by one energy unlocked very recently. This known as “atomic energy”. Our knowledge of this energy can be harnessed for multipurpose operation and that the work will be done with terrific speed and great precision. Deserts can be transformed into green fields. Incredible increase can be exercised in crop production. Deadly and dangerous diseases can be cured. Change in climates can be brought about. Courses of rivers can be controlled. Hostile forests, poisonous insects and animals and brutes can be easily wiped out of existence. Time and distance can be reduced to such proportions that we can establish contact with the rest of the world in minutes and visit important places of the globe in hours. In short atomic energy can be successfully used to meet almost all the requirements of food, clothing, medical aid, housing and other needs and completely eradicate poverty and want. The advent of this energy envisages a world rolling in wealth and plenty. On the other hand if this energy is used for destructive purposes the entire world can be blown up without much difficulty.

3. Wealth: We have seen above that the present world possesses knowledge and power beyond all doubts. Let us test our observation by surveying the enormity of wealth in our possession. The one inevitable result of the combination of knowledge and power is the production and increase of wealth. If the world has knowledge and power it must have wealth as well in the same proportion. The stocktaking of the wealth of the present world is however beset with numerous difficulties.

The first difficulty consists in finding out the starting point for such a survey.

The second difficulty lies in the poser, ‘Is it possible to make the survey at all? What things are to be taken up and what things are to be left out?’

The third difficulty is the absence of a standard measure or criterion. What quality and quantity will be taken as plentiful?

In the midst of these difficulties it is almost impossible to go on with the work. For this re4ason it is wise to confine our survey to the necessaries of life only. Necessaries comprise only those things without which a man cannot keep himself alive. They are only four---food, clothing, housing and medical aid.

Food: Food is the primary need of every living being. Man cannot live without it. The present world population is said to be 370crores. This population will require 67,52,50,000 metric tones of food material  annually at the rate of half kilogram per head day. The Statesman yearbook 1962-63 gives the following figures of world production of only 8 cereals.

1.         Wheat                          236,700,000                            metric tonnes

2.         Barley                            85,700,000                            metric tonnes

3.         Rhye                              35,480,000                            metric tonnes

4.         Oats                               51,400,000                            metric tonnes

5.         Maize                           214,000,000                            metric tonnes

6.         Rice                             242,200,000                            metric tonnes

7.         Bajra                              68,300,000                            metric tonnes

8.         Potatoes                       280,600,000                           metric tonnes

      Total:                                1,214,380,000                           metric tonnes

This shows that the world production of only eight edibles goes up to more than 121 crore tones. This list does not include pulses, oilseeds, green and dry fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, fish, milk and a lot of other things used as eatables in different lands and by different peoples. All these taken together must exceed double the quantity of the above edibles. According to a conservative estimate the production of foodstuffs is well over four time the requirements of the total population of the globe and if a planned programme of all the arable land is drawn up the area of cultivable land and its production will go up still higher.

In order to have a correct estimate of the situation the expected revolutionary change in the domain of food production must also be kept in view. It is said that man is about to take a big leap by which he will no longer have to depend on plants and animals for his food stuffs. He will get food from sea water and air. He will have refined, healthy, tasteful and nutritious food quite easily and at a very low cost. Man will totally forget the present food tastes and standards. His food reserves will be infinitely increased.

2. Clothing: Cloth occupies the second position in the necessaries of life. Exact figures of cloth production in the world are not available. Nevertheless an estimate can be worked out very easily. In 1965 Indian Cotton Mills numbering 526 only produced 7745 million meters of cloth. The production by handlooms, power looms and other sources of manufacture is not included in the figure. The total production from all sources may amount to well over 9000 million meters per year. It is estimated that the world production may well exceed the Indian production at least by hundredfold. The world production of cloth therefore may vary between 900 to 1000 billion meters. Allowing 15 meters of cloth for every individual on an average the total requirements of cloth goes up to 55.5 billion meters per year. This makes it quite clear that our production far exceeds our actual requirement. It has been rightly claimed that the present production of cloth is so abundant that after meeting the world requirements in full the surplus stock may go round the Equator more than once.

The number and speed of cloth mills are increasing by leaps and bounds. Cotton and numerous other fibers are being used for manufacturing clothes. Several nonfibrous materials are being also used for the purpose. Raiment’s made out of terylene; nylon and rayon are now very common. Experiments are being carried on to use glass and aluminum for the manufacture of clothes. It is also expected the world is about to take a big leap in this direction and the world production may exceed the present one by manifold.

3. Housing: It is long, very since man has come out of caves and rocky dwellings. Now-a-days he lives in big towns and villages, housed in buildings both big and small. Architecture has taken startling strides. Modern buildings have attained high degree of perfection in all respects, in beauty and workmanship, in comfort and luxuries, in height and space; in decency and neatness. Sky high buildings rising well over hundred stroyes are no wonders in modern times. There are innumerable buildings each accommodating a population of a small town. It is said about the famous Empire Buildings of New York that it houses 25 thousand people in it. To crown it all, air conditioned buildings are increasing fast. The process of air conditioning has worked wonders to render relief and comfort and to do away with the rigours of climate. Again the pleasing decency, the cosy softness and the ornamental finish of modern furniture defy all description. It is said that man has reached the threshold of plastic age. In this age metal and other building materials for the construction of houses and furniture will cease to be use. Everything will be made from plastic. Plastic buildings are expected to be built with greater speed and with much less cost.

4. Medical Aid: Medical aid occupies the fourth place in the necessaries of life. The position of the present world in this respect is quite different from that of the bygone ages. Facilities for medical aid are found in abundance in modern times. There are thousands and thousands of government, semi government and private clinics spread all over the world. Innumerable institutions for medical education, laboratories for experiments research centers for investigation and enquiry and working round the clock to save men from diseases and ailments. Specialization in different branches of medical science is moving apace. Development in surgery had reached a new high. Even heart, brain and lungs are operated upon with amazing success. New ones are being planted in place of old ones. Plastic surgery however astounding it may appear, is no longer an outstanding fear of medical science. Hectic search for DNA and Enzyme is on to have control over death. Very recently man has succeeded in finding out the particular enzyme which can dispense with old age and make youth a permanent things Apparatuses which can help treat various diseases have been prepared. It is said that in near future a number of diseases will be completely wiped out of existence.

The Robot age: Very recently man has been blessed with a new gift. It is said that our world is about to enter the robot age. Robot is a mechanical device. It is a man made of iron. Robot will do everything that a man servant does these days—marketing, cooking, washing, upkeep of the house and carrying out the orders of its master. It will even read out books to you when you will so want it to do. Robot is therefore expected to free man from the tyrannies and burdens of labour and toil. It is said that robot is now a reality. It has come out of the experimental stage.

The above survey is brief but revealing. The position of the present world is crystal clear. The present world is a world of plenty having knowledge, power, and wealth in amazing size and enormity. Man has done much to relieve him self of the pain and distress of life. His labours have been fully rewarded. The generous Nature is showering its bounty upon man almost every moment. The whole story conjures up a picture of the present world before our eyes. There is one very important aspect of the picture, which can explained well by a hypothetical method. Suppose for a moment that you are on Mars surrounded by the Martian people. The Martian people will be simply stunned to hear about the plastic and robot ages. They are bound to come to the conclusion that the Earth must be nothing short of a paradise. The people there must be the most fortunate souls and must be living in perfect peace and happiness. They must have no problems at all. Each and every evil must have been wiped out. The life there must be all mirth and joy free from all miseries and sufferings, sorrows and pain.

Now let us come down to the Earth and face the realities. The appalling poverty, the gruesome miseries and sufferings and the smarting want and hunger are most pronounced in human life. Today man sits on huge piles of food stuffs but he is a victim of acute hunger. He stands on Himalayan stocks of cloth, but he is naked. He is surrounded by sky-high houses and is abundantly rich in means of medical aid but is practically quite deprived of them. The situation has become elusive and defies explanation. It is an amazing example of scarcity in the land of plenty. The world has reached a point where everything aggravates and nothing relieves. This is the climax of the crisis man is faced with.

But why is it so? Has man gone mad? Does he lack in knowledge, power or wealth? We have already discussed it. He lacks none of these. He is not mad. On the contrary he is intelligent, scholarly, learned and wise. But nothing is coming to his rescue. Everything appears to be frowning at him. The defect lies in our modern civilization also known as Western civilization. This civilization with all its apparent glamour and outward attraction is solely responsible for the diabolical change in man’s out look reducing him to the position of brutes and monsters. This remark reads uncharitable. To ascertain the truth it is necessary to examine some of the basic foundations of our modern civilization.

FOUNDATIONS OF MODERN CIVILIZATION

Atheism: Atheism is the foundation stone of modern civilization. It literally means disbelief in the existence of God. The atheists believe that the universe has come into being by itself. It is operating by itself and will go on working without any help whatsoever. The entire universe with all its wonderous expressions is the outcome of the blind play of the mysterious chance. It has no planning nor any motive or purpose behind it. This universe has come into being at random, and quite abruptly it will come to its end. At present we are not concerned whether this view of life is correct or wrong. What we are concerned with here is about its actual contributions to man and civilization. Apparently the denial of the existence of God makes no difference at all to the life of man. It is therefore absolutely absurd to drag this issue into discussion. This has nothing to do with the precipitation of any crisis in the life of man. But this mode of thinking will never help us. The issue calls for much serious and sober thinking. In sober thinking it is atheism alone that has precipitated the present horrible crisis. Atheism imperceptibly brings about radical changes in a man’s outlook. It transforms him very secretly. In the first place the magic of atheism makes a man absolutely irresponsible. He thinks himself scot-free and quite unanswered before any authority for his believe and actions. He thinks himself free to do anything. Any person interfering with his whims and fancies must be done away with. This mental change dawns upon him with a basic change in character. He takes off his human mantle and wears that of a body beast. The milk of human kindness and compassion decomposes to the core and spreads its stink all around. Secondly an atheist is apt to think that his existence carries no purpose at all. He has no duty to perform and no obligation and responsibility to discharge. He has been thrown into a world laden with unfathomable riches and boundless resources for his comfort and pleasure. All these lavish bounties of nature have been awarded to him free from obligations and without asking. This idea tempts him to fall a victim to selfishness and greed----the main causes of all troubles in human societies.

Thirdly the creed of atheism leads man to believe that his life is limited to this world only. There is no life after death. This idea adds abundantly to his currish spirit and brutish tastes. He thinks that after his short sojourn on Earth he will be dead and gone for ever. This induces him to take to hedonistic pleasure and enjoyment. This idea is responsible for the creation of a separate school of thought in philosophy. Their key word is represented by the following lines.

Eat, drink and be merry

For tomorrow thou shalt die.

If this idea takes root in a man his lust for sensual pleasure will know no bounds. For the attainment of his objective he will care little for the right of others. Blinded by his lustful passions he may stoop so low that he may not hesitate to use such ways and means as would spell disaster for others, for the whole nation or even for the humanity at large.

This short analysis shows the baneful effects atheism is pregnant with. It is true it does not make any impact or change in the universe and its workings. But it makes a tremendous and radical change on man’s mind. In fact it kills the humanitarian value of a man and a biped animal is left with a mind of a bloody brute. This change in man alters the entire gamut of human behaviour and the whole world turns into a den of cannibals.

Atheism has a number of other aspects as well. Here only a few of the basic ones have been touched. The other aspects will be underlined in discussions made hereafter.

Utilitarianism:  The second basis of western civilization is utilitarianism. This is a necessary result and outcome of atheism. The main idea behind the theory is that every work presupposes some gain or utility. Gain or utility is the motive force of every work done by an individual. A work without a gain is unthinkable. The idea is all correct and nobody can deny the truth of the proposition. But what is gain or utility? The word has been taken to mean differently with different ideologies. The utilitarian people have committed a blunder in interpreting the import of utility and have been caught in a morass. By utility they mean some reward received in this very world in the shape of some material gain. Moreover the gain must give some sensual and hedonistic pleasure, otherwise it is of no worth at all. This idea has tremendously added to the greed and selfishness of the individual and makes his atrocious temper a bit more inhuman. The utilitarian school has given rise to a new school of thought which has entirely changed the character of modern civilization and made it sensate in character.

Epicureanism: Epicureanism forms the third basis of western civilization. This theory is advanced to explain the meaning of utility by Utilitarian School. The theory is also known by the name of Hedonism and Eudaemonism. All these have common aims and objectives. They consider the attainment of hedonistic pleasures and the satisfaction sensual passions to be the aim of human life. Much has been done to prove the validity of these theories. The Epicurean school has made use of logic and literature, passions and sentiments, sensual and sex appeals to attract people towards this theory. It encourages all kinds of indulgence and excesses and consequently makes a man lose control of himself and take such steps as would endanger the life, honour and property of others as well. Therefore Epicureanism works as a great destructive agent and is responsible for many tragedies and crisis in the world.

Now let us see what kind of personality emerges from the combined action of utilitarianism and Epicureanism. The personality developed by them will believe that the sensual pleasure and enjoyments are the real motive behind all actions. They are real values and actual virtues. These are the only desirable things. They are the summum bonum of life. Therefore, anything obstructing their attainment is a veritable evil and heinous sin.

This concept has a far reaching affect on Western civilization. Firstly, it strengthened the utilitarian and atheistic propositions, made a man shake off all shyness, fear and hatred to do the most heinous of crimes and discarded all sense of disgrace and defilement to plunge headlong into moral turpitude and shameful acts of lewdness. All sins now became virtuous deeds. He has lost his conscience for good. Secondly, the concept of values underwent a drastic change. All values became relative. The idea of permanent values was altogether abandoned. There is now nothing good and nothing bad. The same thing is good at one time and bad at another. Everything yielding some material gains and worldly pleasure is considered to be virtue and goodness and all things doing vice versa are considered to be vice and sin. Selfless service is a stupidity of the first order. This theory swept away all moral conceptions. Mercy and compassion, sympathy and sincerity, forgiveness and clemency and all noble and lowly sentiments that give no material benefit are mere absurdities. To take pity on a helpless widow, decrepit orphan and a poor or needy fellow is simply foolishness imprudence. Even the services to mankind and works of public good have become void of sincerity and true sympathy. They are all acts of hypocrisy and deceit, done for some ulterior motive of material gains or hedonistic pleasure. Thirdly, man came under the tight grip of destructive and vandalistic forces and became a mere puppet in the hands of the basest sentiments of animalism. Man is a supreme being. He has got the power to soar up to unknown heights and at same time he can stoop to the lowest of levels. When he surrenders to idea of God and the life after death he rises to unfathomable heights but when he yields to mean and lowly sentiments he falls down to the lowest level of vulgarity and degeneration. Atheism made him irresponsible, utilitarianism and Epicureanism made him a slave of his own desires and passions. This change administered a dose of strong poison resulting in the death of the real man and leaving a monstrous beast in the human body. One can expect nothing save death and destruction from such a creature.

LiblLiberalism: Liberalism is another basis of western civilization. It means enlightenment, broadmindedness and freedom from prejudice and bias. It is opposed to conservatism, fanaticism and obscurantism. It is a generous and tolerant attitude of mind free from traditional orthodoxy. This doctrine caters to the needs of a corporate life. It is an idea par excellence. It discards narrow mindedness and self conceit. It has due respect for the opinion of others. It is, therefore, a boon for the smooth running of our social life and collective security. But modern liberalism has disgressed from the real stand of the concept. It is an abnormal and unbalanced concept of toleration, broadmindedness, generosity and freedom. In its present form it is almost a revolt against all authorities. It wants freedom from bindings and restraints in every walk of life----religious, moral, social, political, economic. Democracy in politics, the policy of Laissez Fair in Economics and the idea of individual liberty in social spheres are the outcome of this concept. The liberalists believe in the unlimited freedom of the individual. They want to do away with every restriction or interference put in from any quarter---church, state or society.

Liberalism has made deep and far-reaching effects on western civilization.

Firstly, in the economic field the idea of lawful and unlawful, honesty and dishonesty, justice or injustice was thrown to the winds. Man became scot-free to acquire and spend wealth according to his own sweet will. He is not bound to follow any code of conduct in his economic dealings. This led to the introduction of forgery, cheating and fraudulent methods in trade and commerce. Gambling, speculation, interest, lottery and the like have become common. Immoral and obscene literature, intoxicants, fireworks, articles of fashion and luxuries and thousand of such things as would be only harmful to man became more important than the most important necessaries of life. Theft and burglary, drinking and prostitution, murders and rape spread like epidemics. Corruption in economic life made deep indents on moral, social, political and other aspects of life as well. Exploitation, profiteering, selfishness, greed, characterlessness, obscenity and ransacking assumed huge proportions. Like mad gods men began to snarl, bite and fall upon each other, turning the world into a hell.

The thread binding the social institutions was broken. Free mixing of females with males, co-education, your festival, and other collective recreations in which your boys and girls may mix freely came into vogue. Women stood shoulder to shoulder with men in all walks of life. Obscenity, immodesty, sexual excesses and evils flowing from them swept away all sense of purity and chastity, honour and prestige, refinement and culture. All incest taboos even against the closest of relations are being thrown to the gutter. Brothers, hotels, bars, recreation clubs, lodges, dancing houses and studios have become centers of sex immorality and lewdness. They defy all description. Marriages and divorces have been reduced to mere pastimes. Family system is in disarray. Hippieism and Teddyism and on the march. Social evils are on the increase. Suicides are becoming common. The moral tone is at low ebb. Morality is the main pivot on which human life revolves. Our moral turpitude and degradation, therefore, have ruined the entire life of man, resulting in oppressions, exploitations, miseries, privations, hatred and unprecedented blood baths and holocausts.

Secularism:  Secularism is the fifth foundation stone of western civilization. It is opposed to religion and morality. It is a long story how secularism came into being. It is no occasion to go into the details. But let us give a hint about it.

In 1453, Muslims took possession of Constantinople which was the seat of learning and culture those days. Men of knowledge and learning fled the country and spread all over Europe. They brought the lamps of learning with them. Europe at that time was all bleak and dark. These scholars from Constantinople encouraged the spirit of research and enquiry in all branches of knowledge. This led to the revival of learning known as Renaissance in history. Christianity was the religion professed by the whole Europe at that time. The religion inherited by the church had a large number of superstitions are baseless materials crept into the original. The Greek philosophy formed the fundamentals of the creed. But the church people were adamant that all these were original and true Christianity and hence anything going against the creed was necessarily wrong and incorrect. On the other side, caravans of learning and research were taking startling strides. Inventions and discoveries poured in from all sides. But they were contrary to the belief of the church, Who characterized them as heretical and irreligious. The church men could not tolerate this insolence on the part of laymen, as these men of letters and learning were called. The church was unable to give out arguments or proofs to contradict the laymen. They wanted to convince them by force and coercion. The result was that eminent scholars, mighty brains and great men of the age had to suffer unspeakable miseries at the hands of the churchmen.  By the order of the Inquisition hundreds of scientist and scholars were committed to the flames alive, thousands were sent to the gallows and a greater number of men were sent to jails to live under the rigours of inhuman tortures and travails. Bruno, Galileo and men like them were mercilessly done to death. The violent and unwise attitude of the church divided Europe in two hostile camps—The Church and Scientists. In the struggle that followed the church was disgraceful defeated and had to vacate the position of leadership for the laymen. The latter were bloodthirsty enemies of the church. The blind enmity made them fanatically hostile to religion and morality. In a fit of their violent hostility of the church the new leadership rejected all the values that came through religion. The new class began to construct the society a new a on a quite a different foundation. Religion and morality were completely discarded from the new concept. As this class was equipped both with pen and sword, it took little time to create a new mind fanatically hostile to religion and morality. Religion became a mark ignorance, superstition and obscurantism. Hostility to the religion was considered to be a symbol of liberalism. The atmosphere thus created proved congenial to anti-religious ideas known as secularism. It became a fashion of the day to put religion to all sorts of ridicules, mockery and scorn. “This must be true because the church is opposed to it” indicated clearly the strong feeling against the church. The above expression was the fashion of the day.

Secularism made ruthless inroads into religion. It completely ignored the divine guidance and discarded all possibilities of the existence of God and the life hereafter. It gainsaid all the moral values and declared them to be only relative in character. Religion was thus dislodged from its position and forced out of power. This was one of the most tragic happenings for man. He lost the real anchorage and began to order his own career with complete disregard to the divine guidance and thereby courted unprecedented disaster for himself on Earth. He became a mere slave to his own passions and desires.

Nationalism:  Nationalism is the sixth basis of western civilization. It is necessary consequence of atheism. Man is a born slave. He is helpless. He cannot change his status. He must live like a slave. As a matter of fact he is a slave of God, but he has been given a bit of freedom as well. He is free to choose God as his lord and master or totally deny to do so. But his denial does not make him free and independent. By refusing to become a slave of God he becomes a slave of some other demigods like his own passions and desires, tradition and customs, nation and homeland, race and colour, power and pelf, name and fame and the like. Atheism by denying the authority of God created a big void and exposed man to the dangers of obeying masters other than God. The void so created was fitted in by Nationalism.

Nationalism is now the master of the people. Sovereignty vests in nation. The greatest virtue now is to sacrifice for the nation. The greatest crime is to go against it. What is profitable for the nation is good and virtuous, no matter if it be against truth and justice. What is harmful to the nation is necessarily a vice and therefore condemnable whether it be just according to truth and honesty. The expression “My nation, right or wrong” is redolent of a nationalist mind. The great propounder of nationalism, Machiavelli, an Italian statesman, in his book ‘The Prince’ has unequivocally advocated.

·        The separation of religion from politics.

·        Ends justify means. Therefore in politics every means even forgery, perjury and the most fraudulent methods must invariably be used to gain one’s end.

·        Rulers must have double faces and must practise duplicity. They should not speak out their minds to the closest of their associates.

·        They must not hesitate to criss—cross the dearest virtue to save the state.

The concept of nationalism proved a death blow to the moral code and humanitarian view in one’s individual and social affairs. Firstly, the idea of the unity of man was completely exploded. Humanity divided itself in innumerable units and groups on the basis of homeland, language, race, colour, caste, class and community. This helped to create a number of prejudices. Every group is locked in a ceaseless struggle and trying to get the better of others in spreading hatred and misunderstandings against one another. This state of affairs has unleashed forces of disruption at all levels. Gross material ambitions have divided mankind into innumerable narrow compartments. In short, man has become the slave of man. Secondly, man became double face. This inauspicious turn in man’s character gave a death blow to the noble human sentiments and roused giant forces of animals instincts ever ready to play the traitor beast. The trust and confidence reposed in him have become with things of the past. The mind staggers to think  to deal with such men.

Thirdly, the separation of religion from politics is one of the greatest tragedies in human life. This has reduced religion to become a private affair between an individual and God. It has also deprived man of the invaluable guidance of religion in social and collective affairs. The result is that man has been caught by the brute forces of merciless high-handedness and cruel torture provided by insane secularism.

Modern Democracy:  Modern Democracy is another basis of our modern civilization. The aim and spirit of the doctrine is well intentioned. It aims at ending the rule of one man or family. It is contradictory to monarchy and dictatorship. It is government by consultation and discussion. Thus in democracy everybody is a ruler. It claims to promote the freedom of conscience freedom of speech, freedom of faith and belief and freedom of the individual, It advocates the idea of equality and fraternity. It promises social justice and equal opportunity for all. All these points render the democracy to be an ideal proposition. But the basic creed and the modus operandi have defeated all its purposes and good intentions.

The basic creed of modern democracy has been summed up in the expressions. “Sovereignty vests in the people”, this conception is the source of all troubles. According to this philosophy the people are the arbiters of their own fate. The ‘general will must prevail’. The will of the prople is the only thing that counts. The conception of lawful and unlawful, right and wrong, good and bad are notions not to be reckoned with. This idea reduced man to the position of a toy in the hands of his passions and desires. Modern democracy gave the slogan. “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”, but practically compelled man to accept the slavery of his own will. The decision was most unfortunate and quite disastrous for the interests and aspirations of mankind.

(a) Another weakness of modern democracy is inherent in its modes of operation. It operates through elections. Candidates have to do a number of things highly undesirable and utterly disgraceful. They have to canvass support for themselves, indulge in selfpraise, use unfair means, make false promises, speak lies openly, hold feasts and dancing and drinking parties. The idea of doing general good is thrown to the winds. The good of the self or the family or at best the party is kept in view. Voters are at times threatened and at times tempted with some personal gain. Rowdies are employed for intimidation. Caste and communal feelings are fanned and riots are arranged. Officers are bribed. Bogus votes are caste. Candidates and voters are kidnapped. Fraudulent methods and speeches are used to mislead the voters. Tall talks and promises are freely made without any intention of fulfilling them. Such actions have never been approved by even the most characterless mediocres before.

A few months before the elections, parties and individuals launch their election campaign. Feverish activities begin slogans of conflicts and strife rend the air. The whole atmosphere is surcharged with activities of working hand is glove, of hatching plots and using fraudulent methods. The situation becomes tense. Friends fall apart. Enemies conspire together. It comes up like a storm and every individual is exposed to the dangers of violence and rowdyism. Third degree methods are extensively used.

(b) The second weakness of the modus operandi is that the people after electing their masters are rendered powerless and invalid. It is because the people actually place at the disposal of the elected coterie the entire resources of the country---treasury, military, police, administration and full legislative powers. All these make them too potent to be controlled by any other power of the land. They oppress and loot the people in all possible ways. They amass fabulous wealth. They befool the people in hundred ways and live like emperors and monarchs. But nobody can have the means and even the courage to correct them. The upholders of democracy very easily convince the people that the real masters are the people of the land. They can easily make and unmake governments. But in modern democracy the removal of bad elements from the government is most difficult is not impossible. It is all the more difficult to elect men of character and ability.

(c ) The third weakness is that worthless and irresponsible people, incompetent even for the post of a chaprasi can be raised to highest position in the country. He can get possession of the resources of the country and the life, property and honour of the people and spoil the whole lot through his foolishness and incompetence.

3. In modern democracy, politics has become a profession. It is at present the most easy the most profitable and the safest profession. There is no parallel to it. Every profession needs some ability, capital and time. But democracy requires none. The only qualification needed is opportunism. In democracy ministry is master key which opens the gates of multipurpose prosperity and progress in almost a negligible space of time. The pauper of yesterday becomes a millionaire of today.

4. With the advent of democracy the sanctity and reverence for law and constitution came to a close. When the source of law and constitution was divine guidance, they quite naturally commanded great respect, reverence and sanctity. Man felt a kind of delight and consolation in putting these laws into practice. He got his sense of devotion and worship satisfied. It is why people felt real pleasure in obeying them even if it entailed difficulties in doing so and a departure from time was considered to be a sin and the conscienced felt a pinching of reproach. Therefore people obeyed these laws and constitution voluntarily and without any pressure from outside. Modern democracy by giving legislative powers to Parliament disbanded all sense of respect and sanctity for law. Parliament is composed of ordinary men in no way superior in character, intellect and learning. Hence it is impossible for it to command sanctity and reverence. Moreover the established laws are repeated and new ones are enacted every now and then reducing them to the ordinary and common place level. The blot encouraged lawlessness in all quarters. Contravention of laws by even the makers of laws is common and frequent. The protectors of law are by no means an exception. The contravention of laws on such a large scale and without fear and hesitation is being done due to two reasons.

a. The contravener has full confidence to escape the clutches of law by putting a cover on his unlawful activities. To conceal a crime and make a pompous show of innocence has become an art a creditable deed these days. Even the most efficient intelligence agencies fail to detect the so concealed crimes. It is said of Hitler and Stalin that they executed a large number of innocent people without letting them know that they had a hand in their murder and execution. Everybody in the last moment of death cries out the slogan “Hail Hitler” and “Long live Stalin”. The fact was so astutely concealed that nobody knew the actual hands that led to their murder.

b. Secondly, a man escapes the clutches of laws by bribes and blackmail. This is a well known technique and needs no explanation. Bribery prevails at all levels and in hundred shapes and forms.

These reasons have devalued laws and likened them to a cobweb, which entraps the weak, and flies into pieces by the strong. This has become a great source of countless evils and vices.

8. Darwinism: Darwinism is another name of the theory of evolution propounded by the great naturalist and biologist Charles Darwin (1809-82). In his opinion the first speck of life appeared in the form of microscopic organism, known as amoeba. This primary sign of life branched off into two directions, one leading to the origin and growth of the vegetable world and other world and other to those of the animal world and man. Amoeba is thus the first and man the last link in the world of living organisms. This wonderful development was made possible by Evolution.

Darwin has propounded this theory in his two famous works. ‘The Origin of Species’ and ‘The Descent of Man’. According to him “Species originate by means of Natural selection or through the preservation of the favoured races in the struggle for life”. He maintains that the various species of plants and animals have acquired their several characteristics by the slow and continuous accumulation of minute differences through countless generations and that the human race itself has been developed through innumerable accumulated minute variations from some groups of anthropoid apes whose own origin, again, may ultimately be traced to the humble organic things. Even man therefore is no distinct creation. His nearest cousins at the present day are the apes and his pedigree extends backwards until it joins that of the lowliest zoophytes. In other words the life of every living creature has to struggle constantly to maintain its existence against other rival living creatures and the force of nature. In this universal struggle those living creatures that prove to be the fittest alone survive or maintain their existence and they may be said to be selected by nature as the fittest for existence to the rejection of a number of unfit ones. Again, according to Darwin and his followers living creatures are constantly undergoing spontaneous modifications or variations. No two creatures are or ever have been born exactly alike. Protoplasmic cells are extremely complex and unstable, and therefore liable to variation and spontaneous variation in the germ cell cause variations in the nature organism. Now fortuitous organic variations are sometimes beneficial to creatures in their struggle for existence and sometimes detrimental. Those changes or variations inherited by posterity go on increasing from generation to generation until at last through the assemblage or accumulation of variations in the same direction, a new species or variety of living being is produced. If the variations are beneficial the variety will be quite fit to maintain itself in the struggle for existence but if the variations are injurious the new variety will be last evolved totally unfit for the struggle and will have to perish inevitably.

The theory is attended with evils of unparalleled monstrosity. It has brought about radical changes in man’s outlooks and reduced him to the lowest pitch of inferiority.

1. Man became social animal. He took off his mantle of a human being and became an animal by origin, nature and disposition.

2. Man became a purposeless creature that has come into existence by mere play of blind chance. His creation has no planning and no meaning at all.

3. The idea of atheism has been strengthened and the concept of the Day of Judgment is negated.

4. All the nobler qualities of man have been denied modesty, chastity, shame, respectability etc. have been gainsaid and negatived.

5. All notions of moral values like mercy, sympathy, love, sincerity, forgiveness etc are declared to be unnatural and fit for fools and buffoons. These were replaced by brute sentiments like death and destructions, envy and grudge, rage and fury, forgery and perjury etc.

6. Religion and morality, revelation and inspiration and the moral, intellectual and empirical assets necessary for the formation of human and noble character have been completely annulled.

7. The law of the jungle, ‘might is right’ prevailed in human society. Man lost all sense of mercy and compassion. The struggle for existence began to rage at all levels and the world was reduced into a den of wolves and wild animals.

9. Dialectical Process: Propounded by the well-known German philosopher Earnest Hegal it had a wonderful effect on western civilization. According to Hegal the evolution of everything in this world and of the world as a whole takes place through the dialectic process of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. Indeed, this dialectical process is the means by which the ultimate being or reality realizes its own nature. It makes explicit or unfolds the opposite or different potentialities or tendencies latent in its nature, reconciles them in higher synthesis and thus evolves the world system and realizes it self as a concrete self conscious spirit.

Karl Marx made use of the theory to explain his own Postulates. He sees the dialectical process working every where in the universe, which is, in his opinion nothing but matter. Thus he formulated two theories, one of dialectical materialism and the other of historical materialism. In his opinion “the material, sensuously perceptible world to which we ourselves belong is the only reality….. Our consciousness and thinking, however suprasensuous they may seem are the product of a material bodily organ, the brain. Matter is not a product of mind but mind itself is merely the highest product of matter”.

(K. Marx, selected works, vol. I, page 332).

Lenin says “Matter, nature, being, the physical ----is primary, and spirit, consciousness, sensation, the psychical-----is secondary” (Lenin Vol. XIII, pages 119-120). Again on page 288 he says “the world picture is a picture of how matter moves and how matter thinks”. On page 125 he again says “the brain is the organ of thoughts”. Emile Burns a great exponent of Marxism, summerises dialectical materialisms in these words. “It (dialectical materialism) is the view which holds that reality exists apart from our consciousness of it and that this reality is not in isolated fragments but interdependent; that it is not static but in motion, developing dying away; that this development is gradual up to a point, when there is a sharp break and something new appears; that the development takes place because of internal conflict and the sharp break in the victory of the rising factor over the dying factor” (what is Marxism page 73).

Karl Marx has a unique interpretation of history. It is most strikingly his own. In his Manifesto of the Communist Party he says “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.

“Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild master and journeyman, in a word oppressed and oppressed stood in constant opposition to one and other carried on an interrupted, now hidden, now open fight---a fight that each time ended either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large or in the common ruin of the contending classes”

Human society is undergoing constant change under the dialectical processes. It has traversed many epochs of history that is primitive, communal, slave, feudal and capitalist. The capitalist system is now tottering and giving place to Communist system, which is the highest point of social development.

Exploitation and all injustices will be completely wiped out in this system. The dictator ship of the proletariat will be established. A classless and stateless society will come into being and man will reach the age of millennium.

This transition from capitalism to communism cannot be brought about peacefully. According to Marx “Force is the midwife of every old society pregnant with a new one”. Communism, therefore, is a call to arms. It entails a programme of third degree methods, fraudulent means and use of force and violence for the achievement of its objects. The theory is responsible for innumerable ills and afflictions of man all over the world.

1. The theory has brought about a complete collapse of moral, spiritual and religious values. “Law, morality religion are so many bourgeois prejudices….”
2. The idea that ends justify means has practically led to the introduction of fraud and hypocricy in every walk of life. The absence of a code of conduct has become a common feature of our society.
3. History repeats itself has been proved to be an impossibility. On the contrary it has been endeavoured to prove that world is progressing every moment. It has no setbacks. Hence everything new is valuable and represents the progressive and everything old is out of date, useless and defunct. Every social system or for that matter any system of life suits a certain time and environment, but becomes useless if a change in time and environment is affected.

The dialectical process proves that every old system is useless as compared with a new system which is essentially more advanced and improved. This proposition makes communism the worst of the system as according to Marx it was man’s most primitive system of life. It is also established that every subsequent system was better than communism.

Secondly, according to the dialectical process history can never repeat itself and therefore there is no question of communism coming up again. But the advocates of communism hold that the first system of man’s life was communism and that last system will also be communism is nothing but to deny the validity of the dialectical process. Communism is unable to remove this contradiction inherent in its postulate.

It favours law of determinism; Marx says, “In the social production of their life men enter into definite relations that are indispensable and independent of their will, relations of production which correspond to a definite stage of development of their material productive forces” (selected works vol.1 page 269). Stalin says “the third feature of production is that the rise of new productive forces and of the relations of production corresponding to them…. Takes place not as a result of the deliberate and conscious activity of men, but spontaneously, unconsciously, independently of the will of men”. (Dialectical and materialism, page 56). These show that time, environment and the dialectical process and some other external forces are driving man to a course uncharted and not thought out by him. Man is helpless in the hands of these agents. Man has no hand in changes brought about since creation.

The individual is a mere tool in the grip of the society. He has no existence of his own independent of society. Every individual belongs to society. The individual has no property rights as such there is no such things as private property.

10. Macdugal’s Theory of Instinct: It has a great influence on western civilization. According to Macdugal man is an animal whose all actions are directed and guided by instincts. Instincts are potential energies provided to men by nature. They compel men to work and move on a particular direction. These instincts are of two kinds:

1. Attractive instincts: These instincts feel charm and attraction to the materials that serve man to maintain, preserve and protect his life.
2. Repulsive instincts: They induce and compel man to hate and recede from the materials that threaten to harm him.

In short nature has created instincts only for the self preservation, self protection and self propagation of human beings just like all other animals on Earth.

11. Freud’s psycho-analysis is gaining increasing importance almost daily. According to Freud human personality is hidden in his unconscious brain. His conscious self is a very small part of his personality. His ideas and opinions, his feelings and sentiments, his tastes and inclinations all gush out from the unconscious. There is in every person an undying sexual impulse which forces him to work for its own satisfaction. But his unquenchable impulse of the unconscious can be satisfied only through the conscience which intensely feels the necessity of satisfying it, but very frequently it cannot do so. It fears the censor of the society. People withhold most of the demands of the unconscious by force to escape disgrace and disrepute to gain name and fame. This leads to a number of very disastrous results. They develop a kind of restlessness and nervousness and begin to suffer from a number of mental diseases. Sometimes they fall a victim to hysteria, lunacy and some nervous diseases. To save men from these diseases, the society diverts their attention to some didoes like religion and morality, art and literature, philosophy and learning etc. The didoes have no importance and no value. They simply keep people in bluff and deception and sometimes keep them safe from the mental ailments resulting from the dissatisfaction of the crazes and passions of the unconscious.

12. Alder, a great admirer and upholder of Freud, gives him unstinted support but he rejects outright the idea of sexual impulse always raging in the unconscious. He holds that it is not a sexual impulse rather it is the sense of superiority that urges man to act. But notwithstanding this basic difference he ridicules religion and morality, art and culture, knowledge and philosophy and considers man to be an animal.

• Darwin holds that man is a direct descendant of apes therefore he is an animal.
• Mocdugal maintains that like animals man is a puppet in the hands of instincts, hence he is an animal.
• Marx opines that like animals man is a slave of his economic and sexual needs, therefore he is an economic animal.
• Freud observes that like animal man is a votary of sex and hence he is a sexual animal.
• Adler declares that all actions of man are governed by his ambition and conceit, hence he is a self conceited animal.
• Some other scientists equate man with animal because the qualities of animal are also found in man and those of man are found in animals.

In short, man has been equated with an animal from all angles—biological, physical, economical and psychological—by persons of great eminence and stature.

The above resume though very brief, gives a clear idea of the nature, character and foundations of Western civilization. It is almost impossible to give a picture of the society and the mental setup of its individuals formed by the above ideas and ideologies. It can however be anticipated that under the circumstances stated above man will become far more merciless than the bloodiest of brutes. His greed, selfishness, lust for power and pelf, dishonesty and brutish passions and desires will know no bounds. He will given to hedonistic and sexual excesses. Canine hunger for the pursuit of pleasure will spell disaster for the human race. He will be an opportunist, a double—faced hypocrite, a characterless plotter, irresponsible, shrewd and crafty tyrant, a cursed hoodlum and a ruffian of the first order.

STRUGGLE OF ASPIRATIONS

One aspect of man must not be lost sight of. Man is not merely a structure of flesh and bones, wrapped up with a skin. He is something more. He has some feelings and sentiments, some tastes and inclinations, some passions and desires, some traits and talents. He has his needs and requirements. His soul, body and nature have their own requirements. Again man’s corporate life brings innumerable complexities and delicacies in its twain. This delicacies go on increasing with the progress of civilization and cultural life. Further individually and collectively man is related to the countless articles of the universe both directly and indirectly. These relations have complexities of various categories and all of them influence his life deeply. Every desire, every need, every sentiment and every feeling wants to be satisfied and to achieve its objective it exercises pressure from within. Hunger demands food and thirst demands water. Sense of superiority wants to rule others and the desires of the flesh aspire for their gratification.

On the other side the Earth along with the whole universe has been given orders to provide man everything needed for the fulfillment of all his wants and desires. In other words our globe is a vast table bedecked with countless varieties of necessaries and luxuries in unfathomable quantities. In other words imperceptible forces of demand and supply are there in full play. Hard pressed by his desires main proceeds to pick up something from the common table but is prevented from doing so by another fellow who claims that the entire wealth of nature belongs to him alone. Now the position is that the nature’s bounties have become a bone of contention. They are lying on one side and on the other side everybody is at arms to appropriate everything for himself wholly ignoring the rights of others. The present tense situations is not due to want and scarcity. It is due to moral turpitude and degradation.

Let me cite an example from my personal experience taken from everyday life. One of my dearest Hindu friend died. I joined his funeral procession. According to Hindu belief and tradition coins were thrown into the air to be picked up by poor children present there. A 25 paisa coin fell a bit far off where two boys were waiting for the fall. Both of them rushed at it. The coin rolled on and lodged near a drain. The boys locked themselves in a fierce fight to take hold of the coin. Now the coin lay on one side and the boys were engaged in tough fight. God knows how long the fight went on and who became victorious for I left the place with the procession in a few minutes. This is a common experience and not a new thing.

War on the Dining Table:  The situation of the present world is exactly like this. The world is laden with all kinds of necessaries and luxuries. If man takes to reason and sanity he can be most happy and cheerful. But greed and selfishness and lust for power and pelf have deflected every individual and every nation from the right path consequent upon the showering of untold miseries and sufferings on humanity at large. Every nation and on smaller sphere every individual wants to appropriate everything for himself. This is the real cause of the cold war going on between the big powers today. Agricultural and mineral products, petrol, raw materials and the discovery of other natural resources are no longer a boon to humanity. On the other hand they are a curse upon it. Smaller and weaker countries are made victims of the plots and conspiracies of big powers and consequently lose their integrity and freedom due to them. If these discoveries are made in bigger countries, they may become a menace for the whole of the world by effecting an increase in their power and resources. This is why most of our learning and knowledge, science and technology, power and resources, time and talents are being employed to devise ways and means and discover weapons and contrivances to kill man, spread devastating destruction and finally to explode the entire world in the twinkling of an eye. The atomic energy has got the potentialities to turn this world into a paradise, but its first use is a great slur on the part of man. The first use was made on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the shape of bombs resulting in the complete destruction of the two cities. Hardly a few people were saved but in a badly mutilated condition.

This is perhaps the greatest tragedy of human history. Even so these explosions have a bright side as well. The Great War which began on 1-9-39 came to close on 13-8-45. The Axis powers were humbled down to submission and the Allied powers came out with flying colours. The map of the world once again underwent a drastic change. The United Nations Organization came into being. The Charter of Human Rights was drawn up. The world heaved a sigh of relief and thought that violence has been eliminated for ever.

But soon all hopes were shattered. The Allied powers themselves fell a victim to extreme selfishness, greed and jealousies against one another. The whole edifice of unity fell down and the preparation of the third world war began with a rapid pace. The giant bombs thrown on Hiroshima and Nagasaki became obsolete. A race for the preparation of more destructive weapons was switched on. The result is that weapons of incredible destructive power and intensity have already been prepared and a number of them are on the anvil. Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Megaton, asteroid bombs and ballistic missiles are safe in our stockpiles. It is said that a greater part of time, energy and money are being spent to search out means for the easy and speedy destruction of human life and property. The present stockpiles, the report goes, are enough to completely exterminate man from the surface of the Earth. But man’s hunger for destruction has only been whetted to the sharpest point. The big powers are busy to forge out some weapon that can explode the whole world with one single stroke. Will man be satisfied even with this dreadful weapon? There are serious doubts about it, as there is no end to man’s desires.

The present situation is grim and ominous. The humanity appears to be doomed for ever. The last moment is in the lurk. Nobody knows when the big powers lose their balance of mind and come into conflict with one another and throw the entire world to its final doom. Every person with a thinking mind is greatly concerned with the gravity of the situation. The great personalities who are said to control the destinies of man have been completely outwitted. Every remedial measure is aggravating the trouble and adding enormously to our miseries.

The Solutions Presented By Our Modern Civilisation

Among the various solutions for the emancipation of man from the present morass, presented by Modernism, two are in the field and the rest have either died out or become defunct. Both claim to turn the world into a paradise but in fact they have thrown it nearer to hell.

One of them is Communism. It is a complete code of life with its own concept of man and universe. It has its own interpretation of history known as historical materialism. This is no occasion to discuss these philosophical speculations here. Let us take the needed part of the idea.

The Communist View

1. The According to Communism the root cause of all ills is economic disparity. Some clever people have amassed fabulous wealth while the multitude is on the very of starvation. This state of affairs is alone responsible for all disorders.

2. The accumulation of wealth in a few hands opens the flood gates of all evils and misgivings.

(i) It divides the society in two hostile camps, the have and the have-nots. Their conflicts now open and now hidden, give rise to innumerable intricate problems.

(ii) The capitalists exploit the labourers. They take away the entire wealth produced by the labourers and allow a paltry sum just enough to keep them alive only to be used for further exploitation.

The communists, therefore, propose the expropriation of private properties as the only remedy to meet the present situation. This will eliminate the capitalists and put an end to exploitation for good. This can be done by nationalizing the total resources of the state and establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat. They further contend that this change can be brought about by means of force and bloody revolution alone. This is the only way which can rid us of the filth of our present society.

The Capitalists have serious doubts and objections on this point of view.

1. They think it impossible to eliminate capital and Capitalists. It is beyond man’s control. If the total assets of a state is nationalized, it cannot wipe out capital and the Capitalists. It will only add to the bulk and enormity of the capital and reduce the number of Capitalists to only one. The state itself will become the biggest ever capitalist. This new and lone capitalist will now only be the sole proprietor of the total resources of the state but will be armed with police, military and administrative machinery and legislative powers of which the Capitalists in non-Communist states are completely devoid. This makes Communist State a formidable totalitarian power in which man will be reduced to a automations clenched under the iron wheels of the dictators. He will cry and weep but will never be heard anywhere for the state owned press will always paint a rosy picture about his condition.

2. The Capitalists are of the opinion that the scheme of nationalisation and abolition of private property will increase exploitation to unknown heights. They contend that exploitation is inherent in capital. The greater the capital, the greater will be the exploitation. Now in a Communist state the state will be an unrivalled capitalist armed with absolute powers of government. It is but natural that the exploitation exercised by the Communist state will reach the last limits if not get beyond it. The very imagination of such a state is horrible.

3. The Capitalists argue that a bloody revolution is never a solution to any problem. It is on the other hand a source of innumerable problems. It is a vicious circle. Once it is started it will be difficult to get out of it. History gives us innumerable examples of this vicious circle. Fear, misapprehension, conflicts and jealousies can never create the atmosphere of love and amity, sympathy and sincerity.

 There are people who wrongly believe the communism envisages an equal distribution of wealth and the dumb millions of India are often promised such a distribution to attract them to come within its fold. They quote the following passage from Emile Burns in support of their claim.

“Did Marx consider that this inequality would be a permanent feature of the future society? No, in the sense that a stage would be reached when it was no longer necessary to give people a share proportionate to the service they render to the society.”

The above passage does not envisage an equal distribution of wealth in a Communist society. Anyway even it is so the very idea of equal distribution of wealth is preposterous.

1.  Equal distribution of wealth to the members of society is unnatural and hence utterly impracticable. It can never come into being. If the scheme is implemented by force it cannot survive even a couple of days.

This can very well be demonstrated by handling over a sum of say five thousand rupees to two persons each. One with his exceptional merits may increase the amount to fifty thousand while the other due to the lack of talents will waste away the whole amount and the gap of zero and fifty thousand may again be created.

The fact of life is that man is not equal in talents. Unless the talents are made equal, the idea of parity in wealth will remain an impossibility. By no stretch of imagination man can be made equal in physical, mental, moral and other talents and abilities. The born blind, lame and otherwise disabled cannot be made sound and healthy in every way. Hence it is only a wishful thinking that is never likely to see the light of the day.

3. Nowadays we measure our status in terms of money and the game of exploitation is played through it. If money is removed from our midst some other medium will come into play and game of exploitation will be tied to the new medium. Hence it is no use concentrating on the redistribution of money by force.

4. Not only the internal qualities of man’s body, head and heart and unequal but the conditions external to the body are extensively different. The environment, the climatic conditions and natural and cultural facilities are variously distributed all over the Earth. There are cold regions and hot belts, deserts and jungles, sterile soils, abounding in beasts and poisonous reptiles. In these parts men are always in danger of losing their lives. There are beautiful places and health resorts. Some places are on beautiful hills and mountains while others are on sea coasts. Some enjoy the benefits of civilized life while there are countless regions and places which have no facilities at all. It is quite impossible to make them equal in every way. If it is so man can never enjoy equal status by equal distribution of wealth. For what do you mean by wealth? It is not coins alone. All the above factors combine to form wealth. Therefore the idea of economic equality is a misleading slogan, a wishful thinking and a kind of self deception. This is therefore an absurd idea that can never come to stay.

The Capitalist View

But mere criticism cannot do. The Capitalists have therefore mooted their own plans to correct the world of all its ills and misdoings.

In their opinion the economic inequality is natural and can never be done away with. The only problem of human society is the uplift of the down trodden. This will, in course of time, emancipate the have-nots from want, hunger and poverty and this miserable world will become a paradise and really a fit place to live in.

1. The first thing to be done in this connection is to increase the production of all necessaries and luxury articles to such an extent that every individual under the sun can be supplied a bit more than what he actually needs.

2. The other thing is to raise the standard of living. The present standard of living is a very bad reflection on human society.

3. But the standard of living cannot be raised unless the family planning scheme is not sincerely implemented by means of contraceptives and abortion, so that the population may become constant. This stand is exposed to even more severe criticism.

1. It is impossible to supply every individual according to his need, by merely increasing production. The present world production is four times more than our needs. But the vast majority is not getting its due share.

2.  Let us suppose the impossible. Suppose for a moment that this goal is achieved at a certain point of time, even then men cannot have peace of mind. The great proverbial saying that man is never satisfied must always be kept in mind. Every increase in production and supply will result in greater increase   in demand and the desire to have it in even more quantity. Therefore mere increase in production is no remedy.

3. Moreover the raising of the standard of living entails a number of complexities.

1. It presupposes a colossal waste in as much as the standard of living cannot be raised by the bare necessaries of life only. To raise the standard of living you must have luxuries as well. This will only give a fillip to hunger and want, for you will have to produce luxuries only at the cost of the production of necessaries for life.

2. Moreover there is no yardstick to measure the standard of living. Nobody knows where the standard begins and where it ends.

Therefore the introduction of this factor in man’s life will create more troubles. It will bring a host of jealousies, hostilities and bad blood in its twain. Life will become more miserable and wretched.

Birth control and abortion are separate subjects and call for detailed discussion. Here I shall point out certain pertinent points of the issue. The problem is one of the most narrow minded outlooks of the modern age. This is the most merciless, selfish and ugly form of child killing. It opens floodgates of all kinds of moral turpitude, debauchery and obscenity. There is no justification in killing our own dear children for the sake of a care-free life. What a dirty selfishness on our part it is!

As far as the problem of over-population is concerned there are certain other aspects which call for serious consideration.

1. It is just possible that the very idea of overpopulation may be absolutely wrong and fantastic. Experience reveals that nature determines everything with utmost care. Goats are daily slaughtered in million but their number is always sufficient. On the contrary dogs are seldom killed but their number never increases in spite of the fact that they bear more pups at a time as compared to goats. This is true of all the animals of the world. Man is undoubtedly different from animals. But who knows for certain that in future the Earth will be unable to support man’s population?

2. It is also possible that in future man may invent something which may be able to increase food production to such extents that it can support populations of any size whatsoever. There are reasons to believe in this wise.

3. By practicing the present scheme of birth control man stands in the danger of losing some great personalities who may prove to be a saviour for the humanity at large.

4. The sense of self preservation and self propagation are said to be naturally inherent in man. The suppression of this sense by artificial means is likely to develop a number of bodily, mental, moral and social diseases and evils.

5. Experience shows that the habit of using contraceptives often ends in sterility.

Therefore the whole scheme of birth control is nothing but an invitation to a number of ills and evils in the vain hope of averting quite an uncertain danger.

The opponents of capitalism therefore hold that like communism this system too is preposterous, ruinous and rabidly mischievous.

Both capitalism and communism have therefore miserably failed to deliver the goods. The result of their efforts are before our eyes. The world has been divided in two hostile blocs, each trying to get the better of the other in armaments and material prosperity. Both are trying to establish their supremacy over the rest of the world. For this a chain of intrigues, machinations, and fraudulent camouflage has been let loose throughout and man has been caught in the deathtrap of their dark deeds. The world situation has become highly explosive. Only a tiny particle of fire is needed to explode the world. The particles have already been provided in Vietnam, Korea, Middle East, Berlin and apartheid South Africa. These are the danger points in the world. Moreover every bloc has fallen a victim to greed and selfishness and has been divided against itself. The Communist bloc has been divided into Chinese and Russian blocs. These two blocs along with their satellites are engaged in machinations against one another. Very recently they have indulged in armed conflicts as well.

The capitalist world has been split in several camps. America, Britain and France have turned hostile towards one another. A number of political, economic and cultural prejudices and selfishness have resulted in a tense situation throwing the entire world into chaos and disorder.

In spite of these differences both capitalism and communism are one and the same as far as their approach to man’s problems is concerned. Both are of the opinion that the real cause of our miseries is economic disorder. All schemes proposed so far to ameliorate human sufferings are economic. All our thinkers appear to be shut up in the economic shell and it is almost impossible for them to come out of it. They think that man can be corrected by economic prosperity and that a square meal, necessary clothing and housing facilities and medical aid in time of need are sufficient to give him peace and happiness. But experience goes against it. Had economic prosperity the power to build mans characters, the present capitalists must have been our saints and seers. But experience shows that the richer the man the greater is his greed and selfishness. Economic prosperity has often increased corruption. Take the example of multi millionaires only. Their desire for more wealth has increased to highest pitch. They are shamelessly sucking human blood for further increase in their enormous wealth. Their mercilessness, brutality and desire for hedonistic pleasures defy all description. We think that theft and robbery are committed by only the have-nots. But those who are rolling in wealth-----capitalists, professors and students are no exception. Wealth and status determine the size of bribery and illegal gratification. From time immemorial our saints and sadhus have been treating opulence and wealth as filth and mud. They have always condemned it and regarded it to be great factor for spreading corruption. This is our daily experience as well. Let me cite one example. A fast friend of mine, a Congressman and really a noble soul became affluent after independence. Before independence he was very poor, honest and a man of character. But with the touch of wealth he became a hard drunkard, a debauch and a corrupt rake. Once I asked him why he stopped so low and shook off all his nobility of character. He admitted that he was led astray by wealth. He contended that money urges man to take hedonistic pleasures (Manoranjan) and finally corrupts him. He said if he dies the money he had earned would be of no use to him. It would all go down the gutter. He also admitted that wealth had taken away his peace of mind from him. It had made his life miserable.

This is not a new or staggering experience. It is common knowledge. But even then we look towards wealth for our correction. Lord Acton has also confirmed this belief. He says “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

This being the fact of life the basic approach and all the tall talks, propaganda and publicity of the two theories, capitalism and Communism, are completely exploded. But is it enough? Will the fate of humanity remain hanging in balance? Is there no way out? No, there is a way out and it is the only way. It is Islam.

ISLAM SHOWS THE WAY

Islam declares in unequivocal terms that the real cause of our miseries is not economical. It holds that economic disorder is not the cause but a direct effect of moral degradation. Character building and development of moral health are the only remedies man is in need of. Without them social, political, economic or any other reform is simply unthinkable. Moral health is the master-key that opens all gates of progress and prosperity. It is the only power that can chase away all injustices, jealousies and the causes of conflicts and bad blood. To have a clear idea of the method we must know the real position of man.

What is man?

The real man is not the human body or part thereof. Human body is as a matter of fact only a house in which the real man sits. We see only the body. We have no means to see the real man housed in it.

Fortunately or unfortunately man is shrouded under heavy curtains. The body is never the index of the real man. Nobody can know a man from his body whether he is good or bad, genius or a fool, virtuous or vicious.

Let us take help from a story of Mahabharat. It is said that the Mahabharat battles were in full swing. The dead bodies lay scattered in lacs. Thousands of people were squirming and wringling in pools of blood. In a remote corner a vulture was sitting silently. Narad Muni appeared there and addressed the vulture in a touching tone with a feeling reference to the unprecedented blood bath presenting the most ghastly scene. The great Muni expressed great surprise and sorrow over the vulture’s attitude. It appeared to be unmoved and taking pleasure in the unfortunate human sufferings. The vulture raised its hoary head and replied that he was not there for pleasure’s sake. The added that his wife was very ill and that she would not be recovered unless she is served with a bit of human flesh. The great Muni pointed to the millions of corpses lying scattered over the field and asked the vulture to notch out some flesh from any of them. To the great surprise of the Muni the vulture replied that none of them was a human being and handed over his spectacles to the Muni to see the corpses through them. The Muni saw the corpses through the spectacles and found that they were actually the dead bodies of so many animals like dogs, cats, foxes, asses, swines and jackals etc. The Muni was taken aback. The vulture took his spectacles back from the Muni and said there were only a few human being in the battle field and that he was waiting for their death. If any of them was killed he would get a bit of his flesh for its ailing wife.

The story beautifully explains the real position of man. Human bodies do not guarantee the presence of man in them. They often carry animals and beasts within them. Every biped is not necessarily a man. He may be an animal, beast or a monster. Man has got certain attributes. If these attributes are taken away from him he is reduced to an animal although he still possesses the body of a man. Man has been divinely bestowed with love, compassion, sympathy and an urge to serve his fellow men. These are the basic human qualities. A biped devoid of these attributes is a mere animal.

(a) It is common experience that a man of very grand personality with an air of holiness around him comes as a traveler, stays at the house of a stranger and to the utter surprise of the host leaves the place with some house hold articles at dead of night. The appearance so noble and lofty and the deed so black and dirty.

(b) A naked ascetic apparently without the least worldly greed was found to cut off the head of a lovely girl simply to take hold of her golden earnings. What a contradiction in a body and mind.

(c ) A man in a foppish suit and a charming personality, an embodiment of modesty and culture is caught red handed committing a daring burglary and shooting down many innocent lives during the action.

These are the hard facts of life.

Secondly, the construction, size, complexion, beauty and health of a man’s body do not make any impact on his moral character. A man sound in body may be a debauch and a bad character while man diseased in body may be a man of excellent character.

Thirdly, a man has absolute powers on his body. The body is helpless and powerless. It cannot go against the will of the man housed in it.

Let us explain this point by an example. Take the best motor car available under the sun, well equipped with fuel and other necessaries. But it cannot move an inch. It is useless unless a driver comes in to drive it. If the driver is in his senses, a trained and responsible fellow, he will save it from all hurdles and pitfalls. But if the driver is untrained and in a drunken state he will come across accidents and collisions every now and then. The cars are therefore not responsible for the accidents. They are the sole responsibility of the drivers. If you think that accidents can be avoided by making the cars more strong by improving the polish it is your mistake. These improvements in the cars will spell even greater disasters, for it the cars are weak their collision may result in their own destruction, but if they are shining their collision will destroy not only the cars but the things around as well.

This is exactly the case with man. Our bodies are like motors cars and we ourselves are our drivers. If you think that a man living plenty enjoying all the facilities of life will become virtuous and a boon to society, it is your mistake. This tantamounts to making the motor car more strong and improving its polish. As the polishing of the motor car cannot reform the driver it is impossible for the man to become an honest and righteous person if his body grows fat. As a matter of fact the fat and strong body will a greater terror for the society. A weak and diseased person will comparatively do little harm than the man who possesses nerve, energy and capacity to do evils.

Keep this undeniable fact in your mind and closely examine the solution proposed by Islam.

ISMALIC SOLUTIONS

Islam is a divine revelation. It does not therefore suffers from the weakness and defects inherent in man’s thinking. Allah is Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent. He has perfect knowledge. He is the real and only well-wisher of man. He is the only selfless being. He has no interest of His own at all. He is therefore the only being Who is in a position to carve out a system of life, best suited to man’s well being and aspirations. He knows well that the economic needs of man can improve his body only. It will have no effect on the man himself. Therefore the basic approach of His revealed code of life is not economic. The genius of man is quite competent to meet all the economic requirements of the body. Islam has therefore concentrated on the real man who sits in the human body. He is the main figure and enjoys absolute control over the body. If this figure is corrected, everything under its control will automatically be set right. All our economic, political, social and other evils and wickedness are simply due to the fact that the real man, the central figure has gone out of gear. Therefore, Islam gives top priority to deal with him and cure him of all his ailments. Islam wants every person to understand his correct position. The Holy Quran says:

And assuredly We have created man We know whatsoever his soul whispereth in him and We are nigher unto him than his jugular vein.

Behold: when the two receivers receive—one on the right hand and on the left sitter. Not a world he uttereth but there is with him a watcher ready.

And the stupor of death will Come in truth: This is that which thou hast been shunning. And the trumpet will be blown: This is the day of the threatening.

This clarion call of the Holy Quran explains clearly the correct position of man on Earth. It makes it quite clear that man is not scot-free. He is not irresponsible and free to strike everywhere he desires. But he is a creature. He has been created by the one Allah, his only Master, Ruler and Sustainer. He is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent. He knows every wave of thought that rises in man’s mind and heart. He is nearer to man than his jugular vein. Man is responsible before such a perfect being.

Secondly, the Quran gives out that man is being constantly watched. Two angels have been placed on his right and left to record all the activities and every thought of the individual. These angels are invisible to man but watching all his activities all the time.

Verily there are for you guardians, Honourable scribes. They know whatsoever ye do.

Thirdly, death is inevitable. There is no escape from it. In other words the life of this world is temporary and transitory. Every person must have in his mind that he is not a permanent settler in the world. Moreover the Earth itself is transitory.

Fourthly, everything on this globe has some purpose, and is in a given proportion.

Verily everything We have created it by a measure.

Again whatever happens in this world is recorded to minutest details.

And everything small and great hath been written down.

This recording has a definite purpose. Everything that has been placed at our disposal on this earth will be accounted for in the life hereafter.

“Then on that Day, ye shall surely be asked of the delights.”

The overall position of this world is of a waiting room or the shade of a tree. We are sitting in an examination hall or we are engaged in cultivating crops for the life hereafter.

“The world is a farm of the life hereafter”.

This means whatever we will sow in this world we will reap the same in the life hereafter.

“Live in this world like a foreigner or a traveler.”

In other words this world and all its belongings are in fact an amazing deception. All the belongings would be gone as soon as one breathes his last. Very often they become useless even in this life, for example a diabetic is deprived of the pleasures of sugar and sweet things in his life time. The Holy Quran, therefore, brands the worldly belonging as (Mataul Ghoroor) a deceptive and a treacherous property.

Again the Quran asserts that there will come a time when everyone will have to account for his life on Earth. The Holy Quran goes on:

And the Book shall be placed and thou will see the culprits alarmed at that which is therein, and they will say: Ah woe unto us; What aileth this Book that is leaveth not any sin small or great but it hath computed it, and they shall find all that they had brought present: and thy Lord wrongeth not anyone.”

“Then whosoever hath worked good of an atom’s weight shall behold it. And whosoever hath worked ill of an atom’s weight shall behold it.” Then as for him whose balances are heavy, he shall be in a life well-pleasing. And for him whose balances are light, his dwelling shall be the abyss and what shall make thee know which she is? A fire vehemently hot.

Fifthly, there is a life beyond death. This life is eternal and the real life. The success of this life depends on the goods deeds done in this world. We will lead the life after death in eternal bliss and unheard of ease and comfort. But on the contrary if we pass our worldly life in misdeeds and evil doings and are lost in the false glitter of the dubious world we will be placed under unimagined torture and pain and subjected to most wretched humiliation and disgrace in the world beyond death.

Let us pause and ponder for a moment. It is now quite easy to ascertain that a man with a living idea of God and the life hereafter, with a sense of being watched by God and the life hereafter, with a sense of being watched by God and his faithful angels and the horror of the Day of Judgment and results of misdeeds and crimes, will conceivably never have the audacity and courage to go near crimes big or small. He will never be so foolish as to lose the eternal bliss and permanent pleasure of the next world for the imaginary and short pleasures of this world. Therefore it is but natural that under the impact of Islamic teachings a man is bound to become truthful, honest and noble in character. He may even become an emblem of humanity. Any injustice, any act of brutality or bad blood is simply unthinkable by him.

For the purpose of inculcating these noble doctrines and to show mankind the right path Allah was pleased to send his messengers from among men. Adam was not only the first man on earth but the first messenger of Allah as well. He preached the message of Allah among his progeny and set their life on a right pattern. After his death the system of life preached by Adam was distorted, by adding something new in it and by removing some of its original teachings. This led to morbid corruption in man’s life and a great disorder followed. Allah however sent another Prophet along with the same teachings that were revealed to Adam. Peace was established. But after his death people again lost the divine guidance and were faced with serious breaches of peace. This story was being repeated for thousands and thousands of years.

Population went on increasing. The civilization and culture underwent countless changes. The need for a divine guidance was greatly felt in every human society. Allah the Merciful sent his messengers to every people.

The Quran says:

“And for each nation there hath been sent an apostle.”

“And assuredly we have raised in every community an apostle.”

“And for each community there hath been sent an apostle.”

This shows that the messengers of Allah have been sent in every country and every nation. These noble souls propagated the word of Allah to their people and established peace among them. At present we find clear traces of moral guidance and humanitarian outlook scattered throughout the world. Even the most primitive and backward peoples are no exception. These somewhat similar and brilliant teachings are due to those prophets of Allah. But all the teachings have been lost by men. Some of the revealed books are of course there but their teachings have suffered change, distortion, variation and practically lost their original purity. The authenticity of these teachings have become doubtful. But the need for a divine guidance in its original freshness and purity grew more acute with the advancement of man’s social, political, economic and moral life on earth. The early seventh Century A.D. was one of the darkest periods of history and called for radical change in man’s thinking. The atmosphere was ripe for a glorious revolution. It is at this opportune moment that the last of Allah’s Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be on him) was sent in Arabia. It was declared that the Divine Code of Life (Al-Deen) was completed.

“Today I have perfected for you your religion and have completed my favour upon you and I am well pleased with Islam as your (Deen) religion.”

This Al-Deen has been codified in such a way as would hold true in all times and climes. This is the same Al-Deen which was revealed to about 124 thousand prophets from Adam (Peace be on Him) right down too the last Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be on him). The Al-Deen has been completed and saved for ever.

Now Al-Deen is well preserved in its original pure form and spirit without any change, distortion or variation in the Holy Quran and will suffer no change whatsoever in future. Its most authentic commentary in the shape of AHADITH is also safe. The presence of these two sources render the continuance of Prophethood quite unnecessary. Of course, leaders and reformers will always come out for the removal of misunderstanding about Al-Deen that may arise from time to time.

All the religious now know by different names were revealed from the same source and as such they are one and the same. If we want to know the real and original teachings preached by all prophets we have no option but to look to the last revealed book, the Holy Quran. This is the only authentic and authoritative version of same in its pristine purity and original freshness without change, distortion or variation. This was the duty of the Muslims to place Al-Deen before the world and remove all misunderstandings about it. But they failed to live up to the ideal. This created a world of misunderstandings and made the world cultivate a fanatical bias against it and rest content with the distorted teachings they inherited from their forefathers. Thus faiths and religions of innumerable varieties got footing in different nations and different soils. The greatest tragedy is that they have developed a fierce hostility based on these distorted teachings among themselves. If the original teachings are placed before them they may understand the point and accept the truth and thus the estrangement due to misunderstanding in religions may go away forever.

Having explained the real position of Allah, the Universe, the world and the man, a clear cut plan of living, a detailed description of what is good and what is bad and a clear idea of the pleasure and displeasure of the Al-mighty were solemnly bestowed on man, so that he may not to be led astray. The last Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be on him) enforced Al-Deen in life and put all the clauses of Al-Deen in practice. He constructed a society and a state based on Al-Deen. The society and the state survived for a good number of years even after the Prophet’s death.

As far as the two systems-Islamic and non-Islamic---are concerned they stand poles apart. But one thing still remains to be verified. The question is what practical results have been experienced by the working of these two systems. We are living in the modern period. It is therefore very easy to collect information about the results accrued from the working of the modern civilization. But there is a distance of about 14 centuries between us and the true Islamic period. But history has preserved true account of the period and with little effort we can get the important features of this life.

Let us have a glimpse of the society in which the mission of Islam was preached. The society in Arabia was steeped in darkness. People were illiterate, poor and uncivilized. Highway robbery, theft, pillage and plunder were normal features of life. They were cut off from the then civilized world. They lived in tribes and clans. Tribal wars were rampant. Sometimes such wars continued for centuries. They used to urge their progeny to carry on the tribal war even at the time of death in their last will. Obscenity, vulgarity, immodesty, sexual anarchy and all kinds of indecency were at a very high pitch. Drinking gambling, debauchery and becoming naked in assemblies were the fashion of the day. Women went round the Ka’aba stark naked. Abusive language and indecent poetry were the soul of Arabic literature. Voluptuous dealings with cousins and near relations were matters of pride and boasting. They had a morbid superiority complex about the Arabic language. They called the rest of the world Ajam (Dumb). Barring a few exceptions all of them were idolators. There were 360 idols installed in the Ka’aba itself. Moreover there were separate idols for each clan and each family. They were under heavy burdens of countless preposterous rites and rituals. They considered the birth of female children disgraceful and often buried them alive. They inherited their step-mothers and could marry them. There were thousands of evils and misdoings eating into the very vitals of the society. At the same time most of them were very rough, obstinate, rude and rustic. They were victims of many superstitions-----sorcery, with-craft, magic, occultism, spiritism etc. Of course, they had certain good traits of character as well. They were good hosts, active, bold, reliable and generous. But all these good qualities were serving the cause of evil and dark forces.

In short, Islam had to face very low people. The conditions were disappointing and the society as a whole was unyielding. But in a short span of only 23 years the entire society underwent a miraculous change. It was an all-round, all-pervading and a glorious revolution. It did not make its impact on the country’s laws and leadership only but the individual and social life of the Arabian people underwent a total change. It was a change of head and heart. The angle of vision, the mode of thinking, habits and manners, characters and behaviours, urges and aspirations, in short the whole life was changed a new. Each and every evil thinned away into nothingness. Idolatory, superstition, pride and vanity, sexual anarchy and all sense of caste, race and language were completely wiped out. Broken hearts were set aright. All hostilities were done away with. Those who had fallen apart were made to embrace each other in love and amity. The whole country turned into one single home of the sons of one single parentage. The universal brotherhood in the true spirit and sense was established. There was no master and no slave. Tyrants who took pleasure in bloodshed and barbarous acts and who buried their daughters alive became so tender-hearted and compassionate that they could not bear the sight of the slaughter of birds and fowls. Thieves and free-boosters became honest and trustworthy. Bandits and robbers were so changed that at the time of the conquest of the Persian capital the royal crown worth crores of rupees fell to the lot of an ordinary soldier who handed it over to his general wrapped up in a blanket in the thick darkness of night in order to avoid public admiration by a show of honesty and rectitude. The debauch, the drunkards, the vagabound, the immodest and lustful became saints and seers. Those who did not hesitate to go naked in assemblies and gatherings felt abashed to become naked in bathrooms and lonely places. Their judges established records of impartiality in the administration of justice. Their generals were embodiments of human sublimity. Their sense of responsibility was simply exemplary. Even murderers and adulterers would offer themselves voluntarily to be punished with death sentence only because they would be saved from appearing before Allah as criminal.

The sense of equality and fraternity reign supreme. The distinction of high and low was completely exterminated. The standard of man’s greatness underwent a radical change. Learning and knowledge, power and pelf, age and birth were no longer the arbiters of man’s greatness. Man’s greatness was made to confine in those persons who were the most God fearing. This change in the standard revolutionized the entire life of the people in as much as moral values gained ascendancy in public life. The Caliph, the governor and the highest authority all were reduced to the social status of a commoner. People having the highest posts walked with the common people on roads and other places. They tried to understand the sufferings and needs of the common people and endeavoured to remove them. They had no porters or darbans on their doors. A common man was free to meet the highest authority at his will in order to appraise him of his difficulties. All were equal in the eyes of law. The head of the state was made to stand in the dock along with an ordinary citizen. Sometimes the head of the state won the case and sometimes lost it. The case of one of the most exalted Caliph against a Jew was dismissed only because the Caliph had no witness except his own slave. In modern times the art of administration is considered to be most advance. But the present constitutions of most advanced countries do not permit the hands of law to be extended to the heads of the state. The old dictum ‘The king can do no wrong’ still holds good with the enlightened people. The President of India, Empress of Britain and President of America and France cannot be sued against in any court of law.

The sense of the fear of God was at its height. People dared not commit a crime even in places of safety for they knew that Allah is Omnipresent and sees everything. Once the Jews of Khyber tried to bribe a tax collector for tax evasion. The revenue officer refused the heavy amount offered to him and divided the total produce of land in two mounds and asked the Jews to take any one of them and leave the other for the Government. The Jews were stunned at the administration of justice and proclaimed that this was the kind of justice on which the Earth and heaven rested.

People tried to give comforts to others at the cost of their own. They starved only to provide the hungry with food. Self-sacrifice, charity, service to humanity were on the increase and were done selflessly and sincerely. People were neither very rich nor very poor. They walked under the cover of night with money in the lanes of Medina to help the poor but could not find one. The atmosphere was surcharged with love and sincerity, unity and harmony, compassion and sympathy. Emancipation of women was also complete. They had shaken off their centuries old slavery and backwardness and had become quite free. They were given their due position in society. They were not only given the right to inherit but were actually made the main figure in household affairs.

A society with such a pious environment and with such a wonderful play of noble qualities must be a rare experience of the heavens.

Let us now have a glimpse of the achievements of the modern civilization. The material, the environment, the time which the modern civilization got are far better than those faced by Islam. As compared with the pre---Islamic Arab people the Western civilization inherited a better society as far as education, culture and civilizations are concerned. The society had a higher moral character and a far better economic condition. There were big cultural units rolling in wealth and plenty. There were centers of learning, educational institutions and big universities. Innumerable branches of knowledge were working for further progress. The world had taken wonderful strides in means of travel and transport. The world was an integrated whole connected with strong ties among different countries.

Of course the question of moral degradation, selfishness, oppression, treachery, fraud, thievery and robbery were there. But honesty, truth, generosity and the moral values were also practiced. Selfishness, greed and materialist point of view were considered undesirable. There was a standard of acquiring and spending money. Honest methods were generally appreciated while fraudulent means condemned.

The society was handled by modern thoughts and current leanings. The result is before our eyes. The modern thoughts and material achievements have combined to rob man of all that was good and virtuous in him. The result is that the world situation has become highly explosive. It is heading towards its own destruction with a rapid pace. The spirit of unfettered materialism has unleashed forces of disintegration at all levels. The very existence of man stands in danger. Lured by the glitter of science and technology man has lost sight of his supreme status and sublime position and has been caught in the death-trap of greed and fear so thoroughly that all efforts to get out of it have so far miserably failed to deliver the goods. Gross material ambitions have divided mankind into innumerable narrow compartments, shut up within the walls of race, language and creed. Selfish prejudices are eating into the very vitals of our society. Differences in out look and ideologies have culminated into unprecendented blood baths. The two world wars are great human tragedies and the preparation for the third is far greater. Although out material progress is at its peak we are living under the grim shadow of scarcity, starvation and death. Moral degradation, class conflict, economic exploitation, social insecurity, political chaos and rabid corruption in all walks of life are the order of the day. Our thinkers have all been completely outwitted. The destiny of man appears to have been doomed for ever.

Modern civilization has not only awaken the giant forces of greed, ambition, selfishness and self-indulgence but has placed man’s entire life at the tender mercies of these forces. This has made the very redeeming factors turned hostile. The naked satanic dance of obscenity, debauchery, and sexual anarchy is on the increase. The Damocles’ Sword is hanging on man’s head and nobody knows when this sword will cut off his throat and relieve the Earth of his undesirable burden.

These are two ideologies, distinct and clear before you. It is for you to decide which is to prefer and which is to reject.

The comparative study of these ideologies makes it clear that the non-Islamic ideologies, in spite of their apparent difference and contradiction in form and shape, are one and the same as far as their origin and spirit are concerned: Hence there can therefore be only two sharp divisions in different ideologies of the world. One is Islamic and the other non-Islamic. They have certain marked differences in some basic and very important features.

1.  The basic difference lies in the concept of the origin of universe and man. This is the real difference which results in a series of other differences in outlook, method and approach. 

 2.  The non-Islamic ideology proposed to correct and control man by providing him with his economic needs. Its approach is purely economic. On the contrary the Islamic ideology bases its programme on the reformation of the driver. In other words its approach is moral. It does not ignore the economic or other needs of man but believes that the other requirements if provided will never work if the moral side of the man is neglected. It therefore gives top priority to the correction of the real man housed in the human body. The correction of real man means the correction of everything connected with man.

 3.  The non---Islamic ideology is helpless and quite unable to correct the real man. It is the Islamic ideology alone that has the means to do the job. The fear of Allah, the care for the next world, belief in prophethood, angels and the revealed book of Allah are the only reliable and sure means to control man. There is no way out.

4. The none—Islamic ideals can use only two forces to control man---law and police force.  Man can evade both of them very easily and more often the real culprit remains at large and an innocent fellow is punished in his stead. The reason is not far to seek. Government can catch hold of the criminals in light but it cannot pounce upon them in the dark. If the criminal is bound down there is still a way to escape punishment. It is by means of bribe. The club-stick of the police and the pen of the judge can be purchased at any moment. They carry no weight these days. Therefore the infringement of law has become a common feature of our society. On the contrary the Islamic ideal moves the inner sentiments of man and prepares them to accept laws and regulations in their true form and spirit voluntarily and without any pressure from outside. Moreover the sense of responsibility of the Islamic society is so sharp that it cannot tolerate the infringement of law and justice. These two invaluable and mighty forces are nursed by the concept of God and the next world. Thus to control man Islam makes use of man’s voluntary urge to obey law, his moral attitude, the pressure of the whole society to serve the cause of justice, laws and regulations and the Government power. All these forces combine to make the breach of law a highly difficult job if not an impossibility.

5. In the non-Islamic system justice and fair play, large-heartedness and generosity, sympathy and sincerity are mere paper performances. The proceedings and resolutions of the U.N.O. and the charter of Human Rights are master strokes of literature. They are full of love and best whishes for mankind. But they are mere lip-services. In fact the non-Islamic system is by far a paper work, a piece of lip-service and an article for show and display. When the question or practice comes up, constitutions, principles and laws become defunct and most of the decisions and promises are broken and thrown to the winds. The makers of law themselves dishonour them. By nature this system is double faced. It contradicts its words by its own deeds. On the contrary the Islamic system has only one face. It words and deeds know no difference.

6. The non-Islamic system is utilitarian in outlook. It can dishonour its own principles for the sake of some worldly gains. On the contrary the Islamic system is ideological. It can never sacrifice its principle for any gain whatsoever.

7.  The non-Islamic system believes in the principle of “Ends justify means” whereas the Islamic system believes that good causes can be served by only good means.

8.  The non-Islamic system lacks in proper authority to decide what is right and what is wrong. Whereas the Islamic system has got an unquestionable authority in the revealed book of God (The Holy Quran). It is the final authority and decides everything on real merit.

9. In non-Islamic system the moral values are all relative. The same thing in a certain surrounding and at certain time is right but in other time and space it becomes wrong. On contrary in Islamic system all those moral values which are permanent cannot be changed at any cost.

10. The non-Islamic system is characterless inasmuch as it does not care for breach of contract and promises, it does not care for the rights of others and it does not care for meeting the ends of justice. Whereas the Islamic system has a spotlessly clean character. It guarantees truth and honesty in every dealing, upkeep of every promise and contract and honouring of the rights of others. It cannot brook any unclean method. It shoulders the responsibility of eradicating evil and establishing virtue.

11. The idea of oneness of man is foreign to the modern society. It has divided mankind into innumerable tiny compartments of race, colour, nation, caste, birth etc. On the other hand Islam strongly believes in the oneness of man. According to Islam all men are the children of the same parents, Adam and Eve. Hence they are all are brothers. The whole humanity is one family and the whole world is one home. The artificial walls erected by the modern society between man and man must therefore be razed to the ground and man must be freed from the tyrannies of division.

12. Islam frees man from the bondage of his own passion and desires, of the thraldom of the traditions and customs of his forefathers and of the clutches of other men, nation or other demigods. In short it frees man from the bondage of man. The non-Islamic systems have no means to do so, for man must obey some laws. If he obeys laws formulated by a man, a family or the entire humanity, he becomes a slave of these lawgivers, for slavery consists in obeying one’s laws and commandments. If you obey laws formulated by a man you are a slave of the said man. The non-Islamic systems cannot even conceive of laws formulated by an agency other than man. Therefore they can never free man from the bondage of man. It is only Islam that can do so, for it claims to obey laws not formulated by man but by the Almighty God Himself.

A MISUNDERSTANDING REMOVED

The above discussion may create a misunderstanding in some minds. They may think that science and technology are the real source of our miseries. Hence the present material progress must not only be stopped forthwith but the progress made so far also be destroyed and we should go back to nature. In other words Islam wants only moral and spiritual progress and is opposed to material progress, inasmuch as there are a number of evils clung to it.

Such notions about Islam are not only wrong and baseless but are opposed to the very soul and motive of its ideology. As a matter of fact Islam opens for man the door of all round progress in every field and urges him to rise to unknown heights. It enjoins upon man to make use of his talents, abilities and free man from all his economic and material needs. It also makes his bounden duty to perform everything that goes to benefit man and desist from every thing that harms him. Therefore it is very necessary that man should try his level best for the all round progress in every sphere whether material or non-material.

But one thing is of utmost importance. In our universe the secret of every progress lies in keeping the equilibrium in its different spheres. If the balance is lost every progress turns hostile. Lopsided growth is no progress. It is really a setback and a decay. Like all other laws of nature the law of equilibrium is also true and unalterable and cannot tolerate any infringement in this regard. Therefore Islam gives top priority to the problem of keeping equilibrium in all spheres of life. Extremist and one sided view is only an invitation to the wrath of justice.

Human life has innumerable sides. They are not equal in importance. Some of them are more important whereas some are of less importance. The real progress in human life consists in the simultaneous progress of all sides and spheres—physical, mental, material, moral and spiritual---just in proportion to their degree of importance. If we go on progressing materially and neglect the other spheres of our life, the balance in different spheres will be disturbed and in spite of our extraordinary material progress we will fall a victim to unprecedented decay and decline. Nature will never tolerate this insolence.

Let us try to understand the point by an example. These days railway trains have attained the speed of 60 to 70 miles per hour. If this speed is raised to 200 miles per hour but the other factors—coaches, railway line and others----are not remodeled accordingly, disastrous accidents will be inevitable. This increase in speed will in common parlance be an extraordinary progress but in truth in cannot be a progress for this unwise increase in speed will result in the derangement of the balance consequent upon the colossal loss of life and property.

When the Japanese engineers wanted to introduce the Super Express also known as bullet train with a speed of 125 miles per hour between Tokyo and Osaka, a distance of 320 miles, they had to construct 66 tunnels covering a distance of 40 miles and 281 bridges covering 27 miles in order to make the rail route straight. They had to make the rails more heavy and sizable and design the coaches in a new model and devise many other ways and means in order to establish perfect harmony in different spheres. In spite of these precautions the passengers felt unbearable noises and a severe pain in their ears. Therefore, the bogeys were changed. New methods for driving were adopted. Then the balance on all sides was established and the train was made available for public use.

From the Islamic point of view our material progress is still in its primary stage. Islam wants to attain unknown heights in material progress. But mere material progress will lead to disastrous results. Therefore, it is most necessary that along with material progress, the other sides---moral, spiritual—should also be proportionately developed.

Material progress has another aspect also. Matter is lifeless. It has no will of its own. It is at the disposal of man. He may put it to whatever use he likes. Therefore, matter is quite innocent. A sharp knife used by an expert surgeon saves the life of a person by operation. But when the same is used by a miscreant human lives are lost. The responsibility of these acts does not lie with the knife. It lies with the wielder. The knife itself is faultless and innocent. When this is the real position of matter and material progress, it is a stupidity to neglect it. Of course, we must avoid lopsided progress.

As a matter of fact Islam is not opposed to science and technology nor does it neglects material progress. It considers every progress beneficial to man and helpful to the realization of human values as a gift from Allah the Almighty. But the most important point should not be missed. Balance in all spheres of life must be maintained at any cost. This balance is the master key. If it is there everything in the world is a boon from Allah and if it is lost the same thing becomes a courage for mankind.

The present world suffers from the want of equilibrium in human life. Man has been thrown out of a gear. He has no moral strength to bear the burden of his unprecedented material progress. The lack of moral strength has reduced man to the position of an insensible child with a highly sharp knife in his hands. Nobody knows when she meets his end by plunging it in his body.