as decay sets in the physical organs, he becomes more and more
religiously inclined, seeking support in everything that he had
rejected in his youth. Similarly, when he is successful in life, he
seldom seeks the support of these false gods; but he searches for
them most reverently when he is confronted with failures and finds
his own means inadequate to meet the challenge.
But the problem of survival is not limited to physical survival
only. A human being, unlike the animals, has the urge to survive on
the human level as well. An animal feels absolutely satisfied and
content after a hearty meal, and comes into action again only when it
faces hunger or a threat to its own existence. This is not so with a
human being. If he were to face a perpetual and hopeless struggle
for economic security all his life, he may indeed be too engrossed
with his plight to think of any other matter. But once having
achieved economic and physical security, he is faced with the urge to
survive on the human level. Today all welfare and socialist states are
confronted with this problem with much greater intensity and on a
wider scale than the underdeveloped countries. Due to their
scientific power and prosperous economies, their attention is
inevitably focused on the survival other than physical.
Existentialism is nothing but an acute manifestation of this grave
problem. The trend towards religion or mysticism among thinkers
and scientists (especially in their old age) is yet another form of this
search for human survival.
Such is the so-called “urge for religion” – may it be the primitive
man’s nature-worship, or the mysticism of modern thinkers. And
this is the urge so often and so successfully exploited by the seekers
of self-interest, in the name of religion.
Through the ages, the deen of anbiya had exposed the exploiters
and challenged the false gods that the minds of men had propped
up on high. This is the role that the deen, embodied in the Qur’an, is
destined to play today and tomorrow, like the adyan of yesterday.
The Qur’an recognises the demands of the instinct of self-
preservation. It, therefore, strives to establish an economic system
that guarantees the satisfaction of the basic needs of every
individual. It therefore, strives to establish an economic system that
guarantees the satisfaction of the basic needs of every individual. It
declares that man is capable of conquering nature, that if he holds
on firmly to the Permanent Values of life, the survival of his human
Introduction 13