self is ensured; for, then his personality knows no death. Permanent
Values, as preserved in the Qur’an, are unchangeable and true,
hence trustworthy and reliable. They replace the false gods with the
true God, and the meaningless superstitions of religion with the
strength of rational conviction. In short, the Qur’an satisfies the
instinct of self-preservation both on the physical and human level
and thus sets man free from the shackles of religion and the
bondage of superstitions.
This was the deen preached and established by the last of the line
of anbiya – Muhammad (PBUH).
Unfortunately, however, not long after the establishment of this
deen – i.e., the Islamic Social Order – by Muhammad (PBUH), Islam
too met the same fate as that of the earlier adyan (religions). God had
perfected the Islamic deen in the Qur’an, and the Rasool delivered the
Book to the Muslims and established a Social Order thereon. But
shortly after his death, the forces of exploitation began to raise their
ugly heads again. They scored their first success with the
establishment of a hereditary kingship, sustained by capitalism.
Then, to ensure their own survival and consolidation, these two
forces started distorting the deen of Islam into a Madhhab. And
before long, they succeeded. Like the adyan (religions) of the ancient
Anbiya, Islam also gradually lost its soul and substance as a deen and
degenerated into a lifeless madhhab hidebound by dogma and ritual.
The only point of difference between this process of degeneration
and its precedents in earlier history was that the code of Islam – the
Qur’an – remained intact in its original form, a fact which, as already
stated, is borne out by historical evidence. This is a fact of prime
importance to be borne in mind. For, if any of the other religions of
mankind seeks to return to its pristine purity as a deen, it will find the
task impossible in the absence of the original testament as revealed
to its own Nabi. The Muslims alone can hope to restore Islam to its
original form as a deen, because the complete code of the Islamic deen
is enshrined in the Qur’an and is fully preserved in precisely the
same form as it was revealed to Muhammad (PBUH) about fourteen
centuries ago.
The Qur’an calls upon men not to be frightened by the terrible
forces of destruction and not to despair or lose heart even when
they find the prospect dark and menacing. It exhorts them to have
faith in the Way of Life and the Social Order that it has prescribed,
Islam: A Challenge to Religion 14