Matalibul Furqan 5

Chapter 4

DIVINE GUIDANCE

I. Evidence of Guidance

THE world in which we live is not static, a finished product: in fact

the world and everything in it are all constantly changing, every
moment becoming somewhat different. The early Greek thinkers
were profoundly impressed by the phenomenon of change. They
addressed themselves to the task of solving the problem posed by
the contradictory appearance of change and permanence which the
universe presents. Parmenides rejected change as an illusion, while
Heraclitus regarded it as the only reality. For several centuries,
philosophers tended to ignore the fact of change. With the rise of
modern science, specially with the growth of our knowledge of
geology and biology, a dynamic conception of the universe came to
be generally accepted. The theory of evolution has transformed our
intellectual outlook, and now we try to understand everything in the
light of its past history. We know that the earth has a long history. It
is the product of changes which have occurred through countless
aeons; and life as evolved slowly through millions of years. At this
point an important question arrests our attention. Are the changes,
which have undoubtedly occurred in the world, quite erratic and
fortuitous or is there a rhythm in them or a plan underlying them? In
the present state of our knowledge there is no clear answer to this
question. Some eminent thinkers believe that the changes are
aimless and that the universe, although changing, is not moving in a
definite direction, far less towards a definite goal. They declare that
they can only see change succeeding change as one wave succeeds
another. Fisher, surveying the vast panorama of European history,
confesses that he can discern no harmonies therein. He admits that
there is progress but affirms emphatically that “there is no law of

progress.”(1) However, other great thinkers, such as C. Lloyd Morgan
and H. Bergson, claim that the changes, when viewed closely and
comprehensively, do reveal a pattern and are seen to be leading
towards a goal.