Chapter 16RISE AND FALL OF NATILNS
I. Qur’an and HistoryTHE Qur'an has, time and again, directed man's attention to the
phenomena of nature and the events of history, and has exhorted
him to reflect and ponder over them. These two fields, so apart from
each other, are fundamentally alike, as both reflect the same Divine
purpose. The working of law is discernible in both. Today, the
processes that govern the coming into and passing out of existence
of living organisms seem pretty clear. But when we pass from the
individual life to group existence, the picture becomes a little hazy.
Nevertheless, creditable data has been compiled on the rules that
govern the emergence and disintegration of human groups. The
philosophy of history has tried to broaden the spectrum and to
identify the laws that govern the rise and fall of nations. It has been a
laudable attempt, but it has, so far, failed to give an intelligible
account of the course of human history. None of the concepts put
forward has held the field for long. The result is that history still
appears to be a disorderly succession of fortuitous events. The
Qur'an invites a look into history from a fresh angle which deserves
attention. According to the Qur'an, the Divine purpose is at work in
human affairs as it is in nature – the inanimate world – but with a
difference. In nature, the Divine purpose is progressively
accomplished through laws from which there is no escape. We may
call them the Divine Will. The material is passive and can be
moulded into any form concordant with the purpose of God. In
history, on the other hand, the purpose is to be worked out through
the willing and active co-operation of free finite beings. The Divine
Will, by a self-imposed restraint, permits them to act and choose for
themselves. The human beings who play their part on the stage of
history, have, sometimes, lived and acted in harmony with God's
purpose and, sometimes, against it. In the former case, they have
prospered, progressed and taken their rightful place in the vanguard