Spirit of Islam November 2017

19 Spirit of Islam Issue 59 November 2017 PUTTING AN END TO SUPERSTITION Islamic Revolution A MONGST many others, a basic change brought about by the Islamic revolution was similar in some respects to the scientific revolution of modern times; that is, the rooting out of superstitious thinking and the general prevalence of thinking based on facts. The continued existence of nature worship and superstitious thinking in ancient times was due to the ignorance of human beings regarding nature. Ancient man used to judge natural phenomena by their appearance. Astounded by the power of nature and without an understanding of natural phenomena, he began to hold them sacred. It was this awe surrounding nature that gave rise in ancient times to many stories, now called myths. On the basis of pure conjecture, man developed many suppositions which, in the course of time, became widespread beliefs, rooted in the human imagination. In every age man has had a set of beliefs which moulded his thoughts and deeds. In ancient times this set of beliefs was entirely based on myths. The 7 th century AD saw a change in this pattern of thinking. Now importance was attached to facts instead of superstition. This revolutionary shift from superstition to facts can be traced as a contribution of the message of Islam. Anyone who understands the pristine message of Islam from the Quran and the teachings of the Hadith will realize that the prevalent superstitions in the society were understood as false and were shunned by those who accepted the facts presented by the Prophet. How did this happen? By the simple fact that the message of Islam presented the concept of God being the Creator of everything and that nature was to be explored and God had to be worshipped. So, the awe surrounding nature was replaced with a spirit of research and enquiry. In the wake of this revolution all those things which were held sacred earlier were relegated to the status of mere creatures. They were there to be harnessed by man and not for man to be enslaved by them. They were entirely helpless beings, mere objects and not the masters of man. Earlier as naturewas placed upon a pedestal of sanctity it had completely The Quran repeatedly enjoins man to reflect on the objects of the universe thereby inspiring one towards scientific enquiry.