7.3.1 GENERAL CONCEPTS OF CIVILIZATION

History teaches us moral lessons. The origin of all civilizations is one. Each civilization has a fixed life-span. The isti’mar is physical construction and development of the earth. Humans developed civilization because of a sophisticated brain, erect posture, and a versatile hand that makes tools. Civilization went through stages of hunting & gatherers, agriculture, technology, and social development. Conflict and cycles of civilization are constant in human civilization. The weak become strong and the strong become weak. Each civilization has a fixed life span. The rise and fall of civilizations follows fixed social laws. The reasons for rise of civilizations are: innovation and dynamism, courage, adventurism and risk-taking, internal freedom, law and order, outward-looking, group feeling, big population, and natural resources. The reasons for fall of civilizations are intellectual stagnation, narrow ethno-centricism, oppression, demographic contraction, economic contraction, imbalance between reason and emotional, and imbalance between man and technology. No civilization can be eternal. Once a civilization collapses it can not return. Only the Islamic civilization can be revived after collapse. The climate determines the type of civilization. The Qur’an & sunnah can be bases for Islamic civilization.

7.3.2 THE RIGHTEOUS, al saalihin

The first human civilization was started with Adam and Hawa. It had all the ingredients of a modern civilization: disobedience, transgression, jealousy and violence. The Qur’an has told the stories of the righteous. Among them were the companions of the cave were righteous youths who escaped from an evil society. Sabeans are an ancient religious community in the Arabian Peninsula whose remnants are still found in modern Iraq. The Qur'an mentioned them among believers. We know little about their material civilization. The Kingdom of Saba was described as a prosperous and strong society under a gentle ruler who consulted her people before making a major decision.

7.3.3 THE TRANSGRESSORS, al dhaalimiin

The people of Ibrahim made statutes for worship. They lived under a despotic ruler who had no respect for human life. The people of Babel were engaged in teaching sorcery. The Egyptian society was divided between slaves and nobles. It was cowered into submission to the Pharaoh. There were however believing men and women among the Egyptians and the Israelis just as there were evil people among both groups; Qarun was a degenerate Israili while Haman was an evil Egyptian. The wife of Pharaoh was herself a believer. The Qur’an tells the story of the people of the trenches who were believers burned by fire under the cruel king Jewish Dhu Nuwaas in Yaman. The people of the elephant were a strong military power in Yaman and they tried to destroy the Kaaba in the year of the prophet’s birth. The Qur’an tells us about civilizations that were evil and were finally destroyed, the people of Thamud, the people of Rass, and the people of Ya’ajuuj and Ma’ajuuj are a group of humans who committed fasad on earth.

7.3.4 BANU ISRAIL

Ya'aqub, the father of the Banu Israil, was the son of Ishaq and the grandson of Ibrahim. Drought forced Banu Israil to Egypt where they were enslaved, oppressed, and systematically killed. Musa led them out of Egypt into the Sinai. They wandered for 40 years as punishment for their rebellion. Taalut led them to Canaan where they were ruled by Saul, Daud, and Sulaiman in succession. Sulaiman’s dominions broke up on his death and civil wars weakened Banu Israil. Powerful neighbors destroyed the Israili Kingdom in the North in 722BC and the whole Judean Kingdom in the South was enslaved and exiled in Babylon by 586 BC. Banu Israil returned from exile after 70 years but they had lost the taurat and had changed their name to Yahuud. Allah gave many bounties to Banu Israil but they were ungrateful and rebellious. They transgressed, spread corruption, rejected and killed prophets, followed a false creed, made fabrications and false allegations, and committed evil. Allah punished them by humiliation, paupery, and exile. Starting in 70 M they were exiled and scattered all over the Roman Empire in Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. With the connivance of European powers, the land of Palestine was grabbed illegally and by force in 1947 M and was made a national home for the Yahuud. Ineffective resistance by Arab governments starting in 1948 gave way to a successful popular uprising (intifadha) in 1987 that aims at liberation of the land within 40 years.

7.3.5 NASAARA

The Nasaara claim to follow the prophet Isa (PBUH) but have defects in the creed because they did not follow the injiil properly. A small persecuted sect became the official religion of the Roman Empire when Emperor Constantine converted in 300 M. The religion spread in Roman territories all over Europe, West Asia, and North Africa. It was spread to the Americas, Africa, and Asia by West European powers during the age of exploration and conquest starting in 1500 M.