Islam Creator of the Modern Age
4. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
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encouraged the son to take his whip to him. But
then the Copt said, “No, I have whipped the person
who whipped me, and I wish no more than that.”
Then the Caliph, addressing the governor, said, “O
‘Amr, since when have you enslaved people who
were born free?”
The revolution brought about by the Prophet
Muhammad, may peace be upon him, and his
companions caused the barriers of discrimination to
be swept away, all over the world. It saw the birth
of a new age of human equality, which ultimately
developed into modern democracy.
The states of former times were founded upon
polytheistic beliefs. The people worshipped the sun
and the moon, and the rulers convinced the people
that they were the offspring of these gods. People
called the
Suraj bansi
(the sun’s offspring) and the
Chandar bansi
(the moon’s offspring) still survive in
India. The rulers naturally wanted the people to
continue to adhere to such superstitious beliefs,
even to the point of believing that the sun and
moon went into eclipse when the king died, for, so
long as they firmly cherished such beliefs, the kings
