Islam Creator of the Modern Age
1. Islam: Creator of the Modern Age
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freedom of thought. Without this kind of absolute
imperialism being brought to an end, freedom of
thought could not have been achieved. When the
human mind is shackled and cannot work in a free
atmosphere, not even a beginning can be made to
human progress.
The writer also includes Persia as being guilty of
such imperial absolutism. And we must remember
that these two empires held sway over a
significantly large part of the inhabited world of the
time. Under imperial rule, no one had the right to
think independently if this ran counter to the
official tenets of imperialism. This is why, after such
a long period of intellectual suppression, no real
beginning could be made on scientific enquiry.
Scientific thought was simply not to be
countenanced throughout the empires of Persia and
Rome.
It was only when the Prophet and his companions
broke these imperial powers—with as little
bloodshed as possible—that free-thinking was
legitimised, and the vast gates of progress were
thrown open to humanity.
