Islam Rediscovered
11. Non-Violence and Islam
~ 167 ~
The aim of the revolution brought about by the
Prophet and his companions in the seventh century
is stated to be
izhar ad-din
in the Qur’an:
‘They desire to extinguish the light of God
with their mouths: but God seeks only to
perfect His light, however much the infidels
may abhor it (9:32-33).
Izhar
in Arabic means dominance/ascendancy/
supremacy. Here
izhar ad-din
signifies intellectual
and
ideological
dominance,
not
political
dominance. This means that in intellectual and
ideological respect, God’s religion assumes
ascendancy over all other ideologies and religions
for all time.
Granting ideological ascendancy to God’s religion
was no simple matter. It amounted to the writing of
history afresh. For although God’s religion had
always been in a superior position ideologically, it
had become obscured by false and misguided ideas.
The reason being that in ancient times people were
heavily under the influence of superstitious
thinking. Their arts and learning in general had all
become fettered by superstition and idolatry. This
