Islam Rediscovered
19. The Islamic Concept of History
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sun, the moon and the stars etc. possessed
supernatural powers. Similarly it was believed that
the sea, the mountains and other such natural
phenomena
were
endowed
with
some
extraordinary, mysterious power and exercised
decisive control over human destiny.
THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
Those who want to interpret human history in the
light of predetermined law as is done in the
physical world, cannot but meet with failure. While
the physical world may be explainable within the
framework of predeterminism, the events of the
human world are simply not amenable to
interpretation in terms of any such law.
Others want to interpret the events of the human
world in the context of freedom. But they are not
satisfied either with their interpretation. This is
because in the case of human freedom, the suffering
experienced in this world has no valid
understandable explanation. The failure of both
these interpretations is due to the fact that they
attempt to explain the whole in the light of a part—
which is not at all possible.
