Islam Rediscovered
21. Islam in History
~ 347 ~
the Qur’an will never come to an end.” (
Mishkat al-
Masabih
, Vol. 1, p. 659). This
hadith
refers to that
aspect of the Qur’an which is of deeper significance,
or that which lies between the lines. The Qur’an
being the scriptures of an eternal religion, new
connotations will go on being revealed in every
succeeding age as a result of profound reflection.
This process will continue uninterrupted until
Doomsday.
Here I should like to focus on certain very apt
verses appearing at two places in the Qur’an. (2:193,
8:39). They concern
qital-e-fitna
, that is, the abolition
of religious persecution. When we study these
verses in the light of other related verses of the
Qur’an, we find that it was God’s plan to abolish
religious persecution and replace it with complete
religious freedom, so that His servants could
worship Him alone without any fear of persecution.
Along with that, the door to the call of monotheism
also was to be thrown wide open.
THE ERADICATION OF FITNA
Islam emerged in the first quarter of the seventh
century. At that time, monarchy was the order of
