Islam Rediscovered
21. Islam in History
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had suppressed the freedom essential to the divine
test in this world.
In order that religion might be wholly for God, the
original natural state had to be re-established, that
is, a state which was in accordance with the creation
plan of God. Here religion (
din
) does not refer to
Shariah, but to what in chapter 30, verse 30 of the
Qur’an is called ‘upright nature.’ That is to say,
what the believers were commanded to establish
was religion in the sense of divine nature and not
religion in the sense of Shariah. In other words, it
would be proper to say that it was like a kind of
divine operation carried out by the Prophet’s
companions. This was initiated in Arabia where,
within a period of 23 years, the religious oppression
which had prevailed there under the Quraysh, was
brought to an end forever.
In those days, there were two great powers in the
neighbourhood of Arabia—the Sassanid and the
Byzantine empires. These were two of the greatest
bastions of the politically coercive system of ancient
times. Their perpetuation meant the consolidation
of this manner of governance and it was only their
