Islam Rediscovered
24. A Case of Discovery*
~ 412 ~
done so with such a rare vigour of intellect and such
an exuberant wealth of illustrations, that I began to
consider him as the greatest philosopher that the
world had ever produced since Plato and Aristotle,
and his Evolution Theory in its practical bearings as
the Gospel of the future church of mankind. This
Theory of Evolution had, after all, solved all
difficulties and set all doubts at rest!
Here was an indisputable
terra firma
on which to
build the future superstructure of all human
thought and speculation! Did it not account for so
many things that were otherwise quite mysterious!
True, but it left very little room for the existence of
an Almighty, all-knowing and all-good, personal
God, for the need of prayer, or for the “hypothesis”
of a life after Death where men are to be held
responsible for their thoughts, words and deeds. In
this manner, I became a Positivist of the schools of
Auguste, Comte and an Agnostic of the school of
Huxley, both at the same time, and was in a very
suitable frame of mind to intensely enjoy reading
books like Strauss’s “The Old and the New Faith”
and John Stuart Mill’s “Three Essays on Religion”
and particularly his charming “Autobiography.”
