Islam in the Third Millenium
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

The nineteenth century brought to mankind the knowledge explosion. Under the influenceof science, man came to believe that the attainment of boundless knowledge was within his reach, and that now he was in a position to build his world on his own. However, by the end of the century,  the picture was quite different. It was discovered, with a great sense of frustration, that science can give but a partial knowledge of reality. And limited knowledge is an insufficient basis on which to construct an ideology which will provide answers to all man’s  questions.  The initial phase—of hope—was delineated in a book written by the British author, Julian Huxley Man Stands Alone. The second phase—one filled with frustration—was defined in a book written by the American author, Cressy Morrison. Its title was truly meaningful: Man Does Not Stand Alone. The twentieth century again brought thrilling news:  that of the atomic explosion. Man believed once again that he had managed to acquire the ultimate power of nature. Now the time had come, for the first time in human history, to build on this earth a civilization that would be the most successful ever.  

Experience showed, on the contrary, that atomic power, having assumed the form of the atomic bomb, became a source of such great destruction as to threaten the very existence of human civilization.

The truth is that, prior to the knowledge explosion and the atomic explosion, man was in need of a reliable ideology to furnish him with a complete interpretation of life—one that would set proper objectives before him, direct his actions into positive channels and instruct him in the correct use of knowledge and power. The spread of communism in the nineteenth century had given man the false conviction that he had discovered the perfect ideology that he had been seeking all along. But, in 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, this false sense of conviction vanished into thin air. In this new scenario, the world is experiencing an ideological vacuum—a vacuum which Islam alone can fill, for it is a religion of nature, a complete and preserved guidebook handed down by God Himself to His own chosen Prophet.

  The recent world-wide trend of studying Islam shows that the twenty first century will be the new age of Islam. If the nineteenth century was marked by the knowledge explosion and the twentieth century by the atomic explosion, the twenty first century is destined to be marked by the Islamic explosion.

  The fact is that, for the building of his life,  man is in need of divine guidance, the vehicle of which  is religion. And of all the religions the only preserved and reliable version is that of Islam. That makes Islam the only dependable, authentic solution to the human predicament. Man, born on the planet earth, has been endowed, by the grace of God, with freedom of choice. Even so, he is not the master of his own destiny. The most crucial aspect of life is that he is accountable to God for all his deeds. After a comparatively brief span on earth, he is destined to come face to face with death, after which he will stand before God for his ultimate fate to be decided:  eternal Hell or eternal Paradise. Man’s greatest concern should be his preparation for the world to come.  The present world is like a great examination hall, where his unique task is to pass the divine test set by God, so that he may save himself from divine punishment in the next world and be held deserving of God’s reward in the form of Paradise. In Paradise there will be no fear and no pain. (2:62). Everyone is heading  for a fateful leap into the next world. His ultimate success is determined by his ability to pass the divine test. It is this goal towards which people ought to strive, for the inability to pass the test means total failure in this life and the next.  

Let us take the case of a citizen of a country. The option before him is not between patriotism and treason. In reality the option is between patriotism and self-destruction.

  The case of man vis a vis God is no different. The option before man in this world is not between the godly life and the ungodly life.  Again,  it is between the godly life and self-destruction. Therefore if an individual does not make the choice of a godly life in this world then the option before him is not that of a godless life, but it is of  a life of self-destruction.