Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | THE NATURE OF ISLAMIC SOCIETYorder of faith where abilities, faculties and resources are given the best chance togrow and develop for the good of the individual and the community, as well as forthe benefit of humanity at large.However, it is essential that there should be a proper and valid by whichdifferences and divisions may be judged and evaluated. Such a point of reference isalluded to in the sūrah when it says that God: “sent down the Book, setting forth thetruth, to judge between people over all on which they differed”. (Verse 213)It is worth pausing here to consider the statement that the Book is “setting forth thetruth”. This is an affirmation that the Book, the revelation from God to mankind, hascome with the definitive and absolute truth. It is the ultimate, pre-eminent and solearbiter and judge of all human thought and behaviour. Without this authority societywould be at a loss, life would descend into chaos, confusion and strife, and mankindwould know no peace or happiness.This is vital in determining the source of human values, thought andunderstanding, and for defining the laws that govern human relations. The source isGod, and God alone, who has sent down revelations, the Book, to establish the truthand maintain harmony, justice and peace in the world.The Book is, in essence, one and the same, whose message all Messengers haddelivered. Its teachings convey a faith based on belief in one God and the same set oflaws and values for all mankind. As time goes on, changes occur according topeoples’ needs from generation to generation, and from one stage of development toanother, culminating in the ultimate version of God’s message represented by theIslamic faith. Under the caring eye of God Almighty and the vibrant and dynamiclaws and teachings of divine revelation, Islam took the scope of human experience tonew horizons, enabling man to reach new heights of progress and achievementwithin the all-embracing framework of values provided by the faith.What the Qur’ān states here is the definitive Islamic view of the origin anddevelopment of religion and religious ideology in the world. Briefly stated, this saysthat every Prophet came with teachings based on the fundamental principle of God’sabsolute oneness. Inevitably, after some time, deviations and myths crept in, causingpeople to depart from the original authentic traditions and teachings, therebyprecipitating the need for a new Prophet and a new set of teachings to revive andrestore the preceding one, taking into account the mental, cultural and materialdevelopments and changes society had undergone and the new conditionsprevailing. This is a far more estimable theory of the history of religion than othersadvanced by secular thinkers, and unwittingly adopted by some Muslim students ofreligion.The united kinship of religious faith is congruous with the role and function of the265