Part 2
Atif
The History and Stages of Islamic Civilization’s Formation
1. The Era of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH)
With the Prophethood of Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) in Mecca, a fundamental shift began in human thought and character. Islamic civilization didn’t come into being suddenly; it started with the mission of Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) and expanded over the course of centuries.
Before the Prophethood of Allah’s Messenger (PBUH), which was in the sixth century CE, human beings had grown far removed from their Creator, and lived without the light of knowledge, guidance, or the ability to tell good from evil. They paid no attention at all to deeds for their Hereafter, and always put their own personal interests ahead of the common good. These ills had gripped societies to such a degree that oppression, crime, aggression, humiliation, torture, persecution, plunder, the spread of immorality, and discrimination had become the foundation of the civilization of Jahiliyyah across the world, and had habituated humanity toward self-destruction and the pursuit of power.
In fact, these problems and this terrible condition had shaken the foundations of human civilization to such a degree that the strong sought to torture the weak, the powerful used their strength against the powerless, and the wealthy destroyed the poor. Allah (SWT) says on this matter:
«وَلَنُذِيقَنَّهُم مِّنَ الْعَذَابِ الْأَدْنَىٰ دُونَ الْعَذَابِ الْأَكْبَرِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ» [سجده: 21]
“And we will surely let them taste the nearer punishment short of the greater punishment that perhaps they will repent.”
On the whole, the state of the world, and the condition of the Arabian Peninsula in particular, offered no hope at all for a bright, better future. It was a state of affairs in which ordinary people, societies, and nations couldn’t hold out hope for their own future. They couldn’t put their full effort into securing their own survival and the future of the coming generation in the hope of a desirable, bright tomorrow. They couldn’t enjoy life with an easy heart, free from every kind of worry, fear, and despair, and couldn’t hold back from any kind of effort or striving toward their own future.
On the other hand, spirituality had been sacrificed on the altar of lust and wealth. People trampled virtues underfoot day after day and moved toward vice instead. Morals too had lost their value in society, corruption and licentiousness had reached their peak, and the distance between people kept growing while relationships kept weakening. For this reason, these terrible conditions of the Arabian Peninsula prepared fertile ground for the emergence of a prophet who would, through his Prophethood, apply a healing balm to society’s broken values, set the course of human life in order and give it purpose on the foundation of divine tradition, pull humanity out of this crisis, save the nation from this unmatched decline, and complete the divine proof with humanity.
