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A complete translation of Ravish‑i Shinakht‑i Islam, comprising two lectures given at Husayniya‑yi Irshad in Aban 134710ctober 1968.

(Translated from Islamshinasi, Vol. pp.46 56.) MY WORLD‑VIEW CONSISTS OF tauhid. Tauhid in the sense of oneness of God is of course accepted by all monotheists. But tauhid as a world‑view in the sense I intend in my theory means regarding the whole universe as a unity, instead of dividing it into this world and the hereafter, the natural and the supernatural, substance and meaning, spirit and body. It means regarding the whole of existence as a single form, a single living and conscious organism, possessing will, intelligence, feeling and purpose.

(Transtaled from Islamshinsi, Vol. 1, pp. 56 68.) THE STORY OF ADAM and his creation in the Qur'an is the most profound and advanced expression of humanism that exists. In this story, Adam represents the whole human species, the essence of the human race, man in his philosophical sense, not in the biological sense. When the Qur'an speaks of man in the biological sense, it uses the language of the natural sciences, mentioning sperm, drops of clotted blood, fetus, etc.

(Translated from Islamshinasi, Vol. I, pp. 68 85.) ACCORDING TO THE ISLAMIC school of thought, the philoso­phy of history is based on a certain kind of historical determinism. History represents an unbroken flow of events that, like man himself, is dominated by a dialectical contradic­tion, a constant warfare between two hostile and contradictory elements that began with the creation of humanity and has been waged at all places and at all times, and the sum total of which constitutes history.

(Translated from Islamshinasi, Vol. I, pp. 85 94.) SOCIOLOGY IS ALSO FOUNDED on a dialectic. Society, like history, is composed of two classes‑the class of Abel and the class of Cain‑for history is simply the movement of society along the line traced out by time. Society represents, therefore, a fragment corresponding to a certain time‑sector in history. If we remove the concept of time from the history of a people, we will be left with the society of that people.

(Translated from Islamshinasi, Vol. 1, pp. 97 98.) THE IDEAL SOCIETY OF ISLAM is called the umma. Taking the place of all the similar concept‑, which in different languages and cultures designate a human agglomeration or society, such as "society," "nation," "race, “people,” “tribe," ”clan," etc., is the single word umma, a word imbued with progressive spirit and implying a dynamic, committed and ideological social vision.

(Translated from Islamshinasi, Vol 1, pp. 98 104.) THE IDEAL MAN is the theomorphic man in whom the spirit of God has overcome the half of his being that relates to Iblis, to clay and to sediment. He has been freed from hesitation and the contradiction between the "two infinites." "Take on the characteristics of God"‑this is our whole philosophy of education, our sole standard!

Muslims everywhere are impatient for change. Impatience itself is not bad. It shows that Muslims are alert and anxious to see change in their societies. This springs from the fact that they are dissatisfied with the status quo. This is also a positive sign.

This paper was presented at an Education Conference held in Makkah in 1977, and has been reprinted numerous times in several different countries. In 1980, following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Dr Siddiqui added two sentences to it. For edition, based on the 1996 reprinting, the original text has been used, with the additional sentences shown in the footnotes. Also in 1980, a post-script was added. This read: “Since this paper was first written... the historic situation has been transformed by the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The Islamic movement has already made the vital breakthrough.”

We must, however, guard against the misuse of religion to hamper the innovative spirit of man or to allow its advocates to brandish it as a weapon stifle any new idea or to cripple scientific enquiry. It is enough for the society to be deeply religious and for the scientist to be so inspired to ensure that he would not step out of line or to misuse science as to impinge on the province of religion.