Islam Creator of the Modern Age
Preface
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histories, one being shaped by the course of events,
the other shaping history itself.
The aim of this book is to place a major historical
event in its correct perspective, i.e. to attribute the
crucial Arabo-Muslim contribution to modern
science to Islam itself rather than give all the credit
for it to a Muslim nation, which was formerly the
practice. This is thus the explanation of a known
event rather than the presentation of facts, which
were hitherto unknown.
This point can be illustrated by the manner in which
India won its freedom in 1947. India’s ability to
liberate itself may be attributed to Gandhi and
Nehru, but if we go into the matter in greater depth,
we find it more proper to say that it was modern
national and democratic ideas that helped India to
win its freedom. This advent of a universal
intellectual revolution, based on the principles of
democracy and national freedom in modern times,
actually paved the way for the rise of a Gandhi, or a
Nehru, who was then in a position to launch a
successful freedom movement. Had such a
revolution in thinking not already taken place, the
