THE AGE OF CIVILISATION
VIOLENCE is a remnant of primitive society. People knew only one way of settling their affairs—that of violence. At some point in the Stone Age two people, having started a quarrel, threw stones at each other in anger. The stones collided and resulted in sparking. Observing the sparks, they forgot their quarrel and began to ponder on the phenomenon. They discovered that there was something hidden in stones, which was separate from the stones. That is, the stones do not have light, but what resulted from their collision was light; stones are hard, while the spark was “soft”, and so on. Such events started the pursuit of the study of natural laws.
It took thousands of years for man to discover the laws hidden in nature, Understanding them helped to harness the potential of nature for man's benefit. Steam power is an example of the hidden potential of nature. Similarly, cars and aeroplanes were built by utilising natural resources. Over a period it became possible to convert matter into technology. The discoveries and inventions during this period contributed enormously to modern civilisation and completely changed human lifestyle.
The greatest characteristic of the civilised world is that it has enabled man to lead a comfortable life.
The greatest characteristic of the civilised world is that it has enabled man to lead a comfortable life. Modern civilisation has, from every aspect, given a comfortable life to people—all daily activities have been made comfortable and convenient. Today a civilised life means a comfortable life. The age of civilisation has potentially brought the age of war to an end. War and violence have become as irrelevant as trying to light a fire in the kitchen by knocking two stones together instead of using matchsticks or a lighter. But even today, the war and violence is regularly opted for settling differences, an uncivilised option—one which had relevance only in primitive ages.
Why then is it that the course of war is taken, and is not entirely abandoned? The reason is that though man learnt to convert matter into technology, he failed to discover the art of managing differences. Difference is a part of nature. It boosts one’s intellectual development. The greatest characteristic of the civilised world is that it has enabled man to lead a comfortable life. Spirit of Islam Issue 37 January 2016 41 If there are no differences, there will be no intellectual development. The problem arises m when we are unable to manage differences. What is the art of difference management? Settling differences through peaceful negotiations. It is to apply reason to settle differences as was applied to the discoveries of nature.
The civilised way of managing differences is to apply reason and to try to settle it through peaceful dialogue.
The civilised way of managing differences is to apply reason and to try to settle it through peaceful dialogue. The age of civilisation is still incomplete. It has offered us material comforts but is yet to find peaceful ways to settle differences in a civilised manner. When that happens, the age of civilisation will have truly arrived.
Wait and Watch
When the development of any event is not to our
liking, we must maintain normalcy and patiently wait
for the future. We must adopt the policy of ‘wait and
watch’ and refrain from jumping to conclusions.
Manage Crisis
God has given so much wisdom to man that he can
think through any crisis. No crisis is big enough to
bring to halt the thinking capacity of mind.