Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Society and History

This book is corrected and edited by Al-Hassanain (p) Institue for Islamic Heritage and Thought

• Introduction
• What is Society?
• First View
• Second View
• Third View
• Fourth View
• The Qur’anic View
• Notes
• Society and Tradition
• Determinism or Freedom
• Notes
• Social Divisions and Polarization
• Nature of Society: Homogeneity or Heterogeneity?
• Societies of the Future
• Notes
• What is History?
• Scientific History
• 1. Authenticity and Inauthenticity of Traditional History
• 2. Causation in History
• Notes
• Is History Materialistic in Nature?
• Basic Principles of Historical Materialism
• 1. Priority of matter over spirit
• 2. Primacy and priority of material needs over intellectual needs
• 3. Priority of action over thought
• 4. Priority o f the Social Existence of Man Over His Individual Existence, or the Principle of Priority of Sociology Over Psychology
• 5. Priority of Material Aspect of Society over its Intellectual Aspect
• Conclusions
• 1. The first conclusion is related to the problem of study of society and history
• 2. The law governing history is deterministic, inviolable, and external to human will
• 3. Each historical period is quite different from the other period in character and nature
• Notes
• Criticism of Historical Materialism
• 1. Baselessness
• 2. Revision of Views by Its Founders
• 3. Contradiction of Necessary Correspondence between Base and Superstructure
• 4. Nonconformity of Ideological and Class Bases
• 5. Independence of Cultural Developments
• 6. Historical Materialism Contradicts Itself
• Notes
• Islam and Historical Materialism
• Criticism
• (i)
• (ii)
• Notes
• Islam's 'Philosophy' of History
• Criteria
• 1. Strategy of the Call
• 2. An Ideology's Nomenclature
• 3. Favourable and Unfavourable Conditions for Acceptability
• 4. Rise and Fall of Societies
• A. Justice and Injustice
• B. Unity and Disunity
• C. Practice or Neglect of the Principle of al-‘Amr bi al-Ma’ruf wa al-Nahy ‘an al-Munkar
• D. Moral Corruption and Degeneration
• Notes
• Evolution and Change in History
• 1. The Racial Theory
• 2. The Geographical Theory
• 3. The Theory of the Role of Genius or Heroes
• 4. The Economic Theory
• 5. The Religious Theory
• 6. The Theory of Nature
• The Role of Personality in History
• Notes
• Note by the Publisher of the Book