The present article is based on the address delivered on April 21, 1997, during the Annual Qur’anic Muahadrat (Lectures) held at Qur’an Auditorium (Lahore).

The Continuity of Iqbal’s Qur’anic Thought The Genesis of Pakistan and the Islamic Revolution in Iran Viewed in the context of Iqbal’s Qur’anic Thought and its Continuity in Dr. Israr Ahmad

 “The Days of Allah” and Qur’anic Thought

When Almighty Allah (SWT) sent Musa (AS) with His ayaat (Signs or Proofs), He sent him with the specific mission of extricating his people, i.e., the Israelites or Banu Israel, from the darkness of ignorance into the light of Truth. In order that this objective be successfully pursued, Allah (SWT) further ordered Musa (s) as follows:

وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا مُوسَىٰ بِآيَاتِنَا أَنْ أَخْرِجْ قَوْمَكَ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ وَذَكِّرْهُمْ بِأَيَّامِ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ
And remind them of the Days of Allah (Surah Ibrahim: 14:5).

The “Days of Allah” are the historical landmarks which reveal the movement of the Truth in history. Time and again, in the historical process, Truth triumphs over its rivals and, according to Dr. Burhan Ahmad Faruqi, the direction of the movement of history is thus restored, time and again, to that of Sirat Al-Mustaqeem (the Straight Path). Qur’anic thought is that thought which penetrates the Qur’an with such creative insight as permits the thinker not only to discern the landmarks which constitute the “Days of Allah” in post-Qur’anic history (i.e., history since the revelation of the Qur’an), but also to understand the process of the movement of Truth in history and thus to penetrate and understand the true nature of the age in which he lives.