RENAISSANCE FEBRUARY 2021

Faith & Beliefs 23 Monthly Renaissance February 2021 not exist and is not required. The result of the dominance of this view is that all claims of political and social change over the past years have had to resort to connections with the evolution theory. The latter has proved to be so accommodating that it has developed relationships with all. Supporters of democracy have described the initial phase of human evolution in such a way that democracy itself is claimed to be a demand of human nature. Those who sympathize with monarchy have formulated its definition in their own colours. Anarchists fought with it, hence its clever supporters segregated it as a separate religion so that it would not be used in support of religions that claim their individuality, that base their beliefs and principles on revelation and are not willing to tolerate other religions. Under the protection of this theory, atheists have aimed to uproot Judaism, Christianity and Islam and to do this they have shown the evolution of religion in a manner as to destroy all fundamentals of heavenly religions. Here we are not debating all aspects of the theory of evolution but shall consider only those that are related to polytheism ( shirk ) and monotheism ( taw ḥī d ). These people describe the evolution of religion as follows: religion came into being with the first step of mankind, when the latter began to feel that it was not merely a physical being but that it also possessed a superior entity or soul within. That was the time when the basic block of religion was placed. Initially, it comprised of two elements: fear and imagination. The fear was of the unknown forces which mankind felt surrounded by and found them to be far superior to its own power and strength. The imagination was of the idea that this being should be respected and worshipped. Just as the history of all things related to the physical world are connected to the basic element that has provided life to matter, similarly the history of all things related to the soul and spiritual world is connected to the element of the soul that has created religion as a result of the combination of fear and imagination. When this religious concept adopted religious forms and practices, religious responsibilities and rituals came into existence. Hence, religion is the result of an evolutionary process. That was the evolution of life; this is an evolution of religion. Just as it is known that life was hidden in the form of