القرآن الكريم وقواعد الحضارات

This methodological research article explores the nexus between the Qur’an and the idea of Islamic civilization—a nexus which, according to the author, constitutes
the most fundamental relationship in the entire history of human civilization. Drawing upon the perspectives of several Orientalists and scholars of civilization, the author underscores that Islamic civilization represents the first truly global civilization, whose spirit emanates from the Qur’an. The Qur’an is not merely a compendium of legal injunctions and moral teachings; rather, it is the source of a civic and civilizational spirit that flowed from Mecca to Medina, laying the foundation for the emergence of the Ummah and the Madīnat al-Nabī. Milad emphasizes that any study of the rise, flourishing, or decline of Islamic civilization will remain incomplete without reference to the Qur’an and its historical traditions, for the Qur’an is a book of guidance and insight encompassing all dimensions of human life—religious, social, political, and developmental. The author first introduces his central thesis, namely the “Theory
of Historical Laws,” which he regards as the greatest intellectual achievement of
the Qur’an in the history of human thought. By articulating the concept of divine laws (السنن الإلهية), the Qur’an provides universal and continuous principles for understanding the movement of history and the transformations of civilizations—principles such as rise and decline, progress and degeneration, and social evolution. According to his analysis, the Qur’an succeeded in generating a scientific conception of history and human society, one that had not previously appeared in any intellectual tradition or revealed scripture. Referring to the views of Muḥammad ʿAbduh, Muḥammad Bāqir al-Ṣadr, and ʿImād
al-Dīn Khalīl, he demonstrates that the theory of divine laws must be elevated from a theological notion to the level of social science, thereby becoming an independent field of knowledge with civilizational and sociological functions. Subsequently, Milad, relying on a linguistic and thematic analysis of the Qur’an, examines the relationship between the destruction of communities (هلاک القری) and the law of injustice as the second civilizational principle. Through an extensive study of numerous verses that attribute the annihilation of societies to injustice, he demonstrates that the Qur’an regards injustice as the decisive and universal cause of social decline and the collapse of civilizations. This injustice is not confined to political oppression and tyranny; it also encompasses economic and moral dimensions, as explicitly illustrated in the narratives of the people of Shuʿayb (economic injustice), the people of Pharaoh (political injustice), and the people of Lot (moral injustice). In critiquing Ibn Khaldūn, Milad points out that his narrowly economic interpretation of injustice stems from a neglect of the Qur’an’s comprehensive conception of the term, for the Qur’an identifies injustice as the very foundation of the disintegration of the entire social and cultural structure. The author then, in his third principle, examines the connection between the Ummah and the law of appointed term and historical respite. This law, mentioned in numerous Qur’anic verses, indicates that every community, like individuals, possesses a natural lifespan and a fixed term, which, once it arrives, can neither be advanced nor delayed. This divine ordinance, applied at the level of communities, reflects a general sociological law that structures the entirety of human history. In his critique of Ibn Khaldūn, Milad shows that Ibn Khaldūn focused solely on the second part of the verse (“they cannot delay it for even an hour”), while neglecting the fundamental notion of the determination of the lifespan of communities. Yet it is precisely this first part of the verse that provides the epistemological foundation for understanding the historical life cycle of civilizations. From the author’s perspective, had Ibn Khaldūn approached the Qur’an with greater insight, he could have extended his theory beyond the scope of states and applied it to the law governing civilizations and nations. In the fourth principle, the author discusses the divine law of the alternation of days and succession, citing the verse, “And such are the days We alternate among the people”, and examines the interpretations of Malek Ben nabi and ʿImād al-Dīn Khalīl concerning civilizational cycles. From the Qur’anic perspective, the alternation of time represents a purifying and hope‑inspiring law that prevents the permanence of powers and civilizations, while simultaneously allowing
for the possibility of renewal and revival. The verse, “Indeed, God does not change
the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves”, serves as the foundation of the law of civilizational change, opening the path to the reconstruction of civilizations through inner, moral, and spiritual transformation. Through his Qur’anic–civilizational method of analysis, Zaki Milad demonstrates that Islamic civilization has, at every stage of its development, drawn its vitality from the Qur’an, and that both its diagnosis and reconstruction must likewise proceed from this source. In his view, the theory of divine laws, the law of injustice, the law of appointed term, and the law of alternation constitute are the four foundational pillars of the Qur’anic philosophy of civilization. Together, they provide an epistemological framework for the formation of a renewed Islamic civilization in the contemporary era.