Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | The Sunday Guardian | December 27, 2015, p. 12In ancient times, the whole system of life was riddled with superstitious beliefs. Many strange, unfounded ideas were generally in vogue. Nicolson, in his Astronomy (1978) has recorded an interesting historical curiosity: "When an eclipse occurred, the Chinese thought that the Sun was swallowed by a huge dragon. The whole population joined in making as much noise as possible to scare it away. They always succeeded!" It is now known that the eclipse of the sun or the moon can be predicted, its causes are known. It is also known that the period of time for the eclipse is fixed. There is no question of its beginning or ending at a different time because of human intervention. But, in their ignorance, the ancient people thought that the great noise they made caused it to disappear! [Highlight1] This kind of superstition has largely come to an end in modern times. However, other kinds of myths are still rampant and are accorded a similar degree of acceptance. The occurrence of events, which are caused by external circumstances, is attributed to human effort. For instance, the modern age has seen a revival of religions all over the world. This phenomenon has definite universal causes and score of books on the subject have been published. A noteworthy article on this topic appeared in the American magazine Span (December 1984), entitled, 'A Return to Religion.' But there are people in this world who believe that this revival is attributable solely to their own religious leaders, and proclaim this fact to the skies. These leaders are then regarded as the heroes, if not the creators, of the modern age. Such mythical beliefs are the bedrock of modern 'religion'. When one set of myths disappears, man's fertile mind invents another. Thus myths and myth-making will survive as long as man himself.
Related Articles
Article
Soulveda | December 19, 2023
Depression is a common problem in modern times. Both the rich and the poor suffer from it. According to the World Health Organization, depression is one of the leading causes of disease in…
Article
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Sunday Guardian I October 19, 2014The Quran refers to divine food in these words: "Do not regard with envy the worldly benefits We have given some of them, for with these We seek only to…
Article
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, The Sunday Guardian, September 15, 2013, Page 12 Man is an intellectual being. He is endowed with a mind, which is his greatest faculty. It is only the possession of this mind and his…
Article
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | The Sunday Guardian | January 24, 2016, p. 12In 1859, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) published his now celebrated Origin of Species in which he put forward the very curious theory that human beings…
Article
ذريعه: الرساله، اگست 2004
ایک مجلس میں ایک صاحب نے یہ سوال کیا کہ اسلام میں روحانیت کا تصور کیا ہے اور اسلامی نقطۂ نظر سے روحانیت کو پانے کا کیا اصول ہے۔ اس معاملہ کی وضاحت کرتے ہوئے میں نے کہا کہ روحانیت (…
Article
Just visit a place of natural beauty, a place where there are mountains, flowing rivers, tall, lush green trees, birds on the wing, small white clouds floating in the sky, the sun shining, and so on. In such a spot, you…