HERE IS A SILVER LINING

The British historian Arnold J. Toynbee (1889-1975) is best known through his 12-volume work, A Study of History, which was published from 1934-61. In this book he has developed a theory regarding the growth and disintegration of civilizations. He has examined the rise and fall of 26 civilizations through the course of history.

According to his analysis, history is governed by a law of nature. This law is based on what he terms, ‘challenge-and-response’ mechanism. According to this theory, all the civilizations were created by a minority group.

Minority always comes under the influence of historical factors, which deeply motivate it. This motivation enhances the minority community’s ability and finally it emerges as a creative minority. All civilizations were the result of the efforts and struggle of some creative minority.

This law of nature itself is not enough to make the minority a creative minority. It requires wise leadership. It is a fact that the minority is always under pressure from the majority. This is but natural and there is no exception to this rule. It is a very critical situation. At this juncture, the leadership of the minority community is put to the test. If the leadership of the minority takes the pressure from the majority as a negative experience, and follows the course of complaint and protest, the minority community will end in disaster. Such leadership plays a negative role for its people. It is this kind of leadership that is referred to in an Arabic poem thus: “If the crow becomes the leader of a nation, it will certainly lead its people to a disastrous end.”

This law of nature means that the minority is always in an advantageous position. It can overcome the majority. Every minority is potentially in a position to give a gift to the world, that is, a new civilization.

The opposite of this situation is that when a minority comes under pressure from the majority and faces some problems, however, its leadership plays a positive role. The leaders of the minority community tell their people that the situation they are facing is not a problem, rather it is a challenge, and that they should try to meet the challenge with all their might. This kind of positive leadership gives the right direction to its people: they adopt the course of struggle rather than the course of lodging complaints. It is this kind of positive leadership that leads its people toward playing a healthy role, and thus giving rise to a new civilization.

This law of nature means that the minority is always in an advantageous position. It can overcome the majority. Every minority is potentially in a position to give a gift to the world, that is, a new civilization.

It is this law of nature that is mentioned in the chapter Al-Baqarah (The Heifer) of the Quran in these words:

How often has a small group prevailed against a large group by God’s command. (2:249).

In this Quranic verse, “command” refers to a universal law of nature. It is this law of nature that stimulates a minority to become a creative minority, provided its leadership is wise and plays a positive role.