Every child begins with the experience of 'This is mine' and 'That is not mine.' This experience matures in the adult into "I" and "not-I"—the subject that knows and the object that is known. We call the knower or subject, Mind; and the known or object, Matter. Most modern Philosophers agree in believing that Mind and Matter are but two aspects of One Reality underlying All. Just as a big building like the Falaknuma Palace presents different aspects when viewed from different directions, and yet is one and the same building; so the Reality of Existence appears to us in different aspects as Mind and Matter, and yet is one and the same Reality[58].
Dr. Theodore Merz of the Durham University, at the end of his grand survey of the Scientific Thought of Europe in the 19th Century,[59] says: "The scientific mind advances from the idea of Order or arrangement to that of Unity through the idea of Continuity."
The process adopted by Science of arriving at Unity is only the reverse of what Islam adopted: the former begins a posteriori with Order, finds Continuity and arrives at Unity, but the latter started a priori with Unity, passed over Continuity, and found Order, thus:—
| Science. | Islam. |
| 1. Order | 1. Order 1. Unity = الله = رب العالمين The Reality[58] of which both Mind and Matter are different aspects. |
| 2. Continuity | 2. Continuity = الرحمن الرحيم = Force or Energy. |
| 3. Unity | 3. Order[60] = ملك يوم الدين = Order or Process. |
What Sir Edwin Arnold calls the soul of Islam, i.e., the Principle of Unity, so patently corresponds with the ultimate results of modern Science and Philosophy, that I need not dwell on it at any great length. It is sufficient to point out that Science has now proved three Unities, the Unity of Substance, the Unity of Force, and the Unity of Process; and Philosophy has shown that the three Unities resolve themselves into One Infinite Power.[61]
| "There is no strength (to avoidevil) nor ability (to do good)except through God who is great andsupreme." |  | لا حولو لا قوة الابا للهالعلىالعظيم |
Maxim of Union and Loyalty.
2. How is the Maxim of Union and Loyalty inferred from the principle of Unity? Man, being a creature of God, should try to be godly and godlike, try to imitate God in actions, try to co-operate with his fellow creatures for the good of all, and should thus attain the ideal: "Union is Strength." This is the Islamic doctrine of Atonement[62] (= at-one-ment فنا فى الله): to be at one with God by union and co-operation with God's creatures so far as your and their constitutions and environments allow. But you need not bother yourself with theories at present. It will be enough if you remember that the ultimate aim or the sole object of the Prophet's mission was to establish the universal union and brotherhood of mankind by means of a firm belief in the eternal truth of God's unity. He preached the Unity of God and worked all his life for the union of men into a universal Brotherhood.
In order that you should co-operate, i.e., work together with your fellow-men for the good of all, your work must needs be co-ordinated. It must be guided and directed so that it tallies with the work of others. This guidance and direction comes from your leader, whom you and your fellow-workers must obey, in order to attain the best results. Co-operation thus implies Co-ordination which requires a leader—Caliph or King—whom you ought to follow loyally. Loyalty to your leader is therefore the gist of co-operation. The Qur'an and the Traditions are full of injunctions for obedience to "those in authority among you" [63] اولوا الامر منكم "The surest way of pleasing God is to obey the King."
Modern Science teaches exactly the same thing. I have a series of little books in my Library called "People's Books" published at 6d. each by Messrs. Jack, London. One of them on "Zoology" is written by Professor MacBride, F.R.S. He traces the development of Man from Protozoa,—little specks of animalculæ—and points out how each species of animals has risen higher than another by (i) greater "inventive capacity", the capacity of adopting new means to an old end and old means to a new end: and (ii) higher "tribal morality" implied in co-operation and loyalty to leaders. He says: "Mankind progresses by the appearance of individuals in whom (besides the inventive genius) the instincts of co-operation and loyalty are more strongly developed". It is precisely those instincts that Islam fosters by its doctrine of the universal brotherhood of Muslims—a doctrine which implies primarily loyalty to your King. Just as the affairs of a family like yours, consisting of a dozen members, cannot prosper unless each follows loyally the lead of the eldest, or the wisest among you; so the affairs of a nation can never be in a satisfactory condition unless each individual is loyal to his King and country, and co-operates with his Government by willingly doing what is required of him.