Islam Guidance

View Point of Dialectical Materialism

View Point of Dialectical Materialism

According to this philosophical theory it is society, which has the main importance. Man is studied only as a part of society, the laws of whose development originate from the dialectical law which is supposed to govern nature. As such, in order to be able to know the views of this philo­sophical school concerning man, we have to study the basic principles of dialectical materialism in regard to nature and society. Here again we first reproduce some of the views of the exponents of this school. Thereafter we shall describe the point of view of Islam in regard to them.

 (1) Nature does not consist of things heaped together or events detached from each other. It is a collection of things and events which are interrelated. No natural phenomenon can be understood and studied in isolation from other natural events and their environment.

 (2) Nature is not static and at rest. It is in a state of motion and continuous change. Every moment something emerges, changes and evolves, and something else is annihilated.

 (3) The developmental movement of things is not a simple movement of growth. It is a development in which slight and hidden changes are suddenly and speedily transformed into open and basic qualitative changes, of inevitable and unavoidable character. The develop­mental movement is not a circular movement, nor is it a simple repetition of anything. It is a forward movement, and a shifting from an old qualitative state to a new qualitative state. This movement is from below to above.

 (4) All things and all natural events contain an inner contradiction. The previously existing thesis comes in conflict with an antithesis produced by it. Their conflict produces a new synthesis, which in turn rises in conflict with another antithesis that emerges from within it. Thus the way for evolution is paved. According to this theory, all developments originate from this very inner contradiction.

 Now let us see what this school says about man and society and how it interprets history.

 (5) Man is a material and natural being, whose brain and nervous system are more developed than those of all other animals, and because of this evolution he enjoys a better power of understanding and grasping.

 It is society which has real importance. Individual man is a weak being whose efforts are confronted with failure. It is society which grants will to him. Man minus society is prone to make too many mistakes and is always in danger of utter destruction.

 (6) As the material world exists independently of human perception and thinking, the material existence of man and the material life of society are more important than their intellectual life, which is only a secondary element derived from the material life. Even the perception and the thinking of the people are only a reflection of the material world.

 (7) The means and methods of production constitute the life of society. At various stages of the development of society the methods of production and the appliances used in this connection differ. The people in the primitive social system have one method of production and in the slave‑holding system another. Similarly in the feudal system the method and the appliances used are different.

 And so on and so forth. As the methods of production change, the social system of the people, their intellectual life, their views and their political organizations also undergo a change.

(8) The main motive force of history is the change in the means and the methods of production, which brings about a contradiction with the old productive relation­ships. As a result of this conflict and contradiction the productive relationship are changed.

 In every period of history the economic and social system which was forced by such a change, has constituted the political and intellectual history of that period. Conse­quently since the ownership of land displaced the primitive social system, history has been mainly a record of class war between the oppressors and the oppressed and the rulers and the ruled. It is this contradiction and conflict which brought about the various stages of the evolution of society.

 (9) According to the views of this school, history comprises five periods which successively displace each other. They are the periods of:

 (1) Primitive socialism, (2) Slavery, (3) Feudalism, (4) Capitalism, and lastly (5) Socialism leading to Communism

 (10) In respect of the role of the new ideas in bringing about a change in society, this school says:

The new social ideas and the new social theories appear only when a change in the material life of society creates new duties towards society. As the new ideas develop, they turn into a power which facilitates the discharge of the new duties and enables society to make progress. As every change is caused by contradiction, the contradic­tion within society should be intensified so that the solution of the problems facing society may be found. It is contradiction only that introduces new ideas and new theories which help to solve the existing problems.

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