Connection with the Past is Essential for Social Harmony

 

By Dr. Zafar Darik Qasmi, New Age Islam

12 July 2025

This article emphasizes the vital role of historical awareness in shaping a strong, balanced, and progressive society. Disconnection from a glorious past weakens youth and communities. Reconnecting with Muslim heritage is essential for intellectual growth, identity, and social harmony.

Main Points:

1.    Disconnection from history weakens youth’s identity, values, planning, and national commitment.

2.    Muslim contributions in science, governance, and ethics shaped global civilizations significantly.

3.    Extremist forces distort Muslim history to detach youth from their cultural pride.

4.    History is not backwardness but a foundation for future development and strategic vision.

5.    Youth must be reconnected to heritage through education, campaigns, and cultural awareness initiatives.

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History holds a significant place in the field of human knowledge. Through the study of history, not only do individuals and societies plan for their future, but some historical events also act as a warning for nations, guiding those who have lost their way back to their true destination. History is the guardian of a nation’s culture, civilization, and heritage. For the younger generation, knowledge of their past acts as a powerful remedy that shapes their ideological, intellectual, and scholarly development.

It is a fact that to push a society toward downfall, destruction, and hopelessness, it is often enough to simply disconnect its youth from their glorious past. As a result, they lose touch with their noble values and traditions. This undeniable reality shows that failing to benefit from the intellectual and natural abilities of the youth is like inviting disaster for the community.

Those who wish harm upon a particular community know very well that its youth are its greatest asset. When the youth have proper planning, a constructive mindset, and a strong focus on their goals, when they become aware of their duty towards their community and leadership, and when their connection to their past is built on strong and positive principles — then such societies shine with distinction in the world. Through their efforts, not only do they enlighten themselves, but they also bring progress and prosperity to their community and nation.

Today, the Muslim Ummah is heading toward a decline. Many scholars have pointed out various reasons for this, but one major reason is that Muslim youth have become disconnected from their rich and glorious past. As a result, we are witnessing the disappearance of balanced thinking, compassion for the community, humanity, and a critical and research-based mindset.

Unfortunately, we are not paying any attention to the teachings and principles that were once advised to us for setting our goals. The pages of history clearly show that whenever a nation’s youth made plans for the future keeping in mind their responsibilities, they left golden marks in history.

Always remember — only those nations and societies maintain their glory whose youth are serious, whose intellect is mature, and whose way of thinking is deeply rooted in research and wisdom. The tragedy is that even though we possess a complete ideology, a strong system, and a magnificent past whose brilliance still shines through time — despite all this, some extremist and cunning groups have dared to portray the Muslim past as dark and negative.

They fear that if Muslim youth reconnect with their past, they will become strong — economically, culturally, socially, politically, and intellectually. They are aware that Muslims have made valuable contributions in every field of life. The philosophy and system introduced by Muslims to the world contain solutions to all problems related to diversity, inclusion, and shared values. This was true in the past, remains relevant today, and will continue to hold importance in the future.

The sad part is that not only outsiders but even among us, there are so-called thinkers and critics who proudly say that remembering the past is useless in this modern age. They argue that in this era of progress and change, there is no need to repeat the lessons of history. Such discussions are now common on social media platforms.

But it doesn’t end here. Some communal-minded elements are now presenting Muslim history in such a distorted way that it seems Muslims were the biggest villains of the past. These incidents are not new. What is more tragic is that today we lack enough people who can respond to such false claims with knowledge, wisdom, and seriousness. Why has this happened? The reason is clear — we have not only cut ties with our past but have also ignored our remarkable history of knowledge and research.

To those who think that connecting with the past will take us backward, I say — by remembering the past, we can build a better future. Why should we or our future generations be disconnected from our glorious history? Our past is full of pride and worthy of being followed. Our heritage is rich with justice, social and political services, and noble values of governance and leadership.

Our elders were giants in the fields of knowledge and criticism. So, should we not use our great history to ensure a secure future for our children?

On the other hand, when we study the history of other civilizations and cultures, we often find that they do not have such rich and organized traditions. The unique aspect of Muslim history is that it offers valuable material for the growth and development of nations, even in the face of ups and downs.

The fact is that only those nations achieve victory and success who stay connected with their past. Today, some organized movements are actively trying to erase Muslim history and present new literature to replace it. The goal is clear — to disconnect Muslim youth from every positive contribution their forefathers made.

Unless we study our past and learn about our own history, how will we know what great contributions Muslims made to the world of science, literature, and art? For example:

Who was Abul Qasim Al-Zahrawi, the father of modern surgery?

What were the achievements of Ibn Khaldun, the pioneer of sociology?

How did Abu Nasr al-Farabi or Abu Mashar al-Balkhi introduce the idea of flight?

What is the importance of Imam Muhammad’s books As-Siyar al-Saghir and As-Siyar al-Kabir in international relations and inter-state harmony?

Who were Ibn Majah and Abu al-Haytham?

It is now necessary to launch a campaign to reconnect the youth with their history. We must show them how bright our past was and explain why the present appears dark and cloudy. We need to find the reasons behind this situation.

Living nations not only remember the achievements of their forefathers but also make every effort to pass them on to the next generation. Whenever we ignore this illuminating ideology, we fall into disgrace and humiliation.

To save the Muslim community from decline, we must prepare a generation that is fully aware of its past, understands the present deeply, and can plan effectively for the future.

Let’s also remember: History is a vital subject, and our children must study it. Through history, they can learn about the foundations on which civilizations were built. Muslim history is not based on imaginary stories; rather, it is a complete account of progress and growth. Our past includes refined traditions, balanced lifestyles, and systems of governance and democracy that are worthy of being revived.

Therefore, the biggest need of today is to reconnect ourselves with our past — so we can promote social values and shared cultural traditions, and build a brighter, united future.

 

URL:    https://www.newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/past-essential-social-harmony/d/136159

 

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