What is History?

He has given full freedom to man and is simultaneously keeping watch over the human caravan so that it may not deviate too far from the straight path.

What is history? History is another name for chronicles of the past. Books written on the subject of history are usually a record of past events. However, there is an additional subject of history which is called the ‘philosophy of history’ or the ‘interpretation of history’. The purpose of this topic is to explain the different events of human history and discover an understandable link between them. There are myriad books available on historiography or the study of the writing of history but as far as interpretation is concerned, there is no book on the subject that can be considered a comprehensible explanation of history.

Dr Alexis Carrel has rightly stated in his book, Man the Unknown, that the subject of the interpretation of history is directly related to man’s freedom. Since man is not predictable, any comprehensive explanation of his actions is not possible. Every human being is at liberty to do whatever good or bad he intends. Therefore, an overall interpretation of human history is a rather difficult task.

The fact is that human history moves between two antithetical demands: freedom and determinism. To the best of my knowledge, historians are yet to discover a principle to establish a link between these two contradictory requirements and, in the light of which, have only failed to offer a successful interpretation of human history.

I have thoroughly contemplated this subject and tried to find out the principle of interpretation of history. Finally, I came across this principle in a verse of the Quran, “The straight way leads to God and there are ways which deviate from the right course. If He so wished, He would guide you all”. (16:9)

This means that God, according to His plan of creation, has been managing history while maintaining human freedom. He has given full freedom to man and is simultaneously keeping watch over the human caravan so that it may not deviate too far from the straight path. This divine principle about human history can be summed up as ‘managing history while maintaining human freedom’.