The Qur'anic Concept of History

The Islamic Foundation has been running its fortnightly seminar programmes for several years. The seminar is addressed by scholars and researchers both from the Foundation itself and from outside. In the past, a number of visiting professors and Muslim scholars from abroad have presented papers on a variety of topics. Some of these papers are of high academic standard and deserve wider circulation to researchers and scholars interested in the field. The Foundation now proposes to arrange its seminar programmes on a thematic basis. An attempt is being made to publish some of the important papers in mimeograph form. We hope to publish a series of such papers based on the seminar programme, thoroughly revised and edited, the authors having taken into consideration the observations, suggestions and comments made by the participants in the seminar. I have great pleasure in introducing the fourth paper in the series written by Professor Syed Ali Ashraf. Professor Ashraf has a very distinguished academic career; for a number of years he served as a professor and head of the department of English in the Universities of Karachi and Makkah. At present he is Secretary General of the Follow-up Committee, First World Conference on Muslim Education and is acting as General Editor for publications in the Islamic Education series. Professor Ashraf in this brief paper has very ably presented the various concepts of history and has shown how the Qur'an tackles this issue a topic on which some other authors have also written in the past. The merit of Professor Ashraf's paper lies in its brevity and precision. I hope that readers will find it very interesting and useful.