The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page xliv
GENERAL INTRODUCTION peoples, and these political interests spring from differences of civilization. But cultural differences are not less important. A European Muslim is very cordial to an Asiatic Muslim; the cordiality he displays for a fellow Muslim, he never displays for a fellow European. A bigoted European Christian is cordial towards an atheist American. Is this due to strict religious bias? No. If religious bias were the only factor at work, then a Christian would find himself nearer to a Muslim's heart than to that of an atheist. The truth is that between Christian and Christian, even though one of them be an atheist, there are ties of culture, a Christian culture we may call it. A Christian atheist is no longer Christian in his religious beliefs but his emotions and actions are not free from the influence of Christian culture. Influences which transmit themselves through many generations are not easily obliterated. A Christian artist who may have become an atheist in thought will still display a Christian influence in his paintings and his music. In fact, but for such influence, his art would seem as out of place as thistles in a rose garden. Different Periods of Civilization and Culture We now wish to point out that periods of civilization and culture come at times in isolation and at times in combination. They come separately at one time and simultaneously at another. Occasionally a nation attains to a great civilization but not to a great culture; occasionally to a great culture but not to a great civilization. Rome in its glory was the bearer of a great civilization; but it had no culture. Its Art and its Philosophy did not spring from any foundational ideology. Every individual was free to grow in his own way and to interpret life without reference to any large and basic principles. During the first few centuries of its existence, Christianity gave no civilization to the world but it gave culture of a very high order, a culture which sprang from a determinate outlook on life and which accordingly had its own characteristic features. Early Christians had their activities rooted in certain principles; their lives were defined by certain limits. These principles and limits were laid down for them by their religious teaching. On the other hand, the principles and limits within which the Roman mind worked were dictated by materialistic urges. In short, early Rome was an excellent example of a civilization and early Christianity a similar example of culture. Later, in Rome civilization and culture mingled together. When Rome became Christian, it had both a civilization and a culture, but its civilization was subordinate to its culture. At present, Europe possesses both a civilization and a culture, but owing to the dominance of materialistic conceptions, its culture has become subordinate to its civilization. When we study the history of the world, we find that times during which religion has succeeded in promoting a true philosophy of morals or a true culture, seem to have been very similar to our xviii