IN the animal world, evolution proceeds through the operation of natural causes. It aims at the perfection of the species and the eventual production of a better one. The individual does not count; the race is all-important. There is no hesitation to expend individual for the good of the species. This is the animal stage. At the human level, however, the focus of interest shifts from the race to the individual. There is the emergence of individuality, and, with it, the evolutionary process enters a new phase—a strikingly different one. Natural forces which had so far directed the course of evolution now recede into the background and rational beings consciously and actively, participate in the evolutionary process. There is a corresponding change in the goal of evolution which is now, not the production of a species well adjusted to its environment, but the development of a free and autonomous self capable of directing its ascent to higher levels of life. Nature leads the animal in the right direction. Man has to discover the right path and follow it with his own resources. He relies mainly on reason. He soon finds out, however, that in voyaging across the uncharted seas of existence, he cannot depend solely on the fitful flickering light of reason. In desperation, he turns to God for help which is granted him in the form of a summons to join the Order of the Rabubiyyat. This order would, naturally, make sense for those who have the earnest desire and ambition to follow the right path. Those who join the order are assured of speedy and smooth progress towards the goal of self-fulfilment. This is what Jannah stands for in the terminology of the Quran. Man will march towards the goal in the company of like-minded persons.
