(2) The Holy Quran explains that nations and societies qua...

(2) The Holy Quran explains that nations and societies qua nations and societies (not just individuals living in societies) have common laws and principles that govern their rise and fall in accordance with certain historical processes. The concept of a common fate and collective destiny implies the existence of certain definite laws governing society.

About the tribe of Bani Israel, the Holy Quran says: And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the scriptures: You verily will work corruption in the earth twice, and you will become great tyrants. … It may be that your Lord will have mercy on you [if ye mend your ways], but if you repeat [the crime] We shall repeat [the punishment], and We have appointed hell a dungeon for the disbelievers. (3) The last sentence, i.e.

“But if you repeat [ the crime] We shall repeat [the punishment]” shows that the Quran is addressing all the people of the tribe and not an individual. It also implies that all the societies are governed by a universal law.

Determinism or Freedom One of the fundamental problems discussed by philosophers, particularly in the last century, is the problem of determinism and freedom of individual as against society, or, in other words, determinism and freedom of the individual spirit vis-Ã-vis the social spirit.

If we accept the first theory regarding the nature of society, and consider social structure to be merely a hypostatized notion, and believe in the absolute independence of the individual, then there will be no place for the idea of social determinism. Because, there will be no power or force except that of the individuals, and no social force that may rule over the individual. Hence, in this theory, there is no room for the idea of social determinism.

If there is any compulsion or determinism it is of the individual and operates through the individuals. Society has no role in this matter. Hence, there can be no social determinism as emphasized by the advocates of social determinism.

In the same way, if we accept the fourth theory, and consider the individual and indivi­dual’s personality as a raw material or an empty pot, then the entire human personality of the individual, his intellect, and his free will would be reduced to nothing but an expression of the collective intelligence and the collective will, which manifest themselves, as an illusion, in the form of an individual to realize their own social ends.