165 Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences, 7(2): 164-172, 2013 ISSN 1995-0772 This is a refereed journal and all articles are professionally screened and reviewed ORIGINAL ARTICLE Corresponding Author: Mohamad Zaidin Mohamad, Faculty of Islamic Contemporary Studies, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 21300 K. Terengganu, Malaysia. Factors of the Rise and Fall of Human Civilization based on the Perspective of Al- Quran Mohamad Zaidin Mohamad, Basri Ibrahim, Sofyuddin Yusof & Abdul Wahid Salleh Faculty of Islamic Contemporary Studies, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 21300 K. Terengganu, Malaysia. Mohamad Zaidin Mohamad, Basri Ibrahim, Sofyuddin Yusof & Abdul Wahid Salleh: Factors of the Rise and Fall of Human Civilization based on the Perspective of Al-Quran ABSTRACT Al-Quran was sent down to organize human’s life in various aspects of life from ibadah matters to human relations between nations, based on the guidelines sent down by Allah. It also serves as a guide to show all mankind towards the right path and to avoid them from the darkness (or the absence of light). It contains explanation on faith, knowledge, worship to Allah, economic principles, relationship between nations, social relationship, warfare and peacemaking and country’s regulations as well as stories of previous mankind and the civilization they built in this world. In explaining about the regulations of developing life, al-Quran presents the factors that contribute to the rise and fall or collapse of civilization of a certain nation in the world. These factors are important to be studied and pondered on by all mankind in this world so that the collapse of civilization of previous mankind will not repeat itself in this era. The rise of human civilization is not limited solely to material development but it also involves mental and spiritual development. Key words: Civilization, human lives, mental and spiritual development, the collapse of a civilization. Introduction Al-Quran is the main reference for the Muslims in their lives. The stories about the rise and fall of previous humanity that exist in the al-Quran are not only for entertainment and pleasant-in-the-ear purposes. It is a history full with teachings and lessons for human’s consciousness. Truly, humans are just actors who make the world stage alive and they are always being replaced consistent with the time circulation. But the stories stay the same, those who are good, who realize their responsibilities, who make peace with the world by abiding to the rules set by the Owner will obtain happiness, while those who disobey, who were arrogant, who always did aberration and damages (in various forms) until Allah brought to them many kinds of warnings and destructions. All these can be understood well if we plunge into the lessons behind these stories told by Allah in His holy book (al-Quran). Therefore, this paperwork tries to analyze the issue of the rise and fall of the ancient civilization (why and how) and tries to encourage the readers to make assessment to the phenomena that happened around us nowadays. Civilization in the Al-Quran: The term civilization or other terms that have similar meaning like hadharah, advancement, madani, development, culture and so on and so forth has been widely discussed be it by Islamic scholars or western scholars. We can conclude that civilization carries the definition of all achievement made by humans that covers all aspects of life such as political, social as well as economical. Surveying the contents of the Al-Quran, we shall not find a certain debate that focuses on the term itself. Rather, we shall find terms which definition and comprehension refer to the civilization terminology itself. This is due to the fact that Al-Quran is not a book that discusses the issue of terminologies or theories (Gharab, 1985). Rather it is a hidayah (guidance) book where a large portion of its contents described the issues in humans’ life that had taken place in the past. Here we will try to discuss a few terms that are related to civilizations. They are: i) Qarar: still or stable. According to arabic verbal (Ibn Manzur, 214), al-hadar or al-hadarah is a town or dwelling place (qura) because its residents dwell in an area and they have decent habitat and they produce stability (qarar). Because of that, the word hadarah (civilization) in Arabic language refers to the residing and