The Narratives – Mohamed Miah

Mohamed Miah | The Narratives

The Shapes Civilisations Leave Behind

Human beings leave clues about their beliefs in the shapes they build. Every age of humanity carved its worldview into stone, wood, metal or ideology. The Romans shaped power into the Colosseum. Ancient tribes gathered around circles etched into the earth. Modern capitalism hides its intentions inside pyramids of glass and corporate skylines.

And in the middle of the desert, long before empires rose and vanished, Allah commanded Ibrahim (as) to build a structure with no ornament, no symbols and no illusions: a simple cube. A house that would outlast every empire and expose the geometry behind every human system.

The Triangle – Shape of Hierarchy and Greed

A triangle is the perfect representation of the capitalist world. It has a sharp apex held up by a widening base, demanding constant pressure from below so a small elite can remain above. This shape survives by taking more, consuming more and climbing over the people at the bottom. It reflects a worldview where wealth, influence and control must rise to one concentrated point.

Pharaoh’s pyramid was the first version of this system, but capitalism perfected it. The result is always the same: anxiety, inequality, relentless competition and the belief that a few deserve everything while the many carry the weight. A triangle can never bring peace because nothing balanced can be built on a single point.

The Circle – Humanity’s Instinct for Community

Circles tell a different story. They have no top or bottom, no sharp edge, no hierarchy. People stand equal within them, facing inward, sharing the same centre. You see this instinct in tribal gatherings, village meetings, ancient stone circles, socialist ideals and even in how people naturally form groups when they sit together.

A circle expresses our human longing for fairness, unity and companionship. Socialism tries to imitate this ideal by promising an equal society where resources are shared and exploitation is removed. But a circle without direction becomes repetitive. It turns inward again and again, searching for purpose but unable to provide structure. Human goodness alone cannot sustain a system; it needs guidance.

The Cube – Divine Order, Balance and Tawheed

The cube of the Kaaba stands apart from every human structure. It is not raised high to impress, nor shaped to dominate. Its strength comes from balance. All sides are equal. All angles are firm. There is no hierarchy built into it, yet there is perfect order.

The cube represents revelation—clear law, grounded justice and a structure that protects without oppressing. It gives direction without creating a ruling class and creates discipline without suffocating the heart. When Muslims stand shoulder-to-shoulder facing it, humanity becomes aligned: rich and poor, known and unknown, all worshipping the same Creator.

Islam’s geometry blends the compassion of the circle with the structure of the square, removing the corruption of the triangle completely. This is why the cube restores what both other shapes tried and failed to achieve.

When Humans Orbit the Truth

Tawaf is the best visual expression of this harmony. Thousands move in a circle—human instinct—around a cube—divine command. Movement meets stability. Emotion meets revelation. The human longing for connection finds its centre, and the instinct for unity is anchored to the One worthy of being at the centre of creation.

It is everything humanity has been trying to build, but always getting wrong when done without Allah.

Why Equilibrium Only Exists in Revelation

Capitalism elevates selfishness. Socialism elevates humanity. Islam elevates truth. And truth is what brings balance. Allah did not leave humans to guess their way through life. Prophets were sent from the beginning, guidance was always present, and the only time societies collapsed is when they replaced revelation with their own desires.

If everyone lived by the decree of Allah—His law, His rhythm, His balance—the world would move from chaos to harmony. The triangle would collapse. The circle would steady. And humanity would finally return to the equilibrium it has been craving.

The Final Geometry

The triangle is the ego.

The circle is the community.

The cube is the truth.

Humanity was never meant to worship itself or to revolve endlessly around its own ideas. We were created to orbit the truth, not to build pyramids around our desires. The closer our lives align to the divine geometry, the closer we come to the life we were intended to live—one built on dignity, justice, unity and peace.