When
Islam dawned, it enunciated the principle of freedom. Commander of the
Faithful, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab declared his famous saying: “When, on
earth, have you enslaved people while their mothers delivered them free
human beings!” The fourth caliph, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, advised some
people: “Never be somebody else, since Allah has created you as a free
man from the beginning.”
The original principle is that all people are
free, in accordance with the fact that Allah creates them in freedom and that
they are born free. They are entitled to be free and not be slaves. When Islam
proclaimed freedom as a principle, it was during an epoch when most people were
virtually enslaved intellectually, politically, socially, religiously, and
economically, etc.
Running counter to all those
forms of human bondage, Islam came to announce all possible forms
of freedom: freedom of belief,
freedom of thought, freedom of speech and freedom of criticism. Those
categories have always been the foremost kind of freedom usually sought by
people.
Freedom
of belief
Despite Islam being a religion itself, Islam
has set forth religious freedom. It has never allowed coercion in converting to
Islam or any specific religion. Many texts can be cited here. Verses in the
Quran from the Makkan period show
Allah, the Almighty, as saying: “And had your Lord willed, those on
earth would have believed, all of them together. So, will you (O Mohammed) then
compel mankind, until they become believers?” (Surat Yunus: verse
99).
During the period in Madina,
we have this Quranic revelation: “ There is no compulsion in religion.
Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path.” (Surat
Al-Baqarah: verse 256). The significance in this revelation, in
particular, shows how far Islam has gone to sanctify freedom and how it holds
it in high esteem.
It had been an observed
custom among the tribes of Aws and Khazraj during the pre-Islamic
epoch of ignorance and misguidedness that whenever a woman failed to conceive
she made a sacred vow that if ever she had a baby, she will make him a Jew.
That explains why, throughout time, there was a presence of Jews in those two
“Arab” tribes in the Arabian Peninsula.
When Islam appeared and some
of the Aws and Khazraj tribes embraced it with utmost conviction
and satisfaction as Allah’s gift to them, some parents wanted to restore their
children, already given to Judaism due to their vows, to their own religion,
Islam. They were keen on ridding them of that alien religion, Judaism. What was
Islam’s position? Despite the abnormal circumstances in which the people’s
children were made Jews, and despite the state of war between Muslims and Jews
at that time, Islam did not allow
anyone to compel another to leave his religion and convert to another
one, even if it was Islam.
This was at a time when the
Byzantine Empire used to say: “Either become Christian or be killed.” Islam announced its magnificent principle:
“No compulsion in religion”. Such a glorious declaration by Islam also
coincided with a strange situation in Persia where reformers of religion were
being accused of the most heinous charges.
It should be noted that Islam’s principle of
freedom has not appeared as an upshot of a social evolution or following a
revolution that clamoured for it. Nor has it emerged on account of society
reaching a certain degree of maturity. Rather, it has been something far more
elevated than any existing society at that time: something descending from
Heaven to raise and upgrade people on Earth.
Islam means to promote,
advance and refine mankind by means of such tenet: freedom of belief and
religion. But with all that kept in mind, we must notice that this principle,
which is adopted and encouraged by Islam, is not without conditions or
constraints.
The main condition is that
religion should not be a toy in the hands of people like the Jews who said:
“Believe in the morning in that which is revealed to the believers (Muslims),
and reject it at the end of the day, so that they may turn back..” (Surat
Al-Imran: verse 72) They used to say, “Believe in the morning,
and say in the evening we abandoned Muhammad’s religion because we found in it
such and such”. They encouraged one another to pretend to believe in Islam for
a day or a week, and then speak about it in a slanderous manner.
That is why Allah, Exalted
be He, has willed
Islam never to become a plaything, so that whoever
embraces it upon free conviction and complete awareness must adhere to it,
or else they will make themselves prone to punishment for apostasy. So the
first freedom then is that of religion and belief.
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT
The second one is freedom of thought and
meditation. Ever since its onset, Islam has called upon people to contemplate
the whole universe . The
Quran says: “Say (to them O Muhammad): ‘I exhort you on one (thing) only: that you stand up for Allah’s sake in
pairs and singly, ...and reflect (within yourselves the life history of the
Prophet)...”
(Surat Saba’: verse 46) “Say: ‘Behold all that is in the
heavens and the earth...” (Surat Yunus: verse 101) “Have
they not travelled through the land, and have they hearts wherewith to
understand and ears wherewith to hear? Verily, it is not the eyes that grow
blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind” (Surat
Al-Hajj: verse 46)
Islam censors those
who follow suspicions and illusions, saying: “... and verily, guess is no
substitute for the truth.” (Surat Al-Najm: verse 28)
It has also denounced those
who pursue their own prejudices or blindly imitate fathers and superiors. It
has lambasted those who would say on the Day of Resurrection: “Verily, we
obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the (Right) Way.”
(Surat Al-Ahzab: verse 67)
Another verse says: “Nay!
They say: ‘we found our fathers following a certain way and religion, and we
guide ourselves by their footsteps!” (Surat Al-Zukhruf: verse
22) Allah considers such people like cattle who are astray from the Straight
Path.
Another significant position
of Islam is its rejection of old liners and diehards. It has called for free
thinking, reasoning and contemplation at all times. It says in the Quran: “ Say (O Muhammad) ‘Produce
your proof if you are truthful.”(Surat Al-Baqarah: verse 111)
Islam has always relied on
intellectual evidence to prove the Islamic belief, and that is why Muslim
scholars have stated: “ direct
intellectual reasoning is the grounds for authentic relation of religious
tenets.” This applies to issues like Allah’s
existence and the prophethood of Muhammad, which are all proved by means of
intellect in the first place.
It is reason that says he is
a genuine messenger as all evidence corroborates his truthfulness, besides the
miracles that confirm his authentic messengership. In the case of a false
prophet, it is reason that tells us he is a liar and an impostor since he has
not produced evidence or any miracles to support his claim. This indicates
Islam’s essential respect of the mind and thought.
This also explains how Islam encompassed scientific
and scholastic freedom that emerged as a result of intellectual freedom. We
have found ‘ulama’ (Muslim scholars) differ, oppose each other,
and refute each other’s views, neither feeling unease or guilt on account of
that.
A prominent
example is of one book satisfying two divergent schools of thought, called Al-Kashshaf
by Imam Al-Zamakhshari. Even though the author was a Mu’tazilite, the Sunnites
considered making use of it and deemed it a very reliable source. A typical
response was that some Sunni ‘ulama’, such as Ibn Al-Munir, wrote
annotations on it by attempting to reply to some points or expose some
weaknesses. The same thing was done by a great Sunni Imam, Ibn-Hajar, who wrote another treatise
entitled “Al-Kafi Al-Shafi” in which he traced the hadiths
in Al-Zamakhshari’s book to check their degree of authenticity.
Hence, the
Muslim ‘ ulama’ have seen no problem in
having discussions and debates, rebutting each other’s opinions, and benefiting
from each other’s studies. This is performed in a true atmosphere of freedom
and mutual respect, with no fanaticism or rancor. All that lends proof to
freedom of thought and learning in the Muslim world.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND CRITICISM
When it comes to freedom of expression and
criticism, Islam not only adopts it among its principles, but calls for more
than just ‘freedom’, making it an obligation to say, express, and criticize
whatever relates to the interest of the community, general morals and public
ethics. Within Islam, it is a religious duty to speak the truth, not fear
anyone and act for the sake of Allah, and enjoin what is right and forbid what
is wrong. It is incumbent on you to call for the good, to encourage the good
people, and reproach the wrongdoers. This turns a right into a duty on you when
there is nobody else to do it, or when your silence will lead to general
damage. In such case, you ought to shoulder your responsibility and speak the
truth, heeding nothing in the way and fearing no mishap that might befall you
as a result.
“Enjoin (people) for Al-Ma’ruf
– (Islamic Monotheism and all that is good), and forbid (people) from Al-Munkar
(i.e. disbelief in the Oneness of Allah, polytheism of all kinds and all that
is evil and bad), and bear with patience whatever befalls you. Verily! These
are some of the important commandments ordered by Allah with no exemption.” (Surat Luqman: verse 17).
This is the extent of Islam, since Islam rejects
muzzling people so that they may only speak on permission and believe on
command. One sees this in the story of
Pharaoh when he asked his magicians indignantly: ‘Believe you in him (Moses)
before I give you permission?’” (Surat Taha: verse 71) Such
behavior and mentality is outrageous as he prevented people from holding a particular
belief except on his agreement, and gagged everyone unless they had permission from high authorities!
Contrary to this, Islam has come to allow
people to think freely, and even ‘orders’ them to do so. It permits people to
believe in what they think is right. It makes it incumbent on them not to hold any belief they do not
think is the right one. It obliges everyone believing in a certain creed to
protect his or her creed, even with
arms. It orders Muslims to defend the freedom of belief, and avert the outbreak
of fitnah ( internal strife) so that all and every kind of
worship is for Allah alone. So, if such a situation arises, resorting to the
use of arms will only be to protect freedom and preclude persecution so that
there will be no coercion by anyone, as far as religion or creed is concerned.
The first Quranic verse on
the lawfulness of fighting and Jihad in Islam, Allah, Glorified and Exalted be
He, says: “Permission to fight is given to those (i.e. believers against
disbelievers), who are fighting them, (and) because they (believers) have been
wronged...” (Surat Al-Hajj: verse 39). In the verse that follows Allah says:
“... For had it not been that Allah checks one set of people by means of
another, monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, wherein the Name of
Allah is mentioned much would surely have been pulled down...” (Surat Al-Hajj: verse
40)
If it had not been for Allah
giving humanity those believing Muslims who defended religious freedom and all
other public freedoms - even with their swords - then no one would have been
able to worship Allah on earth. No church, synagogue, mosque or any other kind
of temple where the Name of Allah is mentioned would have remained.
This is Islam that has
brought forth those liberties. But it must be known that Islam distinguishes
between freedom of rights and freedom of disbelief, sinfulness and moral
depravity. By no means does it refer to
the kind of freedom that some people claim today, calling it “personal or
private freedom”.
This is in fact a
misrepresentation of things when they describe it in this manner. What they
mean is that you are free to commit fornication or adultery, drink alcohol, and
indulge in all possible crimes and sins, but when it comes to other things
relating to the real interests of society, freedom is categorically denied.
Their freedom means you are not allowed to express your beliefs on opinions
freely; you cannot criticize; you cannot state the obvious.
On the other hand, you have
“personal” freedom, which means that you are free to corrupt yourself, your
morals, your ethics, your conscience, your worship, and your family. If this is
what they mean by “freedom”, then of course Islam does not approve of it at
all, because it is a freedom of sinning and not of exercising lawful rights.
The freedom Islam adopts is
the freedom of thought, science and learning, opinion, criticism and free
expression, as well as freedom of belief and religion. It is those kinds of
freedom that represent the foundation for life. Equally important for people’s
daily activities is the freedom of having a contract; dealing in money and
taking appropriate action provided it doesn’t
harm anyone; and owning anything under lawful conditions and
restrictions without any kind of illegality.
There is a golden rule in
Islam: there should neither be harm to the self, nor harm to others. So, any
kind of freedom that leads to harm ought to be prevented and restricted, as
your own freedom ends where others’ freedom begins. For instance, you are free
to pass or drive in the street, but on the condition that you adhere to traffic
laws. It will then be preposterous for you to run over passersby, crash into
other cars or break traffic rules, under the pretext of freedom. Such
restrictions such as stopping at a red light or driving on the correct side of
the road are purely in the interest of
the public.
By the same token, every
religion and every system must involve such checks and controls; Islam is no
exception. But what Islam has brought, however, has never reached any other
civilization. It is the best way of life for humanity
