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(23) Doctrine of Liberty
One of the fundamental principles
of the Shariah is the doctrine of liberty. The Shariah
has affirmed liberty in its best forms, guaranteeing the
freedom of thought, belief and expression. Let us
discuss these freedoms one by one.
(24) Freedom of Thought
By affirming the freedom of thought
the Shariah has delivered man from the shackles of
superstitions, myths, traditions and habits. It enjoins
that man should give up everything that does not appeal
to reason. It tells us that it is absolutely essential
to give a careful thought to everything, judge all
things by the standard of reason and accept only what
reason acknowledges and reject all that it disapproves.
The Shariah does not allow us to accept or say anything
without thinking over it.
The very message of Islam is
grounded in reason. In its affirmation of the existence
of Allah, in its call to Islam and insistence on belief
in the Prophet and the Holy Book, the Quran in the main,
concentrates on teaching the people to think and
contemplate and on trying to awaken their reason, and
adopt all possible methods for persuading them to
reflect over the creation of the heavens and earth as
well as their own creation and over the existence of all
created things and all the sensible phenomena so that
they may know Allah and be able to distinguish between
good and evil.
There are innumerable verses in the
Holy Quran in which the principle of freedom of thought
has been expounded and the use of reason emphasized. The
following verses may be cited in this connection:—
"Lo! in
the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the
difference of night and day, and the ships which run
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upon the
sea with that which is of use of men and the water which
Allah sendeth down from the sky, thereby reviving the
earth after its death, and dispensing all kinds of
beasts therein and (in) the ordinance of the winds, and
the clouds obedient between heaven and earth are signs
(of Allah's sovereignty) for people who have sense"'
(2:164)
"Say (unto
them, 0 Muhammad): I exhort you unto one thing only:
that ye awake, for Allah's sake, by Twos and singly, and
then reflect." (34: 46)
"Have they
not pondered upon themselves? Allah created not the
heavens and earth, and that which is between them, save
with truth and for a destined end." (30: 8)
"Say:
Behold what is in the heavens and the earth!" (10:102)
"So let
man consider from what he is created. He is created from
a gushing fluid. That issues from the loins and ribs."
(84: 5-7)
"Will they
not regard the camels how they are created? And the
haven, how it is raised? And the hills, how they are set
up? And the earth, how it is spread?" (88: 17-20)
"Lo!
therein verily is a reminder for him who hath a heart,
or giveth ear with full intelligence." (50: 37)
"But only
men of understanding really heed." (3: 7)
The Quran warns the people against
suspension of their faculty of reason, keeping it
indolent and following others blind-fold; against
superstitions and belief in myths, and against
indeliberate adherence to traditions and customs. If
they behave in this manner, they will hardly be
different from or become even worse than animals, for
they would then be following others without deliberation
and without allowing their reason to sit in judgement at
their words and deeds. Reason is the only faculty
bestowed by Allah on man that marks him off from
animals. If he allows this faculty to remain inert and
gives up thinking, he will become an animal or even
worse.
"And when
it is said unto them. Follow that which Allah has
revealed, they say: We follow that wherein we
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found our
fore fathers. What! Even though their fore fathers were
wholly unintelligent and had no guidance? The likeness
of those who believe (in relation to the messenger) is
as the likeness of those who calleth until that which
heareth naught except a shout and cry. Deaf, dumb,
blind, therefore they have no sense." (2: 170-171)
"Have they
not travelled in the land, and have they hearts
wherewith to feel and ears wherewith to hear? For indeed
it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the
hearts, which are within the bosoms, that grow blind."
(22: 47)
"Already
have we urged into hell many of the jinn and humankind,
having hearts wherewith they understand not, and having
eyes wherewith they see not, and having ears wherewith
they hear not. These are the beast-nay, but they are
worse! They are the neglectful."
Man may think of anything and may
adopt any mode of thinking he chooses. He cannot be
censured for his thought, even if he thinks of those
acts prohibited by the Shariah; for the Shariah does not
censure the mind and does not call anyone to account for
thinking of any unlawful word or .feed. A person is
taken to account only when an unlawful word has been
said or an unlawful act has been committed by him. The
Prophet (S.A.W.) says the same thing in the following
words:—
"Allah has
forgiven my Ummh for any idea that may come into its
mind so long as it does not act upon such an idea or
utters it."
(25) Freedom of Belief
The Islamic Shariah is the first
law in the history of the world to guarantee the freedom
of belief. It does not only guarantee this freedom but
also goes further to protect and lend it maximum
support. According to Shariah every individual is at
liberty to hold any belief or religious opinion he
chooses and nobody is allowed to compel him to renounce
his belief, religious opinion, accept some other belief
or prohibit him to express his religious opinion.
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But the Shariah is a practical law.
It does not stop at merely declaring the freedom of
belief. It clearly lays down the procedure to protect
it. This consist of two methods:—
(i) It is incumbent upon every
individual to respect another individual's right to
belief as well as action thereon. No person can coerce
another person into accepting any particular faith or
renouncing his or her faith. If his belief is at
variance with that of the latter, he should try to
convince him by persuasion, making him realise the error
involved in his belief. If he is convinced and willingly
renounces his belief, well and good. But if he does not
acknowledge the error, it is not permissible to coerce
him, nor is it in any way justified to exercise one's
influence so as to force him to give up his religion. It
is enough for discharging one's duty to explain the
error inherent in the belief of a person professing a
different religion. Having this done, one has shown him
the right way and guided him to the right path. One can
find injunctions to this effect in the Holy Quran:—
"There is
no compulsion in religion". (2:256)
"And if
thy Lord willed, all who are on the earth would have
believed together. Wouldst thou (Muhammad) compel men,
until they are believers?" (10: 100)
"Remind
them, for thou art but a remembrance Thou art not at all
ward over them" (89: 21-22)
"But the
messenger has no other charge than to convey the message
plainly." (24: 54)
(2) It has been enjoined upon the
believer himself that he should guard his faith and
strive to champion it. He should refrain from adopting a
negative attitude in this respect. If he finds that he
is no longer able to defend and champion his faith, he
should migrate from the place where his faith is not
respected to a place where it is respected and where he
is allowed the opportunity to profess it above board. If
a believer has the strength to migrate but he does not
do so, he is doing a wrong to himself even before he is
oppressed by the person with a different belief. Such a
believer is also guilty of a great sin, for which he
deserves to be punished. But Allah does not overburden a
man who does not have the strength to migrate. The
following verses of the Holy Quran elucidates this
point:—
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"Lo! as for those whom the angels
take (in death) while they wrong themselves, (the
angels) will ask: In what were ye engaged? They will
say: we were oppressed in the land (The angles) will
say: Was not Allah's earth spacious that they could have
migrated therein? As for such, their habitation will be
hell, an evil journey's end".
Except the feeble among men, and
the women, and the children, who are unable to devise a
plan and are not shown a way.
As for such, it may be that Allah
will pardon them. Allah is ever clement, for giving.
(IV: 97-99)
By guaranteeing the freedom of
belief to all the people including the Muslims and the
non-Muslims the shariah has exhibited the highest degree
of sublimity. It has given the non Muslim citizens of an
Islamic state the right to profess their religion and
express their belief, openly perform their religious
rites, keep their places of worship occupied and set up
schools for teaching their religion. Take for example,
the Jews. They were allowed by the Islamic states
complete freedom to their synagogues and' to worship
according to their custom. They also had their schools
in which the religion of Moses was freely taught. Again
they were at liberty to write about their religion and
try to prove its superiority over other systems of
belief by comparing it with the latter within the limits
of propriety and morality and without prejudice to the
peace and tranquillity of the State. The Christian
scholars representing various schools of thought were
also allowed similar freedom. Every Christian sect had
its churches and schools in the Islamic State where its
members freely worshipped and taught creed freely.
Besides, they wrote and published books on their
religion without any interference.
(26) Freedom of Speech
The Islamic Shariah does not merely
provide for freedom of expression. It recognizes this
freedom as the right of every individual. It goes even a
step further and declares the freedom of speech as an
obligation with respect to morality, common weal,
institutional matters and prevention of evils.
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Allah says in the Holy Quran:—
"And there
may spring from you a nation who invite to goodness and
enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency." (3: 104)
Those who,
if we give them power in the land, establish and enjoin
kindness and forbid inequity." (22:41)
The Holy Prophet has taught the
same thing in the following traditions:—
"If any
one of you sees an evil, he should rub it out with his
own hands. If he does not have the strength to do this,
he should verbally denounce it. But if he is unable to
do even this much, then he should deem it vicious at
heart and this is the nadir of the weakness of one's
faith."
Again,
"To speak
the truth in the face of a tyrant is the best form of
Jihad (Crusade).
There is yet another tradition of
the Holy Prophet which runs as follows:—
"Faith
consists in exhortation and goodwill."
"O Prophet
of Allah," asked his companions, "for whom do you mean?"
The
Prophet replied, "For Allah, for His Prophet, for His
book, for the leaders of Muslims as well as the Muslim
people in general."
The Prophet has said in another
Tradition, "Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib is the leader of
martyrs. He was the man who enjoined upon a tyrant to do
good and forbade him to do evil. He was punished with
death for committing this crime."
Although every individual has the
right to speak or use his pen in defence of his faith,
but this right does not constitute unqualified freedom.
One can exercise this right only within the limits of
social decorum and morality and on condition that it is
not repugnant to the injunctions of Shariah.
The Islamic Shariah affirmed the
freedom of speech and writing right at the time of its
revelation, imposing simultaneously such restrictions on
the exercise of this right as guarantee safeguards
against encroachment on these rights or against the
abuse of the freedom of speech. The Prophet of
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Islam was the first to have
announced this freedom and to have called the people to
make use of it. But he was at the same time the first
person on whose freedom of expression restrictions were
imposed. It was necessary to restrict his freedom
because his word and deed were to serve as a model for
humanity. It was also necessary to make the people
realize that the prophet himself, not to speak of
ordinary men, did not enjoy unrestricted freedom of
expression notwithstanding the fact that Allah says of
him:
"And most
surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality" (68:
4 )
Allah commanded the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.)
to convey his message to the people, persuade them to
believe in his prophethood and, by disputation, try to
goad the disbelievers reason and awaken their hearts.
Nevertheless, the Prophet was not allowed unqualified
freedom of expression. On the contrary a procedure was
laid down for him for inviting the people to the path of
Allah and for disputation with the disbelievers. It was
made incumbent upon him to carry out his mission
judiciously with good counsel, converse with them in the
best possible manner to shun stupid people, refrain from
saying anything indecent and from reproaching the people
worshipping false gods. These were the restrictions
imposed by Allah upon the Holy Prophet's freedom of
speech. It was made clear to him that this freedom was
not absolute. The condition under which such freedom is
provided for in the Shariah is that it should not be
misused or should not be used in a manner which may
offend others.
These restrictions imposed on the
freedom of expression benefits all the individuals and
nations, pave the way for progress and generate the
feelings of fraternity and love. It also engenders and
fosters the atmosphere of confidence among individuals
and institutions, brings about a consensus on truth
among the leaders, inducing them to cooperate with one
another. Consequently personal and factional slogans are
done away with. This is the kind of atmosphere lacking
in modern age and the world is striving in vain to find
ways and means to create it.
The comprehensive character of the
principle of Shariah pertaining to the freedom of
expression may well be judged
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from the fact that modern legal
experts are divided into two groups in spite of their
long experience. One of these groups favours unqualified
freedom of expression with a few restrictions in the
field of general administration only. But it attaches no
importance to morality. This begets only hatred,
animosity and factionalism leading to social disorder
and anarchy. The other group favours imposition of
restrictions on any opinion that is at variance with the
position held by those in power. If this idea is put
into practice, it will repress freedom of thought and
expression and virtuous people would be kept away from
governmental affairs. This would give rise to
dictatorship, social unrest and revolutions.
The Islamic Shariah is opposed to
the concepts of both licence and a complete denial of
liberties which are dominant in modern states. Islam
basically advocates freedom of expression. But it
imposes at the same time certain restrictions thereon in
order to safeguard morality, social propriety and smooth
running of general administration; for, without these
restrictions, freedom of expression cannot produce the
desired results. The individual enjoying this freedom
can be prevented from giving offence to others only when
they are restrained from saying anything that may
prejudice morality, social decorum and maintenance of
law and order. Obviously nobody can have a right to
transgression and offence, the denial of which might be
tantamount to depriving him of something he is entitled to.
Doubtless, the Islamic Shariah
allows every citizen to say anything without
transgressing the prescribed limits; that is, a citizen
should abstain from vituperation, defamation,
calumniation and from telling lies. He should rather try
to rally the people round himself with prudence and good
counsels. He should talk to them politely, refrain from
uttering anything evil and avoid stupid persons.. The
people will naturally lend ear to what a person adhering
to the above principles has to say and attach due
importance to it. Another advantage of the restrictions
on the freedom of expression is that the person
observing them will have good relations with other
people and the community, as a whole, will be able to
carry on the task of promoting common welfare
effectively.
The following verses of the Holy
Quran constitute the
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charter of the freedom of
expression.
"Call unto
the way of thy lord with wisdom and fair exhortation and
reason with them in the better way" (16: 125)
"Keep to
forgiveness (O Muhammad) and enjoin kindness, and turn
away from the ignorant." (8: 199)
"When the
foolish one's address them (they) answer peace."
(25: 63)
"Revile
not those unto whom they pray beside Allah lest they
wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance." (6: 109)
"Allah
loveth not the utterance of harsh speech save by one who
hath been wronged." (4: 148)
"And argue
not with the people of the scripture unless it be in (a
way) that is better, save with such of them as do
wrong". (29: 46)
There were the three aspects of the
freedom of expression which the Islamic Shariah
presented at a time when the people's mental horizon was
limited by traditions and they could not think beyond
their ancestors' practice. They naturally resented any
change in their beliefs on account of their outlook on
life. Only the powerful people and those in authority
among them enjoyed freedom of expression and thought.
That was why the Muslims of the earliest period had to
face great difficulties and persecuted in their
missionary work. They were brutally tortured for
changing their belief and were compelled by every
possible means to abandon their new faith. The heathens
lost no opportunity to perpetuate atrocities on the
Muslims. Whenever the Muslims spoke to propagate their
faith, they were silenced and no sooner they stood up to
offer their prayers than their watchdogs busied
themselves to torture them.
From what has been stated above, it
will be seen that expounding the principle of freedom of
expression did not keep abreast with the process of
social evolution as it did not care to fulfil the needs
of the society at that stage of development, for this
principle was not acceptable to the world then. The
Shariah provided for this freedom so that the society
might be set on the path of progress, the people lifted
from the abyss of ignorance and depravity and above all,
the
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Shariah itself might attain to
perfection and become in-variable and perpetually
applicable.
The provisions of Shariah with
respect to individual liberty and limitations thereof
are so flexible and comprehensive that they need no
change or modification, for the Shariah in itself does
not admit of any amendment. All its injunctions are
general and flexible enough to withstand the test of
time in all circumstances.
The Islamic Shariah affirmed the
doctrine of individual liberty eleven centuries before
the modern law; for it was introduced into the latter as
late as at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of
the ninetenth centuries. Before that the concept of
liberty was unknown to the man-made law. The thinkers
and reformers in the west and those who ventured to
criticise the official religion were severely punished.
This is a historical fact. Viewed in the light of
history, the claim that Europe was the first to champion
individual freedom, would turn out to be utter
falsehood. This utterly false claim is based on the
ignorance of Shariah which may be condoned in the case
of westerners. But how can we escape the charge of
subscribing to it? |
Oath of Office and