What Is Islam? Beliefs, Principles and a Way of Life

Freedom in Islam

8-Freedom in Islam

Question:

Does freedom exist in Islam?

Answer:

Of all the concepts of freedom that exist within the various religions and legal systems, the most extensive are found in Islam.

Islam indeed is a religion of freedom in every sense of the word.

Question:

Is there proof of this claim from the Qur’an and the sunna?

Answer:

Yes, indeed. With regard to the Qur’an it describes the Prophet of Islam as he who, “Makes lawful for them the good things and makes forbidden for them what is bad and he removes from them their burdens and the fetters that were upon them” [7: 157].

The encumbrances and social shackles that lay upon the necks of the people and had stifled their freedom were removed by the Prophet who thus liberated them and gave them their freedom after restrictions and ignorance had made them slaves.

THE LIMITS TO FREEDOM

As for the pure sunna, the famous rule in the books of jurisprudence, extracted from the Qur’an and the hadith is: “People are given charge over themselves and what they own”1. Therefore anyone can do as he wishes with regard to his own body or his own possessions but on the condition that what he does is not forbidden by the Islamic Shari‘a.

Question:

Give examples of actions which are forbidden in the Shari‘a. 1 See also al-‘Awali al-la’ali, part 1, p. 222, hadith 99. What is Islam?

Answer:

Forbidden actions regarding one’s own body include killing oneself (that is to commit suicide), cutting off a limb like one’s own arm, or destroying a faculty like blinding oneself or making oneself deaf.

Forbidden action with regard to one’s possessions is as if someone destroys his wealth by throwing it into the sea or burning the banknotes he has, and so on. It is also forbidden to spend one’s money on something unlawful such as alcoholic drinks or on unlawful sex or gambling.

Since the actions which are forbidden by the Shari‘a are very few indeed, each one of them having been made unlawful for the good of the individual or society, the things that one is permitted to do with one’s own body or one’s wealth and possessions are consequently numerous, to an extent never found in any other religious system or code of laws.

KINDS OF FREEDOM

Question:

What kinds of freedom exist in Islam?

Answer:

The kinds of freedom that exist in Islam are so numerous that it would be difficult to list them all. We will, however, enumerate here ten of them since they cover in some way most of the other kinds.

1-Freedom of Trade:

Any person can trade with any commodity he wishes, except unlawful commodities such as alcoholic beverages and pork, whenever he wishes. He can export goods to anywhere he wants and similarly import them without paying any customs dues and without any border restrictions.

2-Freedom of Agriculture:

This law permits any person to cultivate as much as he wants and over as much land as he wishes, with complete freedom and without any taxes or limitations for the hadith says, “The Earth belongs to God and to whoever utilizes it”. 3-Freedom of Industry:

A person can import or export, establish a factory or import and export factories of any kind and can manufacture things without any taxes, conditions or limitations.

4-The Freedom to Possess Common Resources:

Land, water and air all belong to God, and man is permitted to extract from them the resources they contain, be they fish from the sea, mineral deposits, treasures in the earth, woods of the forests, atoms in space and any other resources that have been placed in the universe.

5-Freedom of Development:

Anyone can develop the land by building on it, constructing canals, digging wells, or any other beneficial enterprise on the basis of the principle mentioned above, “The Earth belongs to God and to whoever utilizes it”.

6-Freedom of Travel:

A person is free to travel to any place that he wishes without a visa, or the need to obtain permission, or the payment of any tax, and no one has the right to prevent him from travelling to such a place.

Similarly, man is free to travel for as long as he likes, with no limitation on the period of travel for Islam does not believe in frontiers since the Earth belongs to God and man can travel in it how he wishes.

More than that, Islam has established a special account for travellers who cannot journey further because they have run out of money, and so forth, and this is to encourage people to travel.

7-Freedom of Residence:

Man is free to reside wherever he wishes without any conditions or limitations since passports, identity cards and the concept of nationality are entirely irrelevant in Islam and all people have a right to unrestricted freedom of movement.

8-Freedom of Speech:

Everyone has the right to say and disseminate what he wishes, without any restriction or condition being imposed upon him, except that what he says must not be forbidden in itself like abusive language, backbiting and slandering.

9-Freedom of Writing and Publishing:

Anyone is free to write, print and publish and propagate whatever he wishes but on the condition that there is nothing in it which is forbidden in the Shari‘a, just as has been mentioned regarding freedom of speech.

10-Freedom to have Several Jobs at the Same Time:

If a man wants to do particular work different from the job or profession he is currently engaged in, this should not be disallowed, as is the case in certain countries where the law forbids pursuing two careers at the same time: being a government employee and also a merchant, for instance.

Question:

Did Muslims enjoy all this freedom before the collapse of Islamic governments?

Answer:

Yes, Muslims and non-Muslims alike under Islamic rule enjoyed this freedom except for certain untypical periods when part of this freedom was suppressed due to tyranny and the like, not as the result of a law or decree. However, suppression and the stifling of freedom actually being enshrined in laws ratified by governments, and tolls and dues being imposed upon liberty and freedom as if these were crimes, are all phenomena which did not exist except after the collapse of Islamic governments.

The West has now seized the leadership of the world and has brought a thousand restrictions and has perpetuated a thousand repressions. What is truly amazing is that the West after all this, claims that she is the bestower of freedom upon humanity and the one who is releasing mankind from its fetters.