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The religious freedom, which can be defined as the right of the individual to uphold any creed without any external pressure or coercion, is duly assured in the Holy Quran which declares:
"There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error". II, 256.
And it states that the Divine Will did not by any means compel people to believe or obey, but it further condemns such compulsion. It reads:"And if your Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together. Would you, (Muhammad) compel men until they are believers ?". X, 99.
And God defines to His Messenger, may His peace and blessings be upon him, the goal of his message, limiting it to mere explanation, conveyance and reminding, but no undue pressure of compulsion or domination. He says in His Holy Quran:"And say : (it is) the truth from the Lord of you (all). Then whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will let him disbelieve". XVIII, 29.
"And thus, remind them, for you are merely a re-minder.
You are not at all a warder over them". LXXXVIII, 21 - 22.
And He states: "The duty of the Messenger is only to convey (the message)." V, 99.
The punishment due on apostasy as established by Hadith is not inconsistent with the religious liberty assured by Islam. It is not intended to compel a person to continue upholding a creed he does no longer believe. The punishment for apostasy is not merely because of the change of religion, which here is abandonment of Islam. Otherwise, non-Muslim population live freely and safely and unmolested in the protection of the Islamic state. Therefore, the punishment of the apostate is because of his treasonable and deceptive conduct. During the early life of Islam, some of its enemies conspired to intrigue against it, urging some of them to pretend embracing it then declare their apostasy to discourage people who might be contemplating conversion to Islam. When they hear of conversion and apostasy they think that the apostates must have discovered something wrong. The Quran refers to this in the following text
"And a party of the People of the Book say: Believe in that which has been revealed unto those who believe, at the opening of the day, and then disbelieve at the end thereof, in order that they may turn on their heel". III, 72.
Imam Muhammad Abduh, in this connection, says in his Tafsir of Chapter LXXVIII, vol. III, P.333: "This kind of conduct related in this Quranic text is based on a natural human concept ; namely, that one of the signs of the truth is that whoever believes in it will never reject it. Hercules knew this rule very well when, in his discussion with Abu Sufyan, about the Prophet Muhammad, having received a message of invitation to Islam from the Prophet, asked Abu Sufyan ; Do those who embrace his religion turn away from it? Abu Sufyan said, no. That deceptive group of people in this respect intended to confuse the people who would think that, had not they discovered a falsehood with it they would not have turned away from it after they have embraced it and discovered its hidden reality, since it is not likely that a person should turn away from a truth he has embraced with persuasion without a reason. And it seems to me, Muhammad Abduh continued, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not order to kill an apostate except that he wanted to frighten those who were conspiring against Islam to drive people away from it and to cause confusion and doubt about it. Although such intrigues cannot detract strong believers who have discovered the truth and adhered to it firmly, they could affect those weaker in faith such as recent converts."
And in our own age, the question of apostasy arises only in connection with one form or another of cunning deception. Sometimes a person declares his or her conversion to Islam to attain a materialistic aim or to marry a Muslim woman or divorce a husband. They, at heart, remain loyal to their own religion and use the Islamic religion as a toy for their selfish purpose after attaining which or failure to achieve it, they turn away from Islam. Punishment stipulated for these apostates is meant to protect the religious liberty from being abused or misused. It will no longer be liberty but anarchy.
A corollary of the freedom of religion is freedom of worship and the religious practices taught by religion. Therefore, Islam, having held that non-Muslims should not be pressurized to embrace Islam, has left them free to practice the tenets of their own religion and did not require them to practice the Islamic tenets or interfere with their practices or their religious places. Therefore, when 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, the Second Caliph, went with a contingent of his army to Jerusalem to conclude a peace treaty with its inhabitants, they saw the ruins of a building almost burned in the earth. When they inquired about it and were told it was a Jewish temple obliterated by the Romans, 'Umar and his company removed the dust until the temple was cleared and reopened for the Jewish worship.
And in his covenant concluded with the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 'Umar wrote down : "Here is what the servant of God, 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, Commander of the Faithful, has granted the people of Jerusalem. He guaranteed them peace and security and protection for themselves and their property and their churches and their crosses. Their churches shall not be inhabited (by others), nor shall they be demolished or reduced and the church properties shall not be violated. They shall not be oppressed for their religion, and none of them should be harmed".
And when 'Umar was in the Church of Sepulchre and the time of prayer for Muslims was due, he went to pray outside the Church. When he was asked why he did so, he said, "I fear if I should pray inside a Church that Muslims may claim it later for their own prayers on the pretext of 'Umar's prayer inside it". A mosque built in the spot where 'Umar prayed still survives, standing as an evidence testifying to the tolerance and justice of Islam and its guarantee of the religious liberty - creed and practice
And 'Umar Ibn Abd al-Aziz, (the most righteous Caliph among the Umayyads) wrote to Al-Hassan al-Basri asking him: Why did the (four) Righteous Caliphs left the non-Muslims free remain as they were, practicing their own tenets ? Al-Hassan wrote to him : "Islam obligatorily commands that they should be left free as they are. You yourself are to follow and not to start innovations".
Intellectual power is a feature peculiar to human beings, a gift from God to man with which God has honored him. It is because of it that man was subjected to moral and religious obligations. Reflective thinking is both man's nature and intellectual function, and therefore, it is an Islamic obligation. The Holy Quran speaks of this obligation as follows:"Say (0 Muhammad) : Travel in the earth and see how He (God) originated (all) the created things, then Allah bring forth the later growth. Lo! Allah is able to do all things". XXIX, 20.
"Have they not traveled 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". XXII, 46.
It is on this account that the (leading) scholars of Islam held the view that credulous belief deprived of reflective thinking does not count. They were also of the opinion that Reason (not only religion), calls for seeking to understand the scriptures, both the Quranic and Hadith texts, and also for reflection on their meaning and implications as well as the struggle to derive the religious rules and obligation (from the text) by the use of the tool of analogy in order to provide legal guidance in the interest of society. This is in fact the basis and aim of the Shari'a of Islam. Whoever so struggles will deserve his reward with God for his efforts, even if he should fail to make the right judgement (for it only God Who knows the ultimate truth).
Islam has also laid the sound foundation for the civil freedom, asserting that every individual, man or woman, is a free and responsible agent, free to handle and decide his personal affairs, including financial matters, without any undue interference or hindrance. Every person, according to Islam, is master of himself, with an independent personality. Each person has the right to possess (the fruit of his labor) and to buy and to sell, to give away gifts, to make a will and to get married. He is entitled to do anything that (he believes) will realize his personal or common interest.
Islam came when slavery was a widespread institution, and it sought to relieve humanity from its evils and vigorously called for the emancipation of the slaves . 'Umar once said, "How can you enslave people whereas they were born free?".
God has made freedom the natural birthright of all people. Islam, having found slavery a deeply rooted social and economic order, worked for its gradual elimination. Therefore, enslaving some war prisoners was permitted only in exceptional situations of necessity such as when the enemy enslaves Muslim prisoners, and therefore, Muslims had to reciprocate by enslaving the enemy's prisoners in order to exchange them for the liberation of Muslim slaves. Otherwise, war prisoners are to be either freed without any price or penalty or with payment of a price depending on what is best for the community in the situation. The Quran in this question, reads:"Now when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then it is smiting of the necks until when you have routed them, then making fast of bonds ; and afterwards either grace or ransom until the war lay down its burden". LVII, 4.
Moreover, Islam has opened many avenues for the liberation of slavery. One is that Islam has made emancipation of a slave a mandatory expiation on commitment of certain legal violations. Another avenue is that emancipation is one of the channels of dispensing of the proceedings of the zakat. A wide gate is that God has made freeing a slave one of the most charitable acts that brings a person closer to his Lord and assured him great rewards in Paradise. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says: "Whosoever frees a slave God will free him from the punishment of Hellfire, each part of his body against its counterpart in the body of the emancipated slave."
Therefore, if we see the world having freed itself from this evil practice we realize that this was in full agreement with the teachings of Islam enlightened by its guidance and taking hints from its tenets.
Political freedom means that each individual who is of sound mind has a right to participate in determining the policy of his Government and watching over and criticizing its executive departments. Islam has guaranteed this right and made obligatory sharing in running the affairs of the Government through consultation. The Quran reads:".... and consult with them upon the conduct of affairs." III, 159.
"... and those whose affairs are (determined by) consultation among themselves." XLII, 38.