CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

FREE WILL AND CONCEPT OF STATE

FREEDOMS AND RESTRAINTS
Liberty is defined as the right of individual to act without restrain as long as their actions do not interfere with the equivalent rights of
others. In a hypothetical idealized society, the social restraints are achieved through individual observance of high ethical principles thus
precluding any need of government. Man’s freedom, however, is not absolute but relative within the confines of divine omnipotence, man’s
own limitations and restraints as deemed necessary by a society. Because completely unrestricted freedom of action would make peaceful
human existence impossible, some restraints on freedom of actions are necessary and inevitable. There is a fundamental need for a
government empowered to protect liberties and to impose and enforce whatever restraints are deemed necessary by the society. A delicate
balance has to be struck between the rights of individuals to act without undue interference and the need of the community to restrain
freedoms of action. The restraints imposed throughout most the human history have been oppressive. The human society had made
progress from a state of anarchy, through periods of despotism during which freedom was restricted to one privileged group and finally to a
state of liberty for every individual under democratic governments; history has thus been shaped by the natural desire of all people to be
free. The Quran clearly outlines the freedoms, or what is lawful (hallal), as well as, the restraints (haram) upon individuals and also on
Islamic societies.
OBJECTIVE MORAL STANDARDS (through divine revelations)
Human beings are capable of discovering what is good and what is evil through divine revelations and the dictates of rational ethics. The
natural human reason alone is not always reliable to distinguish between good and evil because man in his natural state regards his own
self-interest as good and that which thwarts his interest as bad. Independently of revelation, therefore, murder would not always be bad or
the saving of life good. Similarly, homosexuality, fornication and adultery may not be regarded as sins, as we now see in many secular
societies. The Quran rejects both individual moral relativism, which holds that the individual people creates their own moral standards as
well as cultural relativism which maintains that morality is grounded in the approval of one’s society. God’s revelations to His prophets set
an objective and universal standard of morality.
EVIL AND VIRTUOUS DEEDS AND CONSEQUENCES IN HEREAFTER
Since it is by virtue of his powers of conscious perception and conceptual thinking that man can arrive at a discriminating cognition of
good and evil and, thus, rise to great spiritual heights, these powers are described in the Quran as “angelic” and place man even above the
angels (see 2:30). On the other hand, neglect or a deliberately wrong use of these angelic powers is at the root of all sinning on the part of
man and, therefore, of his suffering in the hereafter. It is for this reason that God has bestowed upon man free will to follow any way, right
or wrong. For the same reason God has placed in man’s nature tendencies both toward good and evil. Satan was created to tempt men to sin
while, on the other hand, through God’s prophets and revelations invite mankind to goodness. Man’s life, therefore is a trial as to whether
he adopts sinful ways or leads a virtues life and accordingly, he will be punished or rewarded in hereafter. The psychological role of the
religion is to motivate men to be good in order to avoid punishment and to attain eternal happiness. (The translation of the Quran is
presented in bold letters and the explanation in parentheses.)
REJECTION OF DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION
Divine predestination of human acts is incompatible with God’s justice and human responsibility. If God has not given man the freedom of
choice then He is not justified in judging and consigning evil men to hell or virtuous men to heaven. (6:148-149) Those who are bent on
ascribing divinity to aught beside God will say, “Had God so willed, we would not have ascribed divinity to aught but Him, nor
would our forefathers [have done so]; and neither would we have declared as forbidden anything [that He has allowed].” Even so
did those who lived before them give the lie to the truth - until they came to taste Our punishment! [I.e., the truth that God has
endowed man with the ability to choose between right and wrong. The above verse constitutes a categorical rejection of the doctrine of
predestination in the commonly accepted sense of this term.] Say: “Have you any [certain] knowledge which you could proffer to us?
[I.e., knowledge regarding predestination] You follow but other people’s conjectures, and you yourselves do nothing but guess.” Say:
“[Know,] then, that the final evidence [of all truth] rests with God alone; and had He so willed, He would have guided you all
aright.” [In other words, the real relationship between God’s knowledge of the future (and, therefore, the ineluctability of what is to
happen in the future) on the one side, and man’s free will, on the other - two propositions which, on the face of it, seem to contradict one
another - is beyond man’s comprehension; but since both are postulated by God, both must be true. The very concept of God presupposes
His omniscience; and the very concept of morality and moral responsibility presupposes free will on man’s part. Had God so willed, every
human being would have been forced to live righteously; but this would have amounted to depriving man of his free will, and morality of
all its meaning.]
ALL IS FROM GOD (God’s omnipotence verses predestination)
(4:78-79) “Yet, when a good thing happens to them, some [people] say, “This is from God,” whereas when evil befalls them, they
say, “This is from you [O fellowman]!” [I.e., they do not realize that the evil happening may possibly be a consequence of their own
actions or their own wrong choice between several courses open to them, but are prone to attribute it to the failings of others.] Say: “All is
from God.” What, then, is amiss with these people that they are in no wise near to grasping the truth of what they are told? [I.e., a
truth which their own reason as well as the teachings of all the prophets should have made obvious to them] Whatever good happens to
you is from God; and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself. [There is no contradiction between this statement and the preceding
one that “all is from God”. In the world-view of the Quran, God is the ultimate source of all happening: consequently, all good that comes
to man and all evil that befalls him flow, in the last resort, from God’s will. However, not everything that man regards as evil fortune is
really, in its final effect, evil - for, “it may well be that you hate a thing the while it is good for you, and it may well be that you love a thing
the while it is bad for you: and God knows, whereas you do not know” (2:216). Thus, many an apparent “evil” may sometimes be no more
than a trial and a God-willed means of spiritual growth through suffering, and need not necessarily be the result of a wrong choice or a
wrong deed on the part of the person thus afflicted. It is, therefore, obvious that the evil or evil fortune of which this verse speaks has a
restricted connotation, as it refers to evil in the moral sense of the word: that is to say, to suffering resulting from the actions or the behavior
of the person concerned, and this in accordance with the natural law of cause and effect which God has decreed for all His creation, and
which the Quran describes as “the way of God” (sunnat Allah). For all such suffering man has only himself to blame, since “God does not
wrong anyone by as much as at atom’s weight” (4:40).]
SUBJECTION OF ALL CREATED BEINGS TO GOD’S WILL EXCEPT MAN
(16:48-50) Have, then, they [who deny the truth] never considered any of the things that God has created – [In view of the separate
mention, in the next verse, of animals and angels, the “things” referred to here apparently denote inanimate objects and perhaps also living
organisms like plants.] [how] their shadows turn right and left, prostrating themselves before God and utterly submissive [to His
will]? [Lit., “and they are utterly lowly” or “submissive”. The “prostration” referred to in this and the next verse is obviously a symbolism
expressing the intrinsic subjection of all created beings and things to God’s will.] For, before God prostrates itself all that is in the
heavens and all that is on earth - every beast that moves, and the angels: [I.e., the lowest as well as the highest. The term dabbah
denotes any sentient, corporeal being capable of spontaneous movement, and is contrasted here with the non-corporeal, spiritual beings
designated as angels.] [even] these do not bear themselves with false pride: they fear their Sustainer high above them, and do
whatever they are bidden to do. [I.e., they must, by virtue of their nature, obey the impulses implanted in them by God and are therefore,
incapable of what is described as “sinning”. Man, however, is fundamentally different in this respect. It, contrast with the natural
sinlessness of “every beast that moves, and the angels”, man is endowed with free will in the moral sense of this term: he can choose
between right and wrong - and therefore he can, and often does, sin. But even while he sins he is subject to the universal law of cause and
effect instituted by God and referred to in the Quran as sunnat Allah (“God’s way”): hence the Quranic statement that “before God prostrate
themselves, willingly or unwillingly, all things and beings that are in the heavens and on earth” (13:15).]
(22:18) Are you not aware that before God prostrate themselves all [things and beings] that are in the heavens and all that are on
earth [For the meaning of this “prostration”, see 13:15 and 16:48-49.] the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the mountains, and the
trees, and the beasts? And many human beings [submit to God consciously], [This interpolated phrase - with its stress on
“consciously” - is an elliptically implied: the purport being that although everything in creation prostrates itself before God, willingly or
unwillingly (13:15), not all human beings do so consciously.] whereas many [others, having defied Him,] will inevitably have to suffer
[in the life to come]; [I.e., as a necessary consequence and corollary of his attitude in this world, and not as an arbitrary punishment in the
conventional sense of this term.] and he whom God shall scorn [on Resurrection Day] will have none who could bestow honor on
him: for, verily, God does what He wills.
MAN ENDOWED WITH FREE WILL BY GOD
God endowed human beings with the guidance of reason and a moral sense that is as much a part of human nature as the sense of hearing,
seeing and feeling. Insistence on blind faith is contrary to reason. (36:66-68) Now had it been Our will [that men should not be able to
discern between right and wrong], We could surely have deprived them of their sight, [Lit., “We could surely have effaced their eyes”:
a metaphor for “We could have created them morally blind” and, thus, devoid of all sense of moral responsibility - which, in its turn, would
constitute a negation of all spiritual value in human life as such.] so that they would stray forever from the [right] way: for how could
they have had insight [into what is true]? [In this instance - as, e.g., in 20:96 - “he became seeing” or “he saw” is obviously used in its
tropical sense of perceiving something mentally”; this phrase signifies “how could they perceive the truth”.] And had it been Our will
[that they should not be free to choose between right and wrong], We could surely have given them a different nature [and created
them as beings rooted] in their places, so that they would not be able to move forward, and could not turn back.] [I.e., if it had been
God’s will that men should have no freedom of will or moral choice, He would have endowed them from the very beginning with a
spiritually and morally stationary nature, entirely rooted in their instincts (in their places), devoid of all urge to advance, and incapable
either of positive development or of retreat from a wrong course.] But [let them always remember that] if We lengthen a human being’s
days, We also cause him to decline in his powers [when he grows old]: will they not, then, use their reason? [I.e., man should never
postpone his exercise of moral choice - for if human beings are superior creatures as they have been endowed with the faculty of
discernment and a wide measure of free will, let them also remember that “man has been created weak” (4:28) and liable to decline still
further in old age, so that the time at his disposal is short.]
DIVINE GUIDANCE
LIFE’S JOURNEY ON HIGHWAYS OF GOOD AND EVIL
(90:1-20) Nay! I call to witness this land - this land in which you are free to dwell – [According to classical commentators, “this land”,
signifies Mecca, and that the pronoun “you” in the second verse refers to Muhammad. The sequence, however, seems to warrant a wider,
more general interpretation and “this land” denotes the earth and “you” in verse 2 relates to man in general, and that which is
metaphorically “called to witness” is his earthly environment.] and [I call to witness] parent and offspring: [Lit., “the begetter and that
which he has begotten”. This phrase signifies “every parent and all their offspring” - i.e., the human race from its beginning to its end.]
Verily, We have created man into [a life of] pain, toil and trial. [The term kabad, comprising the concepts of “pain”, “distress”,
“hardship”, “toil”, “trial”, etc., can be rendered only by a compound expression like the one above.] Does he, then, think that no one has
power over him? He boasts, “I have spent wealth abundant!” [Implying that his resources and his possibilities are inexhaustible. The
term “man” is used here in the sense of “human race”: hence, the above boast is a metonym for the widespread belief - characteristic of all
periods of religious decadence - that there are no limits to the power to which man may aspire, and that, therefore, his worldly “interests”
are the only criteria of right and wrong.] Does he, then, think that no one sees him? [I.e., “Does he think that he is responsible to none but
himself?”] Have We not given him two eyes, and a tongue, and a pair of lips, [I.e., to recognize and to voice the truth of God’s existence
or, at least, to ask for guidance.] and shown him the two highways [of good and evil]? But he would not try to ascend the steep uphill
road. And what could make you conceive what it is, that steep uphill road? [It is] the freeing of one’s neck [from the burden of sin],
[Alternatively, the phrase may be rendered as “the freeing of a human being from bondage” (see 2:177), with the latter term covering all
those forms of subjugation and exploitation - social, economic or political - which can be rightly described as “slavery”.] or the feeding,
upon a day of [one’s own] hunger, of an orphan near of kin, or of a needy [stranger] lying in the dust - and being, withal, of those
who have attained to faith, and who enjoin upon one another patience in adversity, and enjoin upon one another compassion. Such
are they that have attained to righteousness; whereas those who are bent on denying the truth of Our messages - they are such as
have lost themselves in evil, [with] fire closing in upon them. [I.e., the fires of despair in the life to come rising over the sinners hearts
and closing in upon them: see 104:6-8. The phrase rendered as “such as have lost themselves in evil” reads, literally, “people of the left
side”.]
GOD SHOWS THE RIGHT PATH BUT DOES NOT IMPOSE GUIDANCE
(16:9) And [because He is your Creator,] it rests with God alone to show you the right path: yet there is [many a one] who swerves
from it. [I.e., the establishing of the goals of ethics and morality implied in the concept of the right path. The expression “it rests upon
God” is similar in intent to the statement in 6:12 and 54 that He “has willed upon Himself the law of grace and mercy.” In other words, God
invariably shows the right path to everyone who is willing to follow it.] However, had He so willed, He would have guided you all
aright. [Since the concept of morality is linked with man’s God-given freedom of choice between good and evil. God does not impose His
guidance upon man but leaves it to him to accept or reject it.] (6:104-107) Means of insight have now come unto you from your
Sustainer [through this divine writ]. Whoever, therefore, chooses to see, does so for his own good; and whoever chooses to remain
blind, does so to his own hurt. And [say unto the blind of heart]: “I am not your keeper.” And thus do We give many facets to Our
messages. And to the end that they might say, “You have taken [all this] well to heart,” [I.e., God’s message.] and that We might
make it clear unto people of [innate] knowledge, you follow what has been revealed unto you by thy Sustainer - save whom there is
no deity - and turn your back upon all who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him. Yet if God had so willed, they would not have
ascribed divinity to aught beside Him; hence, We have not made you their keeper, and neither you are responsible for their
conduct. [I.e., no mortal has it in his power to cause another person to believe unless God graces that person with His guidance.]
(32:13) Yet had We so willed, We could indeed have imposed Our guidance upon every human being: but [We have not willed it
thus]. [Since forcing guidance would have deprived man of his ability to choose between right and wrong - and, thus, of all moral
responsibility - God does not impose His guidance upon anyone.]
MAN’S FREEDOM OF MORAL CHOICE
(10:99-103) And [thus it is:] had thy Sustainer so willed, all those who live on earth would surely have attained to faith, all of them:
[The Quran stresses repeatedly the fact that, “had He so willed, He would have guided you all aright” (6:149) - the obvious implication
being that He has willed it otherwise: namely, that He has given man the freedom to choose between right and wrong, thus raising him to
the status of a moral being (in distinction from other animals, which can only follow their instincts). See, in this context the allegory of the
fall from grace – 7:24.] do you, then, think that you could compel people to believe, notwithstanding that no human being can ever
attain to faith otherwise than by God’s leave, [I.e., by virtue of God’s guidance and within the compass of what He has decreed to be
man’s nature, comprising the ability to discriminate between right and wrong. Since man’s freedom of moral choice expresses itself in his
willingness or unwillingness to conform to his true, God-willed nature, it can be said to depend, in the last resort, on God’s grace. (See in
this respect 2:27, and 14:4.)] and [that] it is He who lays the loathsome evil [of disbelief] upon those who will not use their reason?
[See 8:22 and 55. As in those verses, unbelief is here shown to be the result of a person’s a-priori unwillingness to use his reason with a
view to understanding God’s messages, be they directly expressed in the revelations granted to His prophets, or - as the Quran once again
stresses in the next verse - open to man’s perception in the observable phenomena of His creation.] Say: “Consider whatever there is in
the heavens and on earth!” But of what avail could all the messages and all the warnings be to people who will not believe? Can
such, then, expect anything else [to befall them] but the like of the days of [calamity which befell] those [deniers of the truth] who
passed away before them? Say: “Wait, then, [for what will happen:] verily, I shall wait with you!” [For thus it always happens: We
seal the doom of all who deny the truth and give the lie to Our messages;] and thereupon We save Our apostles and those who have
attained to faith. [The long interpolation at the beginning of this verse is necessitated by the fact that the adverbial conjunction
“thereupon” does not relate here to the immediately preceding passage but to a theme repeatedly occurring in the Quran and only indirectly
alluded to in verse 102 above: namely, the experiences of the earlier prophets with their recalcitrant communities, the doom of those who
gave the lie to their messages and, in every case, a divine deliverance of the prophet concerned and of those who followed him. Rashid
Rida describes this passage, rightly, as “one of the most outstanding examples of the elliptic mode of expression (ijaz) to be found in the
Quran”.] Thus have We willed it upon Ourselves: We save all who believe [in Us]. [I.e., the unavoidable fulfillment of God’s “willing it
upon Himself”, and not a duty on His part: for, neither is anything incumbent upon Him who has the power to will anything, nor has man
any right with regard to his Creator.] (10:108) Say [O Prophet]: “O mankind! The truth from your Sustainer has now come unto you.
Whoever, therefore, chooses to follow the right path, follows it but for his own good; and whoever chooses to go astray, goes but
astray to his own hurt. And I am not responsible for your conduct.”
GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES
(13:11) Verily, God does not change men’s condition unless they change their inner selves; and when God wills people to suffer evil
[in consequence of their own evil deeds], there is none who could avert it: for they have none who could protect them from Him.
[This statement has both a positive and a negative connotation: i.e., God does not withdraw His blessings from men unless their inner
selves become depraved (see 8:53), just as He does not bestow His blessings upon willful sinners until they change their inner disposition
and become worthy of His grace. In its wider sense, this is an illustration of the divine law of cause and effect (sunnat Allah) which
dominates the lives of both individuals and communities, and makes the rise and fall of civilizations dependent on people’s moral qualities
and the changes in “their inner selves”.] (30:52-53) And, verily, you cannot make the dead hear: and [so, too,] you cannot make the
deaf [of heart] hear this call when they turn their backs [on you] and go away, just as you cannot lead the blind [of heart] out of
their error: none can you make hear [your call] save such as [are willing to] believe in Our messages, and thus surrender them-
selves unto Us. [See the identical passage in 27:80-81.]
 NATURAL LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
(3:178-179) And they should not think - they who are bent on denying the truth - that Our giving them rein is good for them: We
give them rein only to let them grow in sinfulness; and shameful suffering awaits them. [This is an allusion to the doctrine of natural
law (in Quranic terminology, sunnat Allah, “God’s way”) to which man’s inclinations and actions - as well as all other happenings in the
universe - are subject. The above verse says: Since these people are bent on denying the truth, Our giving them rein that is, freedom of
choice and time for a reconsideration of their attitude will not work out for their benefit but will, on the contrary, cause them to grow in
false self-confidence and, thus, in sinfulness. As in many similar passages in the Quran, God attributes here their “growing in sinfulness” to
His own will because it is He who has imposed on all His creation the natural law of cause and effect. (See 14:4.)] It is not God’s will [O
you who deny the truth] to abandon the believers to your way of life: [The people addressed here are “those who deny the truth.” It
implies that the believers would, in time, differ from the unbelievers not only in their convictions but also in their social aims and their
manner of living.] [and] to that end He will set apart the bad from the good. And it is not God’s will to give you insight into that
which is beyond the reach of human perception: but [to that end] God elects whomsoever He wills from among His apostles. [I.e., it
is through these apostles that God vouchsafes to man a partial glimpse of the reality of which He alone has full knowledge.] Believe, then,
in God and His apostles; for if you believe and are conscious of Him, a magnificent requital awaits you.
GOING ASTRAY
(2:26-27) None does He cause thereby to go astray save the iniquitous, who break their bond with God after it has been established
[in their nature], and cut asunder what God has bidden to be joined, and spread corruption on earth: these it is that shall be the
losers. [The “bond with God” (conventionally translated as God's covenant) apparently refers here to man's moral obligation to use his
inborn gifts - intellectual as well as physical - in the way intended for them by God. The establishment of this bond arises from the faculty
of reason, which if properly used, must lead man to a realization of his own weakness and dependence on a causative power and, thus, to a
gradual cognition of God's will with reference to his own behavior. This interpretation of the bond with God seems to be indicated by the
fact that there is no mention of any specific "covenant" in either the preceding or the subsequent verses of the passage under consideration.
The deliberate omission of any explanatory reference in this connection suggests that the expression “bond with God” stands for something
that is rooted in the human situation as such, and can, therefore, be perceived instinctively as well as through conscious experience: namely,
that innate relationship with God which makes Him “closer to man than his neck-vein” (50:16). For an explanation of the subsequent
reference to "what God has bidden to be joined", see 13:21.]
(14:4) And never have We sent forth any apostle otherwise than [with a message] in his own people’s tongue, so that he might make
[the truth] clear unto them; [Since every divine writ was meant to be understood by man, it is obvious that each had to be formulated in
the language of the people whom the particular prophet was addressing in the first instance; and the Quran - notwithstanding its universal
import (7:158) - is no exception in this respect.] but God lets go astray him that wills [to go astray], and guides him that wills [to be
guided] - for He alone is almighty, truly wise. [Or: God lets go astray whomever He wills, and guides whomever He wills”. All Quranic
references to God’s letting man go astray must be understood against the background of 2:26-27 above - “none does He cause to go astray
save the iniquitous, who break their bond with God”. That is to say, man’s “going astray” is a consequence of his own attitudes and
inclinations and not a result of an arbitrary predestination. In his commentary on the above verse, Zamakhshari stresses this aspect of free
choice on the part of man and points out that God does not cause anyone to go astray except one who, as He knows, will never attain to
faith; and He does not guide anyone aright except one who, as He knows, will attain to faith. Hence, the expression “causing to go astray”
denotes God’s leaving one alone and depriving him of all favor, whereas the expression “guidance” denotes His grant of fulfillment and
favor. Thus, He does not forsake anyone except those who deserve to be forsaken, and does not bestow His favor upon anyone except those
who deserve to be favored. Commenting on the identical phrase occurring in 16:93, Zamakhshari states: “God forsakes him who, as He
knows, will consciously choose to deny the truth and will persevere in this denial; and…. He bestows His favor upon him who, as He
knows, will choose faith: which means that He makes the issue dependent on man’s free choice, and thus on his deserving either God’s
favor or the withdrawal of His aid…. and does not make it dependent on compulsion, i.e., predestination, which would rule out man’s
deserving anything of the above.”]
(16:93) For, had God so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community; [i.e., bound by mutually agreed-upon moral
values. See 10:19. For an elucidation of the concept of “one single community” and its further implications, see 2:213.] however, He lets
go astray him that wills [to go astray], and guides aright him that wills [to be guided]; [Or: He lets go astray whomever He wills, and
guides aright whomever He wills. Regarding the problem of free will versus predestination, seemingly implied in the concept of God’s
letting man go or causing him to go astray or, alternatively, guiding him aright, see 14:4 below.] and you will surely be called to account
for all that you ever did! [Alluding to the erroneous idea that man’s good or evil actions - and therefore also his propensities and resulting
attitudes - are predetermined by God and not really an outcome of free choice. If it were true that God compels men to go astray or,
alternatively, to follow His guidance - why should He have postulated their deeds as something for which they will be held responsible?]
ACCOUNTABILITY
INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTING
(2:134) Now those people have passed away; unto them shall be accounted what they have earned, and unto you, what you have
earned; and you will not be judged on the strength of what they did? [This verse stresses the fundamental Islamic tenet of individual
responsibility, and denies the Jewish idea of their being “the chosen people” by virtue of their descent, as well as - by implication - the
Christian doctrine of “original sin” with which, all human beings are supposedly burdened because of Adam’s fall from grace.] (6:164)
And whatever [wrong] any human being commits rests upon himself alone; and no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear
another’s burden. [This statement - which is also found in 17:15, 35:18, 39:7 and 53:38 - constitutes a categorical rejection of the
Christian doctrines of “original sin” and “vicarious atonement”. For the wider ethical implications of this statement, see 53:38, where it
occurs for the first time in the chronological order of revelation.] And, in time, unto your Sustainer you all must return: and then He
will make you [truly] understand all that on which you were wont to differ [See 2:113]
(6:165) For, He it is who has made you inherit the earth, [See 2:30.] and has raised some of you by degrees above others, so that He
might try you by means of what He has bestowed upon you. [I.e., by way of character, strength, knowledge, social position, wealth, etc.]
Verily, thy Sustainer is swift in retribution: yet, behold, He is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
DIVINE GUIDANCE AND PUNISHMENT
(20:134-135) For [thus it is:] had We destroyed them by means of a chastisement before this [divine writ was revealed], they would
indeed [be justified to] say [on Judgment Day]: “O our Sustainer! If only Thou had sent an apostle unto us, we would have followed
Thy messages rather than be humiliated and disgraced [in the hereafter]!” [See 6:131, 15:4 or 26:208-209. where it is stressed that
God never punishes man for any wrong committed in ignorance if what constitutes right and wrong in the moral sense - i.e., before making
it possible for him to avail himself of divine guidance.] Say: “Everyone is hopefully waiting [for what the future may bring]: [I.e.,
human nature is such that no man, whatever his persuasion or condition, can ever cease to hope that the way of life chosen by him will
prove to have been the right way.] wait, then, [for the Day of Judgment -] for then you will come to know as to who has followed the
even path, and who has found guidance!”
(33:72-73) Verily, We did offer the trust [of reason and volition] to the heavens, and the earth, and the mountains: [The faculty of
volition - i.e., the ability to choose between two or more possible courses of action or modes of behavior, and thus between good and evil.]
but they refused to bear it because they were afraid of it. Yet man took it up - [And then failed to measure up to the moral
responsibility arising from the reason and the comparative free will with which he has been endowed. This obviously applies to the human
race as such and not necessarily to all of its individuals.] for, verily, he has always been prone to be most wicked, most foolish. [And so
it is] that God imposes suffering on the hypocrites, both men and women, as well as on the men and women who ascribe divinity to
aught beside Him. [In other words, on those who offend against what their own reason and conscience would have them do. This
suffering, whether in this world or in the hereafter is but a causal consequence - of man’s moral failure, and not an arbitrary act of God.
(See 2:7, which speaks of God’s “sealing” the hearts of those who are bent on denying the truth.)] And [so, too, it is] that God turns in
His mercy unto the believing men and believing women: for God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
Religious liberty is the most fundamental form of freedom. There cannot be religious liberty without secure private property, because
secure private property means an individual can hold whatever worship services he or she might wish on their property and no body else
should interfere. Similarly, there cannot be religious liberty unless there is freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association
and freedom of movement. The fundamental right of freedom of religion is embodied in the First Amendment of the United States
constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of
grievances.” America is a beacon for the freedom of religion for the entire world because of the first amendment. For freedom of religion
for women (See the chapter, “Women rights, sex marriage and divorce”)
NO COMPULSION IN FAITH
(2:256-257) There shall be no coercion in matters of faith. [The imposition of religion through government or by force is inherently un-
Islamic and against freedom of religion. The term din denotes both the contents of and the compliance with a morally binding law;
consequently, it signifies “religion” in the widest sense of this term, extending over all that pertains to its doctrinal contents and their
practical implications, as well as to man’s attitude towards the object of his worship, thus comprising also the concept of “faith”. The
rendering of din as “religion”, “faith”, “religious law” or “moral law” (see 109:6) depends on the context in which this term is used. On the
strength of the above categorical prohibition of coercion in anything that pertains to faith or religion, all Islamic jurists, without any
exception, hold that forcible conversion is under all circumstances null and void, and that any attempt at coercing a non-believer to accept
the faith of Islam is a grievous sin: a verdict which disposes of the widespread fallacy that Islam places before the unbelievers the
alternative of “conversion or the sword”.] Distinct has now become the right way from [the way of] error: hence, he who rejects the
powers of evil and believes in God has indeed taken hold of a support most unfailing, which shall never give way: for God is all-
hearing, all-knowing. [Power of evil denotes, primarily, anything that is worshipped instead of God and, thus, all that may turn man away
from God and lead him to evil.] God is near unto those who have faith, taking them out of deep darkness into the light - whereas near
unto those who are bent on denying the truth are the powers of evil that take them out of the light into darkness deep: it is they
who are destined for the fire, therein to abide.
FREE CHOICE IN FAITH (miracles undermine man’s free will)
(26:2-9) These are messages of the divine writ, clear in itself and clearly showing the truth! Would you, perhaps, torment yourself
to death [with grief] because they [who live around you] refuse to believe [in it]? Had We so willed, We could have sent down unto
them a message from the skies, so that their necks would [be forced to] bow down before it in humility. [As the spiritual value of
man’s faith depends on its being an outcome of free choice and not of compulsion, the visible or audible appearance of a “message from the
skies” would, by its very obviousness, nullify the element of free choice and, therefore, deprive man’s faith in that message of all its moral
significance. Miracles therefore undermine man’s free will (see also chapter, “objections of pagans of Arabia to islam”, under “demand for
miracles.”)] [But We have not willed it:] and so, whenever there comes unto them any fresh reminder from the Most Gracious, they
[who are blind of heart] always - turn their backs upon it: thus, indeed, have they given the lie [to this message as well]. But [in
time] they will come to understand what it was that they were wont to deride! Have they, then, never considered the earth - how
much of every noble kind [of life] We have caused to grow thereon? In this, behold, there is a message [unto men], even though
most of them will not believe [in it]. But, verily, thy Sustainer - He alone - is almighty, a dispenser of grace! [The above two verses
illustrate the statement, in verse 5, that a rejection of God’s messages is a recurrent phenomenon in the history of mankind despite the fact
that His existence is clearly manifested in all living creation.]
FREEDOM OF RELIGION FOR NON-BELIEVERS
(9:6) And if any of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God seeks your protection, [Lit., “seeks to become your neighbor”: a
metaphorical expression denoting a demand for protection, based on the ancient Arabian custom (strongly affirmed by Islam) of honoring
and protecting a neighbor to the best of one’s ability.] grant him protection, so that he might [be able to] hear the word of God [from
you]; and thereupon convey him to a place where he can feel secure: this, because they [may be] people who [sin only because they]
do not know [the truth]. [I.e., let him rejoin his homeland, which implies that he is free to accept or not to accept the message of the
Quran: a further re-affirmation of the Quranic injunction that “there shall be no coercion in matters of faith” (2:256).]
RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
PROHIBITION OF RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION
The discrimination based on religion is not allowed in Islam, as it is clear from the following verses: (2:271-272) If you do deeds of
charity openly, it is well; but if you bestow it upon the needy in secret, it will be even better for you, and it will atone for some of
your bad deeds. And God is aware of all that you do. It is not for you [O Prophet] to make people follow the right path, since it is
God [alone] who guides whom He wills. And whatever good you may spend on others is for your own good, provided that you
spend only out of a longing for God’s countenance: for, whatever good you may spend will be repaid unto you in full, and you shall
not be wronged. [I.e., you are responsible only for conveying God’s message to them, and not for their reaction to it: the people referred to
being the needy spoken of in the preceding verses. It appears that in the early days after his migration to Medina, the Prophet - faced by the
great poverty prevalent among his own community - advised his companions that “charity should be bestowed only on the followers of
Islam” - a view that was immediately corrected by the revelation of the above verse. The Prophet thereupon explicitly enjoined upon his
followers to disburse charities upon all who needed them, irrespective of the faith of the person concerned. Consequently, there is full
agreement among all the commentators that the above verse of the Quran - although expressed in the singular and, on the face of it,
addressed to the Prophet - lays down an injunction binding upon all Muslims. The charity - or the threat to withhold it - must never become
a means of attracting unbelievers to Islam: for, in order to be valid, faith must be an outcome of inner conviction and free choice. This is in
consonance with verse 2:256: “There shall be no coercion in matters of faith.”]
LEAVE ALONE THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO REMAIN IGNORANT (admonishment to the prophet)
(7:199-202) Make due allowance for man’s nature, and enjoin the doing of what is right; [Accept what comes easily to you or what is
willingly accorded to you of the doings and the nature of men, and make things easy for them, without causing them undue hardship; and
do not demand of them efforts that may be too difficult for them. Thus, in accordance with the Quranic statements that “man has been
created weak” (4:28) and that “God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear” (2:286, 6:152, 7:42, 23:62),
the believer is admonished to make due allowance for human nature and not to be too harsh with those who err. This admonition is the
more remarkable as it follows immediately upon a discourse on the most unforgivable of all sins - the ascribing of divine powers or
qualities to anyone or anything but God.] and leave alone all those who choose to remain ignorant. [Those who willfully remain deaf to
moral truths and not those who are simply unaware of them] And if it should happen that a prompting from Satan stirs you up [to
blind anger], seek refuge with God: behold, He is all-hearing, all-knowing. [I.e., anger at the rejection of the truth by those who choose
to remain ignorant. The words “to blind anger” interpolated between brackets are based on a Tradition according to which the Prophet, after
the revelation of the preceding verse calling for forbearance, exclaimed, “And what about justified anger, O my Sustainer?”, whereupon the
above verse was revealed to him.] Verily, they who are conscious of God bethink themselves [of Him] whenever any dark suggestion
from Satan touches them - whereupon, 1o! they begin to see [things] clearly, [The noun (taif) denotes any ungraspable phantom, image
or suggestion, as in a dream, or “an imperceptible obsession which obscures the mind”. Since, in the above context, it is described as
coming from Satan, “a dark Suggestion” seems to be an appropriate rendering.] even though their [godless] brethren would [like to]
draw them into error: and then they cannot fail [to do what is right]. [I.e., by goading them to anger or trying to engage them in futile
argument. “Their brethren” are those who willfully remain ignorant of the truth (with the pronoun referring to the God-conscious).]
FORGIVE MEN’S SHORT COMINGS
(15:85-86) And [remember:] We have not created the heaven and the earth and all that is between them without [an inner] truth;
but behold, the Hour [when this will become clear to all] is indeed yet to come. Hence, forgive [men’s failings] with fair
forbearance: verily, thy Sustainer is the all-knowing Creator of all things! [I.e., He has created all human beings with full knowledge
of their natural differentiation and the disparity in their respective conditions - and this, of course, includes their failings and errors. (See
7:199 below)]
DO NOT SHUN NONMUSLIMS WHO BELIEVE IN GOD
(6:51-53) And warn hereby those who fear lest they be gathered unto their Sustainer with none to protect them from Him or to
intercede with Him, so that they might become [fully] conscious of Him. [This verse refers to followers of earlier scriptures - such as
the Jews and the Christians - who share with the followers of the Quran the belief in life after death, as well as to agnostics who, without
having definite beliefs on this point, admit the possibility of life after death.] Hence, repulse not [any of] those who at morn and evening
invoke their Sustainer, seeking His countenance. [According to Traditions, this and the next verse were revealed when, several years
before the Muslims’ exodus to Medina, some of the pagan chieftains at Mecca expressed their willingness to consider accepting Islam on
the condition that the Prophet would dissociate himself from the former slaves and other “lowly” persons among his followers - a demand
which the Prophet, of course, rejected. This historical reference does not, however, provide a full explanation of the above passage. In
accordance with the Quranic method, allusions to historical events - whether relating to contemporary occurrences or to earlier times - are
always made with a view to expressing ethical teachings of a permanent nature; and the passage under consideration is no exception in this
respect. As the wording shows, it relates not to “lowly” followers of Islam but to people who, while not being Muslims in the current sense
of this word, believe in God and are always at morn and evening seeking His countenance (i.e., His grace and acceptance). Although
primarily addressed to the Prophet, the exhortation voiced in this passage is directed to all followers of the Quran: they are enjoined not to
repulse anyone who believes in God - even though his beliefs may not fully answer to the demands of the Quran - but, on the contrary, to
try to help him by means of a patient explanation of the Quranic teachings.] You are in no wise accountable for them - just as they are in
no wise accountable for you - [I.e., for whatever in their beliefs or actions does not coincide with the teachings of the Quran, and vice-
versa. In other words, all are accountable to God alone.] and you have therefore no right to repulse them: for then you would be
among the evildoers. For it is in this way that We try men through one another [I.e., by endowing man with the power of reasoning
and thus, indirectly, giving rise to a multiplicity of faiths.] - to the end that they might ask, “Has God, then, bestowed His favor upon
those others in preference to us?” Does not God know best as to who is grateful [to Him]? [Lit., “Is it those upon whom God has
bestowed His favor from among us?” This would seem to be an allusion to the sarcastic incredulity with which, as a rule, non-Muslims
receive the claim of the Muslims that the Quran is the final formulation of God’s message to man. The trial referred to above consists in the
unwillingness of people of other faiths to accept this claim as valid, and so to renounce the prejudice against Islam to which their cultural
and historical environment has made them, consciously or subconsciously, predisposed.]
(18:28) And contain yourself in patience by the side of all who at morn and at evening invoke their Sustainer, seeking His
countenance, and let not your eyes pass beyond them in quest of the beauties of this world’s life; [For an explanation, see 6:52 above.]
PROHIBITION OF REVILING WHAT OTHERS HOLD SACRED
(6:108) But do not revile those [beings] whom they invoke instead of God, lest they revile God out of spite, and in ignorance: for,
goodly indeed have We made their own doings appear unto every community. [This prohibition of reviling anything that other people
hold sacred - even in contravention of the principle of God’s oneness - is expressed in the plural and is, therefore, addressed to all believers.
Thus, while Muslims are expected to argue against the false beliefs of others, they are not allowed to abuse the objects of those beliefs and
to hurt thereby the feelings of their erring fellow-men.] In time, [however,] unto their Sustainer they must return: and then He will
make them [truly] understand all that they were doing. [Implying that it is in the nature of man to regard the beliefs which have been
implanted in him from childhood, and which he now shares with his social environment, as the only true and possible ones - with the result
that a polemic against those beliefs often tends to provoke a hostile psychological reaction. It would be unthinkable that the same Quran
which admonishes the believers to be sensitive towards the faith of non-believers, will on the other hand, sanctions forced conversion as
critics of Islam claim.]
ARGUE KINDLY WITH NON-MUSLIMS
(16:125-128) Call thou [all mankind] unto thy Sustainer’s path with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the
most kindly manner: [See 29:46 - “And do not argue with the followers of earlier revelation otherwise than in the most kindly manner”.
This stress on kindness and tact and, hence, on the use of reason alone in all religious discussions with adherents of other creeds is fully in
tune with the basic, categorical injunction, “There shall be no coercion in matters of faith” (2:256).] for, behold, thy Sustainer knows best
as to who strays from His path, and best knows He as to who are the right-guided. Hence, if you have to respond to an attack [in
argument], respond only to the extent of the attack leveled against you; [Thus, the believers are admonished to observe self-restraint
while arguing with people of another persuasion, and never to offend against decency and intellectual equity. Although retaliation in
argument is permissible if an opponent impeaches one’s integrity, the sequence makes it clear that it is morally preferable to renounce it
altogether and to bear the unjust attack with patience.] but to bear yourselves with patience is indeed far better for [you, since God is
with] those who are patient in adversity. Endure, then, with patience [all that they who deny the truth may say] - always
remembering that it is none but God who gives you the strength to endure adversity – and do not grieve over them, and nei ther be
distressed by the false arguments which they devise: [I.e., by inventing false and irrelevant arguments against Gods messages.] for,
verily, God is with those who are conscious of Him and are doers of good withal.
(17:53) And tell My servants that they should speak in the most kindly manner [unto those who do not share their beliefs]: verily,
Satan is always ready to stir up discord between men – for, verily, Satan is man’s open foe!
RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY AND PLURALISM
(5:48) Unto every one of you have We appointed a [different] law and way of life. [The expression “every one of you” denotes the
various communities of which, mankind is composed. The term shariah signifies, literally, “the way to a watering-place” (from which men
and animals derive the element indispensable to their life), and is used in the Quran to denote a system of law necessary for a community’s
social and spiritual welfare. The term minhaj, on the other hand, denotes an “open road”, usually in an abstract sense: that is, “a way of
life”. The terms shariah and minhaj are more restricted in their meaning than the term din, which comprises not merely the laws relating to
a particular religion but also the basic, unchanging spiritual truths which, according to the Quran, have been preached by every one of
God’s apostles, while the particular body of laws (shariah) promulgated through them, and the way of life (minhaj) recommended by them,
varied in accordance with the exigencies of the time and of each community’s cultural development. This “unity in diversity” is frequently
stressed in the Quran (e.g., in 2:148, 21:92-93, and 23:52.). Because of the universal applicability and textual incorruptibility of its
teachings - as well as of the fact that the Prophet Muhammad is “the seal of all prophets”, i.e., the last of them (see 33:40) - the Quran
represents the culminating point of all revelation and offers the final, perfect way to spiritual fulfillment. This uniqueness of the Quranic
message does not, however, preclude all adherents of earlier faiths from attaining to God’s grace: for - as the Quran so often points out -
those among them who believe uncompromisingly in the One God and the Day of Judgment (i.e., in individual moral responsibility) and
live righteously “need have no fear, and neither shall they grieve”.] And if God had so willed, He could surely have made you all one
single community: but [He willed it otherwise] in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you. [I.e., “in order to
test, by means of the various religious laws imposed on you, your willingness to surrender yourselves to God and to obey Him” , “and thus
to enable you to grow, spiritually and socially, in accordance with the God-willed law of evolution”.] Vie, then, with one another in doing
good works! Unto God you all must return; and then He will make you truly understand all that on which you were wont to differ.
[Lit., “inform you of that wherein you used to differ” (see 2:113). Thus, the Quran impresses upon all who believe in God - Muslims and
non-Muslims alike - that the differences in their religious practices should make them “vie with one another in doing good works” rather
than lose themselves in mutual hostility.]
MANY PATHS TO GOD
Islam is the best path but not the only path which leads to God.
(29:69) But as for those who strive hard in Our cause -We shall most certainly guide them onto paths that lead unto Us: for, behold,
God is indeed with the doers of good. [The plural used here is obviously meant to stress the fact - alluded to often in the Quran - that
there are many paths, which lead to a cognizance of God.]
(70:3) God, unto whom there are many ways of ascent: [Lit., “He of the many ascents”: a metonymical phrase implying that there are
many ways by which man can ascend to a comprehension of God’s existence, and thus to spiritual nearness to Him - and that, therefore, it
is up to each human being to avail himself of any of the ways leading towards Him (see 76:3).]
PROTECTION OF MOSQUES, CHURCHES AND SYNAGOGUES
(2:114) Hence, who could be more wicked than those who bar the mention of God’s name from [any of] His houses of worship and
strive for their ruin, [although] they have no right to enter them save in fear [of God]? For them, in this world, there is ignominy in
store; and for them, in the life to come, awesome suffering. [It is one of the fundamental principles of Islam that every religion, which
has belief in God as its focal point, must be accorded full respect, however much one may disagree with its particular tenets. Thus, the
Muslims are under an obligation to honor and protect any house of worship dedicated to God, whether it be a mosque or a church or a
synagogue (see 22:40); and any attempt to prevent the followers of another faith from worshipping God according to their own lights is
condemned by the Quran as a sacrilege. A striking illustration of this principle is forthcoming from the Prophet’s treatment of the
deputation from Christian Najran in the year 10 H. They were given free access to the Prophet’s mosque, and with his full consent
celebrated their religious rites there, although their adoration of Jesus as “the son of God” and of Mary as “the mother of God” was
fundamentally at variance with Islamic beliefs.]
APOSTASY
REMAINING STEADFAST DURING RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION
(16:41-42) Now as for those who forsake the domain of evil in the cause of God, [The “forsaking of the domain of evil” has here a
purely spiritual connotation is obvious from its juxtaposition with the “denial of the truth” referred to in the preceding verses.] after having
suffered wrong [on account of their faith] - We shall most certainly grant them a station of good fortune in this world: but their
reward in the life to come will be far greater yet. If they [who deny the truth] could but understand [The pronoun “they” in the above
phrase relates to the deniers of the truth spoken of in the preceding passages, the rendering “if they could but understand” is here clearly
indicated - the more so as it provides a self-evident connection with the subsequent, objective clause.] those who, having attained to
patience in adversity, in their Sustainer place their trust!” [If they could really understand the spiritual motivation of the believers, they
the deniers of the truth would themselves begin to believe.]
APOSTASY UNDER DURESS
(16:106-109) As for anyone who denies God after having once attained to faith and this, to be sure, does not apply to one who does it
under duress, the while his heart remains true to his faith, [This relates to believers who, under torture or threat of death, ostensibly
recant in order to save themselves. Although the Quran makes it clear in several places that martyrdom in the cause of faith is highly
meritorious. “God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear” (see 2:233 and 286, 6:152, 7:42, 23:62, and
many other Quranic statements to the same effect).] but [only to] him who willingly opens up his heart to a denial of the truth -: upon
all such [falls] God’s condemnation, and tremendous suffering awaits them: all this, because they hold this worlds life in greater
esteem than the life to come, and because God does not bestow His guidance upon people who deny the truth. They whose hearts
and whose hearing and whose sight God has sealed - it is they, they who are heedless! [Heedless of what is good and what is bad for
then. For an explanation of God’s “sealing” the hearts of those who are bent on denying the truth, see 2:7.] Truly it is they, they who in
the life to come shall be the loser!
PUNISHMENT FOR APOSTASY ONLY IN AFTERLIFE
The major reason of apostasy among today’s Muslims is their unwillingness to comply with the high moral standards required to be a good
Muslims. One has to abstain from alcohol, sex outside marriage, gambling and hurting your fellow human being in any way. A Muslim is
required to be an ideal son or daughter, spouse, parent, to make an honest living and give at least two and a half percent of his income as a
poor tax. In addition, he is required to pray five times a day and fast for one month during a year. Those Muslims who renounce their faith
have made a decision to enjoy some of the forbidden fruits of this world at the expense of the life to come. There is not a single Quranic
verse or prophet’s Tradition in which punishment is prescribed for simple apostasy from the faith of Islam. In some so-called Islamic
countries, there is severe punishment for apostasy, even death penalty. These laws are against the very concept of freedom of religion and
are clearly un-Islamic. In the Prophet’s Traditions, death penalty is only applied for those apostates who either commit murder or treason by
joining with the enemies to wage war against Islam. The punishment for apostasy will be in afterlife as the following verses indicate.
(2:217) If any of you should turn away from his faith and die as a denier of the truth - these it is whose works will go for nought in
this world and in the life to come; and these it is who are destined for the fire, therein to abide.
(3:106-109) On the Day [of Judgment] when some faces will shine [with happiness] and some faces will be dark [with grief]. And as
for those with faces darkened, [they shall be told:] “Did you deny the truth after having attained to faith? Taste, then, this suffering
for having denied the truth!” But as for those with faces shining, they shall be within God’s grace, therein to abide. These are God’s
messages: We convey them unto you, setting forth the truth, since God wills no wrong to His creation. And unto God belongs all
that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and all things go back to God [as their source].
(5:54) O you who have attained to faith! If you ever abandon your faith, [I.e., in result of having placed his reliance on non-Muslims
who are hostile to Islam, and having taken them for his allies and spiritual mentors] God will in time bring forth [in your stead] people
whom He loves and who love Him.
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND SPEECH
The Prophet’s profound saying, “The differences of opinion among the learned men of my community are an outcome of divine grace” -
which clearly implies that critical thinking and differences of opinion are the basis of all progress in human thinking and, therefore, a most
potent factor in man’s acquisition of knowledge.
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF MANKIND
(2:213-214) All mankind were once one single community; [then they began to differ -] whereupon God raised up the prophets as
heralds of glad tidings and as warners, and through them bestowed revelation from on high, setting forth the truth, so that it might
decide between people with regard to all on which they had come to hold divergent views. [What is alluded to in this verse is the
relative homogeneity of instinctive perceptions and inclinations characteristic of man’s primitive mentality and the primitive social order in
which he lived in those early days. Since that homogeneity was based on a lack of intellectual and emotional differentiation rather than on a
conscious agreement among the members of human society, it was bound to disintegrate in the measure of man’s subsequent development.
As his thought - life became more and more complex, his emotional capacity and his individual needs, too, became more differentiated,
conflicts of views and interests came to the fore, and mankind ceased to be one single community as regards their outlook on life and their
moral valuations: and it was at this stage that divine guidance became necessary. This interpretation of the above Quranic passage is
supported by the fact that the famous Companion Abd Allah ibn Masud used to read it thus: “All mankind were once one single
community, and then they began to differ - whereupon God raised up...”, etc.] Yet none other than the self-same people who had been
granted this [revelation] began, out of mutual jealousy, to disagree about its meaning after all evidence of the truth had come unto
them. But God guided the believers unto the truth about which, by His leave, they had disagreed: [As is made clear in the second part
of verse 2:253, man’s proneness to intellectual dissension is not an accident of history but an integral, God-willed aspect of human nature
as such: and it is this natural circumstance to which the words “by His leave” allude. For an explanation of the phrase “out of mutual
jealousy”, see 23:53.] for God guides onto a straight way him that wills [to be guided]. [Or: God guides whomever He wills onto a
straight way] [But] do you think that you could enter paradise without having suffered like those [believers] who passed away
before you? [This passage connects with the words, “God guides onto a straight way him that wills to be guided”, which occur at the end
of the preceding verse. The meaning is that intellectual cognition of the truth cannot, by itself, be a means of attaining to ultimate bliss: it
must be complemented by readiness to sacrifice and spiritual purification through suffering.] Misfortune and hardship befell them, and
so shaken were they that the apostle, and the believers with him, would exclaim, “When will God’s succour come?” Oh, verily,
God’s succour is [always] near! [The preceding reference to “those who passed away before you” makes it obvious that the term “the
apostle” is used here in a generic sense, applying to all the apostles.]
GOD’S MESSAGES AND DISSENSION AMONG HUMAN BEINGS
(2:253) And if God had so willed, they who succeeded those [apostles] would not have contended with one another after all evidence
of the truth had come to them; but [as it was,] they did take to divergent views, and some of them attained to faith, while some of
them came to deny the truth. Yet if God had so willed, they would not have contended with one another: but God does whatever He
wills. [Once again - as in verse 213 above - the Quran alludes to the inevitability of dissension among human beings: in other words, it is
the will of God that their way to the truth should be marked by conflicts and trial by error.]
DIVERGENT VIEWS AS BASIS OF MAN’S INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT
(10:19) And [know that] all mankind were once but one single community, and only later did they begin to hold divergent views. [In
the present context, this expression alludes not merely to mankind’s one-time homogeneity, but also - by implication - to the fact,
repeatedly stressed in the Quran (e.g., in 7:172), that the ability to realize God’s existence, oneness and omnipotence is innate in man, and
that all deviation from this basic perception is a consequence of the confusion brought about by man’s progressive estrangement from his
inborn instincts.] And had it not been for a decree that had already gone forth from thy Sustainer, all their differences would indeed
have been settled [from the outset]. [I.e., had it not been for God’s decree that men should differ in their intellectual approach to the
problems touched upon by divine revelation, they would not have contended with one another after having received all evidence of the
truth, but would all have held from the very outset, and would continue to hold, the same views (see 2:253). Since, however, such
uniformity would have precluded men’s intellectual, moral and social development, God has left it to their reason, aided by prophetic
guidance, gradually to find their way to the truth. The above parenthetic passage must be read in conjunction with 2:213.]
DIVERGENT VIEWS AND FREE WILL
(11:118-119) And had thy Sustainer so willed, He could surely have made all mankind one single community: but [He willed it
otherwise, and so] they continue to hold divergent views - [I.e., about everything, even about the truths revealed to them by God. For a
discussion of the term “one single community” and its wider implications, see 2:213, 2:253 and 5:48. Thus, the Quran stresses once again
that the unceasing differentiation in men’s views and ideas is not incidental but represents a God-willed, basic factor of human existence. If
God had willed that all human beings should be of one persuasion, all intellectual progress would have been ruled out, and they would have
been similar in their social life to the bees and the ants, while in their spiritual life they would have been like the angels, constrained by
their nature always to believe in what is true and always to obey God - that is to say, devoid of that relative free will which enables man to
choose between right and wrong and thus endows his life - in distinction from all other sentient beings - with a moral meaning and a unique
spiritual potential.] [all of them,] save those upon whom thy Sustainer has bestowed His grace. [I.e., those who avail themselves of His
grace, consisting of the God-given ability to realize His existence (see 7:172) and the guidance which He offers to mankind through His
prophets.] And to this end has He created them [all]. [The expression “to this end” refers to God’s bestowal of freedom of moral choice
which characterizes man and is spoken of in the preceding passages: and since it is this freedom which constitutes God’s special gift to man
and raises him above all other created beings (See the parable of Adam and the angels in 2:30-34).] But [as for those who refuse to avail
themselves of divine guidance,] that word of thy Sustainer shall be fulfilled: “Most certainly will I fill hell with invisible beings as
well as with humans, all together!” [The “word of God” reiterated here as well as in 32:13 has originally been pronounced in 7:18 with
reference to the “followers of Satan”, i.e.’ those who reject the guidance offered them by God.]
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
After the battle of Badr, the Holy Prophet distributed the prisoners of war to stay in the houses of different companions and gave the
instruction: “Treat these prisoners well.” About one prisoner, the Holy Prophet was told: “He is a fiery speaker and has been making
speeches against you; please have his teeth broken.” Muhammad replied: “If I have his teeth broken, God will break my teeth.”
Salman Rushdie was condemned to death by the former Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, after publishing Satanic
Verses, a novel in which Rushdie allegedly blasphemed Prophet Muhammad. There is not a single documentation in the Prophet’s
Traditions, where he retaliated against those who criticized him. Muhammad was called imposter, mad man, mad poet, man bewitched,
sorcerer, etc, by his pagan contemporaries and he never ever took revenge. (See chapters “Meccans objection to Islam” and for death
penalty, see under “Islamic Law.”) Free flow of ideas is a corner stone for development of science and art. Freedom of speech in the
context of Islamic societies cannot be unlimited however. There is prohibition of reviling other religions (see above). Slanderous speech
can be a punishable offence (see false slander against Prophet’s wife Aishah in the chapter on Islamic law). Such immoral activities as
pornography and extreme forms of hate speech, which are corrosive to society’s morals should not be allowed in the context of Islamic
societies.
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
INVIOLABILITY OF PERSON’S HOME
(24:27-29) O you who have attained to faith! Do not enter houses other than your own unless you have obtained permission and
greeted their inmates. This is [enjoined upon you] for your own good, so that you might bear [your mutual rights] in mind. [This
categorical prohibition serves as an additional protection of individuals against possible slander. In its wider purport, it postulates the
inviolability of each person’s home and private life.] Hence, [even] if you find no one within [the house], do not enter it until you are
given leave; [I.e., by the rightful owner or caretaker.] and if you are told, “Turn back,” then turn back. This will be most conducive to
your purity; and God has full knowledge of all that you do. [On the other hand,] you will incur no sin if you [freely] enter houses
not intended for living in but serving a purpose useful to you: but [always remember that] God knows all that you do openly, and
all that you would conceal. [In the consensus of all the authorities, including the Companions of the Prophet, this relates to buildings or
premises of a more or less public nature, like inns, shops, administrative Offices, public baths, etc., as well as to ancient ruins.]
INDIVIDUAL’S RIGHT TO PRIVACY
In pursuance of the Quranic principle that the social and individual - as well as the spiritual and material - aspects of human life form one
indivisible whole and cannot, therefore, be dealt with independently of one another, the discourse below elaborates some of the rules of
healthy social behavior. The following passage takes up and elaborates the theme of the individual’s right to privacy, already touched upon
in verses 27-29 above. (24:58-59) O you who have attained to faith! At three times [of day], let [even] those whom you rightfully pos-
sess, [Lit., “whom your right hands possess” - a phrase which, primarily and as a rule, denotes male and female slaves. Since, however, the
institution of slavery is envisaged in the Quran as a mere historic phenomenon that must in time be abolished (see 24:33 and 2:177), the
above expression may also be understood as referring, in general, to one’s close dependants and to domestic servants of either sex.
Alternatively, this phrase may denote, in this context, “those whom you rightfully possess through wedlock”, i.e., wives and husbands (see
4:24).] as well as those from among you who have not yet attained to puberty, [I.e., all children, irrespective of whether they are related
to one or not.] ask leave of you [before intruding upon your privacy]: before the prayer of daybreak, and whenever you lay aside
your garments in the middle of the day, and after the prayer of nightfall: the three occasions on which your nakedness is likely to
be bared. [This phrase is to be understood both literally and figuratively. Primarily, this signifies those parts of a mature person’s body
which cannot in decency be exposed to any but one’s wife or husband or, in case of illness, one’s physician. In its tropical sense, it is also
used to denote spiritual nakedness, as well as situations and circumstances in which a person is entitled to absolute privacy. The number
“three” used twice in this context is not, of course, enumerative or exclusive, but is obviously meant to stress the recurrent nature of the
occasions on which even the most familiar members of the household, including husbands, wives and children, must respect that privacy.]
Beyond these [occasions], neither you nor they will incur any sin if they move [freely] about you, attending to [the needs of] one
another. In this way God makes clear unto you His messages: for God is all-knowing, wise! Yet when the children among you attain
to puberty, let them ask leave of you [at all times], even as those [who have reached maturity] before them have been enjoined to
ask it. [A reference to the injunction laid down in verses 27-28 above.] In this way God makes clear unto you His messages: for God is
all-knowing, wise!
DO NOT PRY INTO THE AFFAIRS OF OTHERS
In some Islamic countries there is a so-called “moral police,” which pry into the affairs of ordinary Muslims. The following verses and
sayings of the Prophet make a clear case against such practices.
(4:148-149) God does not like any evil to be mentioned openly, unless it be by him who has been wronged [thereby] and God is
indeed all-hearing, all-knowing, [The above statement prohibits the public mention of anybody’s evil deeds or sayings, unless it be by
him who has been wronged (thereby) - which also implies that evil behavior which affects the society as a whole may be made public if the
interests of the wronged party - in this case, the society as such - demand it.] whether you do good openly or in secret, or pardon others
for evil [done unto you]: for, behold, God is indeed an absolver of sins, infinite in His power.
(49:12) O you who have attained to faith! Avoid most guesswork [about one another] [I.e., guesswork that may lead to unfounded
suspicion of another person’s motives: see 24:19.] - for, behold, some of [such] guesswork is [in itself] a sin; and do not spy upon one
another, and neither allow yourselves to speak ill of one another behind your backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his
dead brother? Nay, you would loathe it! And be conscious of God. Verily, God is an acceptor of repentance, a dispenser of grace!
[Or: do not spy upon one another in order to search for weaknesses. This includes reading other people’s private letters, listening secretly to
private conversation, peeping into neighbor’s home, etc. The Holy Prophet said: “Do not pry into the affairs of other people, for he who
will pry into secrets of others, God will pry into his affairs, and he whom God follows inquisitively is disgraced by Him in his own house.”
The prohibition of spying is applicable to government as well. The duty of government in forbidding the people to do evil applies only to
evil manifested openly. A case in point of Umar ibn al Khattab, the second caliph: He heard someone singing in a house and he climbed the
wall and entered the house to find wine as well a women present. He shouted at the man and said: “O enemy of God, do you think you will
disobey God and God will not expose your secrets?” The man replied: “Do not make haste, O commander of the faithful. If I have
committed one sin, you have committed three sins. God has forbidden spying and you have spied; God has commanded that one should
enter the houses by the doors and you have entered it by climbing over the wall; God has commanded that one should avoid entering the
other people’s home without permission and you have entered my house without my permission.” Hearing this reply Caliph Umar
confessed his error and did not take any action against the man. It is not only forbidden for the individuals but also for the government
itself to spy into the secrets of the people and discover their sins and errors and then seize them for punishment. The Holy Prophet said:
“When the ruler starts searching for the causes of suspicions among the people he corrupt them.”]
RACE RELATIONS
Islam stresses absolute racial equality and racial discrimination is considered as a sin. As the ultimate test of this is willingness to
intermarry, the prophets have deliberately intermarried to demonstrate to mankind the unequivocal character of this ideal. According to the
Muslim view, Abraham’s second wife, Hagar, was a black African. Muhammad himself was probably of the same skin coloring as Jesus - a
sun-tanned white - but he married a black woman as one of his wives and gave his daughter in marriage to a black man. Today his
followers are drawn from all colors - black men from Africa, brown men from Malaya, yellow men from China, white men from Turkey.
The spectacular advances Islam has made in color conscious Asia and Africa today is not unrelated to the explicit way in which the
principle of absolute racial equality is embedded in its teachings.
PROHIBITION OF RACISM
(49:13-15) O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, [Implying that this equality of biological origin is
reflected in the equality of the human dignity common to all.] and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to
know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-
knowing, all-aware. [I.e., know that all belong to one human family, without any inherent superiority of one over another. In other words,
men’s evolution into nations and tribes is meant to foster rather than to diminish their mutual desire to understand and appreciate the
essential human oneness underlying their outward differentiations; and, correspondingly, all racial, national or tribal prejudice is
condemned - implicitly in the Quran, and most explicitly by the Prophet (see below).] The bedouin say, “We have attained to faith.” Say
[unto them, O Muhammad]: “You have not [yet] attained to faith; you should [rather] say, ‘We have [outwardly] surrendered’ - for
[true] faith has not yet entered your hearts. [This is evidently an allusion to the intense tribalism of the bedouin and their pride of
descent, the above verse connects with the preceding condemnation of all tribal preferences and prejudices, and with the call for their
abandonment as a prerequisite of true faith. Primarily, this relates to the bedouin contemporaries of the Prophet, but its import is general
and timeless.] But if you [truly] pay heed unto God and His Apostle, He will not let the least of your deeds go to waste: for, behold,
God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.” [I.e., your own deeds, in distinction from the supposed glorious deeds of your ancestors,
which count for nothing in His sight] [Know that true] believers are only those who have attained to faith in God and His Apostle and
have left all doubt behind, and who strive hard in God’s cause with their possessions and their lives: it is they, they who are true to
their word!
The following are the sayings of the Holy Prophet, where he explicitly condemned racism: “He is not of us who proclaims the cause of
tribal partisanship; and he is not of us who fights in the cause of tribal partisanship; and he is not of us who dies in the cause of tribal
partisanship”. When he was asked to explain the meaning of “tribal partisanship”, the Prophet answered, it means helping your own people
in an unjust cause.” Speaking of people’s boasting of their national or tribal past, the Prophet said: “Behold, God has removed from you the
arrogance of pagan ignorance with its boast of ancestral glories. Man is but a God-conscious believer or an unfortunate sinner. All people
are children of Adam, and Adam was created out of dust.” On the occasion of Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet addressed the people and
said: “No Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, and no non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab and no white man has any
superiority over a black man and no black man has superiority over a white man, except on the basis of piety.” In another Hadith the Holy
prophet said: “God will not enquire about your lineage on the Day of Resurrection. The most honorable in the sight of God is he who is
most virtuous.”
One of the major curses of the Western civilization and Hinduism has been the practice of racism. Some Jews regard themselves as the
“chosen people” because of their lineage from Abraham. The class distinction practiced by Hindus, where Brahmins are held superior and
Shudras, who are regarded as inferior and unclean. Even to this day, subtle racism is widely practiced in the United States, although there
are laws against discrimination. The white European societies are essentially closed to nonwhites and no attempts are made to assimilate
the nonwhites. Anti-Islamic and anti-Semitic sentiments are common in the Western culture. For example, ban of Muslim head scarf in
France and attack against the Jews for the past two thousand years. Islam forbids any form of discrimination based on race, color, language,
religion and nationality.
SLAVERY
During the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad, slavery was practiced world wide. In pre-Islamic Arabia, there were three kinds of slaves: (1)
Prisoners of war. (2) Free men who were captured and traded as slaves. (3) Hereditary slaves who did not know when their ancestors
became slaves. Practice of slavery undermines the fundamental God-given right of freedom to man. The next question was how to break
the universal curse of slavery, which was very much part and parcel of socio-economic fabric of the society? Instead of going to war to free
slaves as American did in civil war, the Quran uses moral and social persuasions. It generated a great movement for emancipation of slaves
and employed inducements, persuasions, religious injunctions, and legal enactments to educate and motivate the people to free slaves
voluntarily for earning salvation in afterlife, or as expiation of their sins, or by accepting monetary compensation. To set the pace, Prophet
himself freed 63 slaves. The result was that the hereditary slaves were freed in a few decades. Islam completely prohibited free men from
being kidnapped and traded as slaves. As for prisoners of war, it was permitted to be exchanged for Muslim prisoners of war, or freed on
payment of ransom. Thus slavery slowly became extinct from Islamic societies.
TRUE PIETY AND ABOLITION OF SLAVERY AS SOCIAL OBJECTIVE OF ISLAM
(2:177) True piety does not consist in turning your faces towards the east or the west - but truly pious is he who believes in God,
and the Last Day, and the angels, and revelation, and the prophets; and spends his substance - however much he himself may
cherish it - upon his near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer, and the beggars, and for the freeing of human
beings from bondage; [Lit., “the neck”, and signifies also the whole of a human person. Metonymically, this expression denotes “in the
cause of freeing human beings from bondage”, and applies to both the ransoming of captives and the freeing of slaves. By including this
kind of expenditure within the essential acts of piety, the Quran implies that the freeing of people from bondage - and, thus, the abolition of
slavery - is one of the social objectives of Islam. At the time of the revelation of the Quran, slavery was an established institution
throughout the world, and its sudden abolition would have been economically impossible. In order to obviate this difficulty, and at the same
time to bring about an eventual abolition of all slavery, the Quran ordains in 8:67 that henceforth only captives taken in a just war (jihad)
may be kept as slaves. But even with regard to persons enslaved in this or - before the revelation of 8:67 - in any other way, the Quran
stresses the great merit inherent in the freeing of slaves, and stipulates it as a means of atonement for various transgressions (see, e.g., 4:92,
5:89, 58:3). In addition, the Prophet emphatically stated on many occasions that, in the sight of God, the unconditional freeing of a human
being from bondage is among the most praiseworthy acts which a Muslim could perform.] and is constant in prayer, and renders the
purifying dues; and [truly pious are] they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are patient in misfortune and
hardship and in time of peril: it is they that have proved themselves true, and it is they, they who are conscious of God.
HELPING FELLOW MAN, NEIGHBORS AND FREEING SLAVES
(4:36) And do good unto your parents, and near of kin, and unto orphans, and the needy, and the neighbor from among your own
people, and the neighbor who is a stranger, and the friend by your side, and the wayfarer, and those whom you rightfully possess.
[According to Ali ibn Abi Talib, Abd Allah ibn Masud and other Companions, “the friend by your side” is one’s wife or husband. By “those
whom you rightfully possess” (lit., “whom your right hands possess”) are meant, in this context, slaves of either sex. Since this verse
enjoins the “doing of good” towards all people with whom one is in contact, and since the best that can be done to a slave is to free him, the
above passage calls, elliptically, for the freeing of slaves. See also 2:177, as well as 9:60, where the freeing of human beings from bondage
is explicitly mentioned as one of the objectives to which zakah funds are to be dedicated.]
PROHIBITION TO ACQUIRE SLAVES (except prisoners of war)
(8:67) It does not behove a prophet to keep captives unless he has battled strenuously on earth. [I.e., as an aftermath of a war in a just
cause. As almost always in the Quran, an injunction addressed to the Prophet is, by implication, binding on his followers as well.
Consequently, the above verse lays down that no person may be taken, or for any time retained, in captivity unless he was taken prisoner in
a jihad - that is, a just war in defense of the faith or of freedom (see 2:190) - and that, therefore, the acquisition of a slave by peaceful
means, and the keeping of a slave thus acquired, is entirely prohibited: which, to all practical purposes, amounts to a prohibition of slavery
as a social institution. But even with regard to captives taken in war, the Quran ordains (in 47:4) that they should be freed after the war is
over.] You may desire the fleeting gains of this world - but God desires [for you the good of] the life to come: and God is almighty,
wise.
EQUAL TREATMENT OF SLAVES AND DEPENDENTS
(16:71) And on some of you God has bestowed more abundant means of sustenance than on others: and yet, they who are more
abundantly favored are [often] unwilling to share their sustenance with those whom their right hands possess, so that they [all]
might be equal in this respect. Will they, then, God’s blessings [thus] deny? [The expression “those whom their right hands possess”
may relate either to slaves taken captive in a war in God’s cause (see 2:190-191, and 8:67) or, metonymically, to all who are dependent on
others for their livelihood and thus become the latters’ responsibility. The placing of one’s dependants on an equal footing with oneself with
regard to the basic necessities of life is a categorical demand of Islam; thus, the Prophet said: “They are your brethren, these dependants of
yours whom God has placed under your authority. Hence, whoso has his brother under his authority shall give him to eat of what he eats
himself, and shall clothe him with what he clothes himself. And do not burden them with anything that may be beyond their strength; but if
you must burden them, help them yourselves.” However, men often fail to live up to this consciousness of moral responsibility: and this
failure amounts, as the sequence shows, to a denial of God’s blessings and of His unceasing care for all His creatures.]
PROHIBITION OF CONCUBINAGE
(24:33-34) And do not, in order to gain some of the fleeting pleasures of this worldly life, coerce your [slave] maidens into
whoredom if they happen to be desirous of marriage; [Lit., “if they desire protection against unchastity”, i.e., through marriage. Most of
the classical commentators are of the opinion that the term maidens denote here slave-girls: an assumption which is fully warranted by the
context hence, the above verse reiterates the prohibition of concubinage by explicitly describing it as “whoredom”.] and if anyone should
coerce them, then, verily, after they have been compelled [to submit in their helplessness], God will be much-forgiving, a dispenser
of grace! And, indeed, from on high have We bestowed upon you messages clearly showing the truth, and [many] a lesson from [the
stories of] those who have passed away before you, and [many] an admonition to the God-conscious.
MARRIAGE WITH FEMALE SLAVES
The Prophet said that “a person will have double reward if as a master of a women slave, he teaches her good manners, educates her in the
best possible way and manumits her and then marries her.” (4:25-28) And as for those of you who, owing to circumstances, are not in a
position to marry free believing women, [The phrase “he is not in a position to afford”, is often taken to mean in the financial sense, but
it also applies to all manner of preventive circumstances, be they of a material, personal or social nature.] [let them marry] believing
maidens from among those whom you rightfully possess. [In this context it denotes women who were captured in a holy war and have
subsequently embraced Islam. In the above phrase, the pronoun “you” refers to the community as a whole. This passage lays down in an
unequivocal manner that sexual relations with female slaves are permitted only on the basis of marriage, and that in this respect there is no
difference between them and free women; consequently, concubinage is ruled out.] And God knows all about your faith; each one of
you is an issue of the other. [I.e., since all human beings - whatever their outward social status - are members of one and the same human
family, and are therefore equal to one another in the sight of God (see 3:195), it is only the strength or weakness of faith which makes one
person superior or inferior to another.] Marry them, then, with their people’s leave, and give them their dowers in an equitable
manner - they being women who give themselves in honest wedlock, not in fornication, nor as secret love-companions. And when
they are married, and thereafter become guilty of immoral conduct, they shall be liable to half the penalty to which free married
women are liable. [The weaker social status of a slave makes her, obviously, more accessible to temptation than a free married woman is
presumed to be.] This [permission to marry slave-girls applies] to those of you who fear lest they stumble into evil. [I.e., to those who
for one reason or another are unable to marry free women and are, at the same time, not equal to the temptations arising from celibacy. As
is made clear in the next sentence, the Quran discourages such marriages - obviously with a view to removing a major attraction from the
institution of slavery as such, and thus promoting its abolition.] But it is for your own good to persevere in patience [and to abstain
from such marriages]: and God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace. God wants to make [all this] clear unto you, and to guide
you onto the [righteous] ways of life of those who preceded you, and to turn unto you in His mercy: for God is all-knowing, wise.
[An allusion to the genuine religious teachings of the past, which aimed at bringing about a harmony between man’s physical nature and
the demands of his spirit - a harmony which is destroyed whenever asceticism is postulated as the only possible alternative to licentiousness
(see 2:143). This allusion arises from the discussion of sexual morality in the preceding passages devoted to marital relations.] And God
wants to turn unto you in His mercy, whereas those who follow [only] their own lusts want you to drift far away from the right
path. God wants to lighten your burdens: for man has been created weak. [I.e., to remove, by means of His guidance, all possibility of
conflict between man’s spirit and his bodily urges, and to show him a way of life in which these two elements of human nature can be
harmonized and brought to full fruition.]
FREEDOM FOR SLAVES
(24:33) And if any of those whom you rightfully possess [I.e., male or female slaves.] desire [to obtain] a deed of freedom, write it
out for them if you are aware of any good in them: [Lit., “mutual agreement in writing”, a juridical term signifying a deed of freedom or
of manumission executed on the basis of an agreement between a slave and his or her owner, to the effect that the slave undertakes to
purchase his or her freedom for an equitable sum of money payable in installments before or after the manumission, or, alternatively, by
rendering a clearly specified service or services to his or her owner. With this end in view, the slave is legally entitled to engage in any
legitimate, gainful work or to obtain the necessary sum of money by any other lawful means (e.g., through a loan or a gift from a third
person). In view of the imperative form of the verb katibuhum (“write it out for them”), the deed of manumission cannot be refused by the
owner, the only pre-condition being an evidence - to be established, if necessary, by an unbiased arbiter or arbiters - of the slave’s good
character and ability to fulfill his or her contractual obligations. The stipulation that such a deed of manumission may not be refused, and
the establishment of precise juridical directives to this end, clearly indicates that Islamic Law has from its very beginning aimed at an
abolition of slavery as a social institution, and that its prohibition in modern times constitutes no more than a final implementation of that
aim. (See also 2:177.)] and give them [their share of the wealth of God which He has given you. [According to all the authorities, this
relates (a) to a moral obligation on the part of the owner to promote the slave’s efforts to obtain the necessary revenues by helping him or
her to achieve an independent economic status and/or by remitting part of the agreed-upon compensation, and (b) to the obligation of the
state treasury to finance the freeing of slaves in accordance with the Quranic principle - enunciated in 9:60 - that the revenues obtained
through the obligatory tax called zakah are to be utilized, among other purposes, “for the freeing of human beings from bondage”. The
above clause is addressed not merely to persons owning slaves but to the community as a whole - The expression “the wealth of God”
contains an allusion to the principle that “God has bought of the believers their lives and their possessions, promising them paradise in
return” (9:111) - implying that all of man’s possessions are vested in God, and that man is entitled to no more than their usufruct.]
 THE STATE
Politics is not extrinsic to a Muslim’s personal religious life, as in Christianity, which mistrusts mundane success. Muslims regard
themselves as committed to implementing a just society in accord with God’s will. The ummah has sacramental importance, as a “sign”
that God has blessed this endeavor to redeem humanity from oppression and injustice; its political health holds a sacred place in a Muslim’s
spirituality. The role of the government is to protect the right of individuals to act as they choose. Since unrestricted freedom would make
peaceful human existence impossible, some restraints of freedom of action are necessary. The fundamental need for a government is to
impose and enforce whatever restraints are deemed necessary according to Islamic laws.
The U.S. constitution (Bill of rights) prohibits the government from “establishing a religion” and United States government cannot favor
one religion over another. This approach excludes all religions from public life and relegates anything religious to the personal domain. The
secular government trends in the Western civilization are the result of many centuries of infighting among Christians of Europe and United
States. On the other hand, there is no separation of Mosque and state in Islam. Islamic laws, however, are not to be imposed on non-
Muslims as it would violate one of the fundamental principles of the Quran that “there is no coercion in the matter of faith”. Non-Muslims
are allowed to have there own sets of laws according to their own traditions and requirements. For example, alcohol is banned for Muslims,
but can be allowed for Christians. If the Muslim students are taught the Quran in the public schools, then Bible should be taught to the
Christian students, etc. Religion and government are not separated and ideally all religions are included in the public life and thus treated
equally although this seldom happens.
DEMOCRACY AND ISLAM
After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the first four rightly guided Caliphs were elected by the elders and tribal chiefs, a process very
similar to the modern day parliamentary democracy. Election rather than appointment of Caliphs was a great innovation in the context of its
time. However, Islamic governments lacked a system of a peaceful transfer of power. One of the great tragedies in Islamic history were
assassination of three great Caliphs, Umar, Uthman and Ali and countless civil wars since there was no process to replace rulers by
peaceful means. Modern democracy, first time in the annals of human history, provides a way to a peaceful transfer of power thus leading
to much more stable societies in the long run.
MERITOCRACY OVER ARISTOCRACY
The concept of the modern democracy embodies the two Quranic injunction of “consultation among themselves”, and “government by
consent”. A just government begins with a free and fair election where a common man is consulted as to who will be the most qualified
person to be the head of state. A true democratic government come into power by general consent and is in continuous consultation to
arrive at the best decisions. The head of state is always in the process of consultation with his cabinet and parliament, which in turn is in
touch with its electorate. Democracy however is not a perfect system; majority rule alone may result in the tyranny of the minority, as
absolute power corrupts absolutely. A constitution, civil liberties, separation of powers, and an independent judiciary are all necessary
elements to curb the power of government and to keep it fair. Kingships and dictatorships are inherently anti-Islamic governments.
MUTUAL CONSULTATION
The key-word by which the surah 42 has always been designated is derived from the phrase shura baynahum (“consultation among
themselves”) in verse 38, outlining one of the basic social principles which ought to characterize the community of true believers.
Consultation is an important pillar of the Islamic life and to conduct the affairs of collective life without consultation is an express violation
of the law of God. Justice demands that all those whose interests are involved in a matter be consulted and if it concerns a large number of
people, their representative should be made a party to consultation. It is necessary that the affairs be conducted according to what is settled
by consensus or by majority opinion in consultation. If it a domestic affair, the husband and the wife should act by mutual consultation and
when children have grown up, they also should be consulted. (42:38) And whose rule [in all matters of common concern] is
consultation among themselves. [This particular qualification of true believers - regarded by the Prophet’s Companions as so important
that they always referred to this surah by the key-word “consultation” (shura) - has a double import: firstly, it is meant to remind all
followers of the Quran that they must remain united within one single community (ummah); and, secondly, it lays down the principle that
all their communal business must be transacted in mutual consultation.]
GOVERNMENT BY CONSENT
(3:159) And take counsel with them in all matters of public concern; then, when you have decided upon a course of action, place
your trust in God: for, verily, God loves those who place their trust in Him. [This injunction, implying government by consent and
council, must be regarded as one of the fundamental clauses of all Quranic legislation relating to statecraft. The pronoun “them” relates to
the believers, that is, to the whole community; while the word al-amr occurring in this context - as well as in the much earlier - revealed
phrase amruhum shura baynahum in 42:38 - denotes all affairs of public concern, including state administration. All authorities agree in
that the above ordinance, although addressed in the first instance to the Prophet, is binding on all Muslims and for all times. Some Muslim
scholars conclude from the wording of this ordinance that the leader of the community, although obliged to take counsel, is nevertheless
free to accept or to reject it; but the arbitrariness of this conclusion becomes obvious as soon as we recall that even the Prophet considered
himself bound by the decisions of his council. Moreover, when he was asked - according to a Tradition on the authority of Ali ibn Abi Talib
- to explain the implications of the word azm (“deciding upon a course of action”), which occurs in the above verse, the Prophet replied, “It
means taking counsel with knowledgeable people and thereupon following them therein”.]
LOYAL OPPOSITION AND THE RIGHT TO DISSENT
The Holy Prophet said: “There will be rulers over you who will do right as well as wrong things. Who so protests against the wrong things,
he shall be absolved of the responsibility and who so dislikes the wrong things, he also shall escape punishment. But those who approves of
and follows them shall incur punishment.”
(24:62-64) [True believers are only they who have attained to faith in God and His Apostle, and who, whenever they are [engaged]
with him upon a matter of concern to the whole community [lit., “a uniting or “collective” matter”. The personal pronoun in “with him”
relates to the Apostle and, by analogy, to every legitimate leader of the Muslim community acting in accordance with the spirit of the Quran
and the Prophet’s life-example.] do not depart [from whatever has been decided upon] unless they have sought [and obtained] his
leave. [I.e., his permission to abstain for valid reasons, from participating in a course of action or a policy agreed upon by the majority of
the community. In a logical development of this principle we arrive at something like the concept of a “loyal opposition”, which implies the
possibility of dissent on a particular point of communal or state policy combined with absolute loyalty to the common cause.] Verily, those
who [do not abstain from the agreed upon action unless they] ask leave of you - it is [only] they who [truly] believe in God and His
Apostle! Hence, when they ask leave of you for some [valid] reason of their own, you grant this leave to whomsoever of them you
choose [to grant it], [I.e., after weighing the reasons advanced by the individual or the individuals concerned against the interests of the
society as a whole.] and ask God to forgive them: for, behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace! [The statement that “God
is much-forgiving” obviously implies that an avoidance of “asking leave” to abstain from participation in an agreed-upon course of action
is, under all circumstances morally preferable.] Do not regard the Apostles summons to you [in the same light] as a summons of one of
you to another: [I.e., his summons to God’s message in general, as well as to a particular course of communal action. Alternatively, “the
Apostles summons” may, in this context, be synonymous with the Quran itself.] God is indeed aware of those of you who would
withdraw surreptitiously: so let those who would go against His bidding beware, lest a [bitter] trial befall them [in this world] or
grievous suffering befall them [in the life to come]. Oh, verily, unto God belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: well does
He know where you stand and at what you aim! [I.e., what your beliefs are and what moral principles govern your attitudes and actions.]
And one Day, all [who have ever lived] will be brought back unto Him, and then He will make them [truly] understand all that they
were doing [in life]: for, God has full knowledge of everything.
JUDGE WITH JUSTICE
(4:58) Behold, God bids you to deliver all that you have been entrusted with unto those who are entitled thereto, and whenever you
judge between people, to judge with justice. Verily, most excellent is what God exhorts you to do: verily, God is all-hearing, all-
seeing! [I.e., in the judicial sense, as well as in the sense of judging other people’s motives, attitudes and behavior. The term amanah
denotes anything one has been entrusted with, be it in the physical or moral sense. It relates to the message or to the truths which have been
conveyed to the believers by means of the divine writ, and which they must regard as a sacred trust, to be passed on to “those who are
entitled thereto”- i.e., to all mankind, for whom the message of the Quran has been intended. This, of course, does not preclude the
ordinance from having a wider scope as well - that is, from its being applied to any material object or moral responsibility which may have
been entrusted to a believer - and, in particular, to the exercise of worldly power and political sovereignty by the Muslim community or a
Muslim state, to which the next verse refers.]
CONDUCT OF INDIVIDUAL BELIEVER IN ISLAMIC STATE
(4:59) O you who have attained to faith! Pay heed unto God, and pay heed unto the Apostle and unto those from among you [I.e.,
from among the believers.] who have been entrusted with authority; and if you are at variance over any matter, refer it unto God
and the Apostle, [I.e., to the Quran and to the sunnah (the sayings and the practice) of the Prophet.] if you [truly] believe in God and the
Last Day. This is the best [for you], and best in the end. [Read in conjunction with 3:26, which speaks of God as “the Lord of all
dominion” - and therefore the ultimate source of all moral and political authority - the above passage lays down a fundamental rule of
conduct for the individual believer as well as the conceptual basis for the conduct of the Islamic state. Political power is held in trust
(amanah) from God; and His will, as manifested in the ordinances comprising the Law of Islam, is the real source of all sovereignty. The
stress, in this context, on “those from among you who have been entrusted with authority” makes it clear that the holders of authority in an
Islamic state must be Muslims.]
REJECTING TIES OF KINSHIP (with unbelievers) AND NATIONAL AFFILIATIONS
(9:24) Say: “If your fathers and your sons and your brothers and your spouses and your clan, and the worldly goods which you
have acquired, and the commerce whereof you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you take pleasure - [if all these] are dearer
to you than God and His Apostle and the struggle in His cause, then wait until God makes manifest His will; and [know that] God
does not grace iniquitous folk with His guidance.” [Or: “brings about the fulfillment of His command”. This may be an allusion to the
Day of Judgment or - more probably - to the inevitable degeneration and decline of communities which place narrow self-interest above
ethical values. In particular, this passage rejects the tendency to regard ties of kinship and national affiliation expressed in the term “your
clan”, as the decisive factors of social behavior, and postulates ideology (“God and His Apostle and the struggle in His cause”) as the only
valid basis on which a believer’s life - individually and socially - should rest.]
SECRECY FOR BENEFICIAL END
(4:114) No good comes, as a rule, out of secret confabulations - saving such as are devoted to enjoining charity, or equitable
dealings, or setting things to rights between people: and unto him who does this out of a longing for God’s goodly acceptance, We
shall in time grant a mighty reward. [Thus, secret talks aiming at positive, beneficial ends - for instance, peace negotiations between
states or communities - are excepted from the disapproval of “secret confabulations” because premature publicity may sometimes be
prejudicial to the achievement of those ends or may, especially in cases where charity is involved, hurt the feelings of the people
concerned.]
QUALITIES OF A POWERFUL AND JUST RULER
PARABLE OF TWO HORNED ONE
The epithet Dhu l-Qarnayn signifies “the Two-Horned One” or “He of the Two Epochs”, since the noun qarn has the meaning of “horn” as
well as of “generation” or “epoch” or “age” or “century”. The classical commentators incline to the first of these meanings (‘the Two-
Horned”); and in this they appear to have been influenced by the ancient Middle-Eastern imagery of “horns” as symbols of power and
greatness, although the Quran itself does not offer any warrant for this interpretation, In fact, the term qarn (and its plural qurun) occurs in
the Quran - apart from the combination Dhu l-Qarnayn appearing in verses 83, 86 and 94 of this surah - twenty times: and each time it has
the meaning of “generation” in the sense of people belonging to one particular epoch or civilization. However, since the allegory of Dhu l-
Qarnayn is meant to illustrate the qualities of a powerful and just ruler, it is possible to assume that this designation is an echo of the above-
mentioned ancient symbolism, which - being familiar to the Arabs from very early times - had acquired idiomatic currency in their
language long before the advent of Islam. Within the context of our Quranic allegory, the “two horns” may be taken to denote the two
sources of power with which Dhu l-Qarnayn is said to have been endowed: namely, the worldly might and prestige of kingship as well as
the spiritual strength resulting from his faith in God. This last point is extremely important - for it is precisely the Quranic stress on his faith
in God that makes it impossible to identify Dhu I-Qarnayn, as most of the commentators do, with Alexander the Great (who is represented
on some of his coins with two horns on his head) or with one or another of the pre-Islamic, Himyaritic kings of Yemen. All those historic
personages were pagans and worshipped a plurality of deities as a matter of course, whereas our Dhu l-Qarnayn is depicted as a firm
believer in the One God: indeed, it is this aspect of his personality that provides the innermost reason of the Quranic allegory. We must,
therefore, conclude that the latter has nothing to do with history or even legend, and that its sole purport is a parabolic discourse on faith
and ethics, with specific reference to the problem of worldly power. The allegory of Dhu l-Qarnayn, “the Two-Horned One”, tells us that
world renunciation is not, in itself, a necessary complement of one’s faith in God: in other words, that worldly life and power need not
conflict with spiritual righteousness so long as we remain conscious of the ephemeral nature of all works of man and of our intimate
responsibility to Him who is above all limitations of time and appearance. (18:83-93) And they will ask you about the Two-Horned One.
Say: “I will convey unto you something by which he ought to be remembered.” [I.e., something that is worthy of remembrance and
mention: which is an allusion to the parabolic character of the story and the fact that it is confined to a few fundamental, spiritual truths.]
Behold, We established him securely on earth, and endowed him with [the knowledge of] the right means to achieve anything [that
he might set out to achieve]; [“A means to achieve anything” - denotes in this context, the knowledge of the right means for the
achievement of a particular end.] and so he chose the right means [in whatever he did]. [I.e., he never employed wrong means to achieve
even a righteous goal.] [And he marched westwards] till, when he came to the setting of the sun, [I.e., the westernmost point of his
expedition.] it appeared to him that it was setting in a dark, turbid sea; [Or: “abundance of water” - primarily denoting a spring. As for
“it appeared to him that it was setting”, what we have here a metaphor based on the common optical illusion of the sun’s “disappearing into
the sea”; and Razi explains this, correctly, by the fact that the earth is spherical. (It is interesting to note that, according to him, this
explanation was already advanced in the - now lost - Quran-commentary of Abu Ali al-Jubbai, the famous Mutazili scholar who died in 916
of the Christian era.)] and nearby he found a people [given to every kind of wrongdoing]. We said: “O you Two-Horned One! You
may either cause [them] to suffer or treat them with kindness! [This divine permission to choose between two possible courses of
action is not only a metonymic statement of the freedom of will accorded by God to man, but establishes also the important legal principle
of social or moral preference open to a ruler or government in deciding as to what might be conducive to the greatest good of the
community as a whole: and this is the first lesson of the parable of Dhu l-Qarnayn.] He answered: “As for him who does wrong [unto
others] - him shall we, in time, cause to suffer; and thereupon he shall be referred to his Sustainer, and He will cause him to suffer
with unnamable suffering. [I.e., in the hereafter - implying that nothing that pertains to the life to come could ever be imagined or defined
in terms of human experience.] But as for him who believes and does righteous deeds - he will have the ultimate good [of the life to
come] as his reward; and [as for us,] we shall make binding on him [only] that which is easy to fulfill. [Since righteous behavior is the
norm expected of man, the laws relating thereto must not be too demanding - which is another lesson to be drawn from this parable.] And
once again he chose the right means [to achieve a right end]. [And then he marched eastwards] till, when he came to the rising of
the sun, [I.e., the easternmost point of his expedition (similar to the expression “the setting of the sun” in verse 86).] he found that it was
rising on a people for whom We had provided no coverings against it: thus [We had made them, and thus he left them]; [It
obviously relates to the primitive natural state of those people who needed no clothes to protect them from the sun, and to the (implied) fact
that Dhu l-Qarnayn left them as he had found them, being mindful not to upset their mode of life and thus to cause them misery.] and We
did encompass with Our knowledge all that he had in mind. [I.e., his resolve not to “corrupt or change God’s creation” (see 4:119) -
which is a further ethical lesson to be derived from this parable.] And once again he chose the right means [to achieve a right end].
[And he marched on] till, when he reached [a place] between the two mountain-barriers, he found beneath them a people who
could scarcely understand a word [of his language]. [This is generally assumed to be the Caucasus. However, since neither the Quran
nor any authentic Tradition says anything about the location of these “two mountain-barriers” or the people who lived there, we can safely
dismiss all the speculations advanced by the commentators on this score as irrelevant, the more so as the story of Dhu l-Qarnayn aims at no
more than the illustration of certain ethical principles in a parabolic manner.]
GOG AND MAGOG (MONGOLS AND TATARS)
(18:94-99) They said: “O you Two-Horned One! Behold, Gog and Magog are spoiling this land. [This is the form in which these
names (in Arabic, Yajuj and Majuj) have achieved currency in all European languages on the basis of certain vague references to them in
the Bible (Genesis x, 2, I Chronicles I, 5, Ezekiel xxxviii, 2 and xxxix, 6, Revelation of St. John xx, 8). Most of the post-classical
commentators identify these tribes with the Mongols and Tatars.] May we, then, pay unto you a tribute on the understanding that you
will erect a barrier between us and them?” He answered: “That wherein my Sustainer has so securely established me is better [than
anything that you could give me]; [The phrase “that wherein my Sustainer has so securely established me” refers to the power and wealth
bestowed on him but it is much more probable - and certainly more consistent with the ethical tenor of the whole parable of Dhu l-Qarnayn
- that it refers to God’s guidance rather than to worldly possessions.] hence, do but help me with [your labor’s] strength, [and] I shall
erect a rampart between you and them! Bring me ingots of iron!” Then, after he had [piled up the iron and] filled the gap between
the two mountain-sides, he said: “[Light a fire and] ply your bellows!” At length, when he had made it [glow like] fire, he
commanded: “Bring me molten copper which I may pour upon it.” And thus [the rampart was built, and] their enemies were
unable to scale it, and neither were they able to pierce it. Said [the King]: “This is a mercy from my Sustainer! Yet when the time
appointed by my Sustainer shall come, He will make this [rampart) level with the ground: and my Sustainer’s promise always
comes true!” [Some of the classical commentators (e.g., Tabari) regard this as a prediction of a definite, historic event: namely, the future
break-through of the savage tribes of “Gog and Magog”, who are conceived of as identical with the Mongols and Tatars. This identification
is based on a well-authenticated Tradition, which tells us that the Apostle of God had a prophetic dream to which he referred, on
awakening, with an exclamation of distress: “There is no deity save God! Woe unto the Arabs from a misfortune that is approaching: a little
gap has been opened today in the rampart of Gog and Magog!” Muslims have been inclined to discern in this dream a prediction of the
great Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century, which destroyed the Abbasid Empire and, thus, the political power of the Arabs. However,
the mention, in next verse, of “the Day” - i.e., the Day of Judgment - in connection with “Gog and Magog” shows that “the time appointed
by my Sustainer” relates to the coming of the Last Hour, when all works of man will be destroyed. But since none of the Quranic
references to the “approach” or the “nearness’’ of the Last Hour has anything to do with the human concept of time, it is possible to accept
both of the above interpretations as equally valid in the sense that the “coming of the Last Hour” comprises an indefinite - and, in human
terms, perhaps even immensely long - span of time, and that the break-through of the godless forces of “Gog and Magog” was to be one of
the signs of its approach. And, finally, it is most logical to assume (especially on the basis of 21:96-97) that the terms Yajuj and Majuj are
purely allegorical, applying not to any specific tribes or beings but to a series of social catastrophes which would cause a complete
destruction of mans civilization before the coming of the Last Hour.] And on that Day We shall [call forth all mankind and] leave them
to surge like waves [that dash] against one another; and the trumpet [of judgment] will be blown, and We shall gather them all
together.
(21:95-96) Hence, it has been unfailingly true of [Thus expressing the impossibility of conceiving anything to the contrary] any
community whom We have ever destroyed that they [were people who] would never turn back [from their sinful ways] [I.e.,
whenever God consigns a community to destruction, He does it not because of its people’s occasional lapses but only because of their
irremediable, conscious unwillingness to forsake their sinful ways.] until such a time as Gog and Magog are let loose [upon the world]
and swarm down from every corner [of the earth]. [I.e., until the Day of Resurrection, heralded by the allegorical break-through of
“Gog and Magog” (see 18:98): for it is on that Day that even the most hardened sinner will at last realize his guilt, and be filled with
belated remorse. The expression “from all directions” or “from every corner [of the earth]” is used here idiomatically, signifying an allusion
to the irresistible nature of the social and cultural catastrophes which will overwhelm mankind before the coming of the Last Hour.]
IMMORAL LEADERSHIP
The Prophet said, “Any man whom God has given the authority of ruling some people and he does not look after them in an honest manner,
will never even feel the smell of paradise.” “There will be rulers over you who will practice right things as well as wrong things. Who so
protests or even dislikes the wrong things shall escape punishment. But who so approves of and follows them, he shall incur punishment.”
Evils of Pharaoh is a good example of immoral leadership.
EVIL MEN WITH SUPER-EGOS
(6:122-126) [Is then he] like one [who is lost] in darkness deep, out of which he cannot emerge? [But] thus it is: goodly seem all
their own doings to those who deny the truth. And it is in this way that We cause the great ones in every land to become its
[greatest] evildoers, there to weave their schemes: yet it is only against themselves that they scheme - and they perceive it not.
[Because the consciousness of their importance makes them more or less impervious to criticism, the “great ones” are, as a rule, rather less
inclined than other people to question the moral aspects of their own behavior; and the resulting self-righteousness only too often causes
them to commit grave misdeeds.] And whenever a [divine] message comes to them, they say, “We shall not believe unless we are
given the like of what God’s apostles were given!” [I.e., direct revelation.] [But] God knows best upon whom to bestow His message.
Abasement in the sight of God will befall those who have become guilty of evildoing, and suffering severe for all the schemes, which
they were wont to weave. And whomsoever God wills to guide, his bosom He opens wide with willingness towards self-surrender
[unto Him]; and whomsoever He wills to let go astray, his bosom He causes to be tight and constricted, as if he were climbing unto
the skies: it is thus that God inflicts horror upon those who will not believe. [The term “horror”, signifies anything that is intrinsically
loathsome, horrible or abominable; in this case, it would seem to denote that awesome feeling of utter futility which, sooner or later,
overcomes everyone who does not believe that life has meaning and purpose.] And undeviating is this thy Sustainer’s way. [I.e.,
unchanging in its application of the law of cause and effect to man’s inner life as well]
PUNISHMENT IN AFTERLIFE FOR CORRUPT LEADERS
JUDGMENT DAY FOR TYRANTS AND OPPRESSORS
(42:42-47) Blame attaches but to those who oppress [other] people and behave outrageously on earth, offending against all right:
for them there is grievous suffering in store! But withal, if one is patient in adversity and forgives - this, behold, is indeed something
to set one’s heart upon! And [thus it is:] he whom God lets go astray has henceforth no protector whatever: and so you will see such
evildoers [Although this is primarily a reference to “those who oppress other people and behave outrageously on earth, offending against
all right”, the meaning of the term is general, applying to all kinds of deliberate evildoers.] [on Judgment Day, and will hear how] they
exclaim as soon as they behold the suffering [that awaits them], “Is there any way of return?” [I.e., a second chance on earth] And
you will see them exposed to that [doom], humbling themselves in abasement, looking [around] with a furtive glance - the while
those who had attained to faith will say, “Verily, lost on [this] Day of Resurrection are they who have squandered their own and
their followers’ selves!” [The term ahl denotes primarily the “people” of one town, country or family, as well as the “fellow-members” of
one race, religion, profession, etc. In its wider, ideological sense it is applied to people who have certain characteristics in common, e.g.,
“people of knowledge”, i.e., scholars, or who follow one and the same persuasion or belief, e.g., “the followers of earlier revelation”, “the
followers of the Quran”, and so forth. The above passage refers primarily - though not exclusively - to the tyrants and oppressors and “their
followers”. Thus, the above sentence implies that every kind of evildoing, and particularly the oppression of others, inevitably results in a
spiritual injury to, and ultimately the self-destruction of, its perpetrators and/or their followers.] Oh, verily, the evildoers will fall into
long-lasting suffering, and will have no protector whatever to succor them against God: for he whom God lets go astray shall find
no way [of escape]. [Hence, O men,] respond to your Sustainer before there comes, at God’s behest, a Day on which there will be no
turning back: [for] on that Day you will have no place of refuge, and neither will you be able to deny aught [of the wrong that you
have done].
DIALOGUE BETWEEN LEADERS AND DAMNED FOLLOWERS ON THE JUDGMENT DAY
(14:21) And all [mankind] will appear before God [on the Day of Judgment]; and then the weak will say unto those who had gloried
in their arrogance: [I.e., those who had sinned out of moral weakness and self-indulgence, relying on the supposedly superior wisdom of
the so-called “leaders of thought”, who are described in the sequence as having “gloried in their arrogance” as they refused to pay heed to
God’s messages.] “Behold, We were but your followers: can you, then, relieve us of something of God’s chastisement?” [And the
others] will answer: “If God would but show us the way [to salvation], we would indeed guide you [towards it] [But now it is too late
for repentance.] It is [now] all one, as far as we are concerned, whether we grieve impatiently or endure [our lot] with patience:
there is no escape for us!”
(34:31-33) But if you could only see [how it will be on Judgment Day,] when these evildoers shall be made to stand before their
Sustainer, hurling reproaches back and forth at one another! Those [of them] who had been weak [on earth] will say unto those
who had gloried in their arrogance: [I.e., as the “intellectual and religious leaders” of their community.] “Had it not been for you, we
would certainly have been believers!” [And] those who were wont to glory in their arrogance will say unto those who had been
weak: “Why - did we keep you [forcibly] from following the right path after it had become obvious to you? Nay, it was but you
[yourselves] who were guilty!” But those who had been weak will say unto those who had gloried in their arrogance: “Nay, [what
kept us away was your] devising of false arguments, night and day, [against God’s messages - as you did] when you persuaded us to
blaspheme against God and to claim that there are powers that could rival Him!” And when they see the suffering [that awaits
them], they will [all] be unable to express [the full depth of] their remorse: [see 10:54.] for We shall have put shackles around the
necks of those who had been bent on denying the truth: [and] will this be aught but a [just] requital for what they were doing? [The
similar phrases occurring in 13:5 and 36:8, the “shackles” which these sinners carry, as it were, “around their necks” in life, and will carry
on Judgment Day, are a metaphor of the enslavement of their souls to the false values to which they had surrendered, and of the suffering
which will be caused by that surrender.]
ACCOUNTING OF LEADERS WHO LED OTHERS ASTRAY
(28:62-64) For, on that Day He will call unto them, and will ask: “Where, now, are those [beings or powers] whom you imagined to
have a share in My divinity?” [whereupon] they against whom the word [of truth] shall thus stand revealed will exclaim: [As the
sequence shows, the persons thus addressed are the “leaders of thought” supposed to have set the community’s faulty standards of social
behavior and moral valuation; and since they are primarily responsible for the wrong direction, which their followers have taken, they will
be the first to suffer in the life to come.] O our Sustainer! Those whom we caused to err so grievously, we but caused to err as we our-
selves had been erring. [I.e., we did not lead them astray out of malice, but simply because we ourselves had been led astray by our
predecessors. This answer is, of course, evasive, but it shows that man’s attachment to false - but nevertheless, almost deified - values and
concepts based on stark materialism is, more often than not, a matter of social continuity: in other words, the validity of those materialistic
pseudo-values is taken for granted simply because they are time-honored, with every generation blindly subscribing to the views held by
their forebears. This passage points to the moral inadmissibility of accepting an ethical or intellectual proposition as true on no other
grounds than that it was held to be true by earlier generations.] We [now] disavow them before Thee: it was not us that they
worshipped!” [In other words, they were but wont to worship their own passions and desires projected onto extraneous beings.] And
[they] will be told: “Call [now] unto those [beings or powers] to whom you were wont to ascribe a share in God’s divinity!” - and
they will call unto them [for help], but those [fake objects of worship] will not respond to them: whereupon they will see the
suffering [that awaits them - the suffering which could have been avoided] if only they had allowed themselves to be guided!
SUCCESSORS ON EARTH
(21:105-106) And, indeed, after having exhorted [man], We laid it down in all the books of divine wisdom that My righteous
servants shall inherit the earth: herein, behold, there is a message for people who [truly] worship God. [Zabur (lit., “scripture” or
“book”) is a generic term denoting any book of wisdom: hence, any and all of the divine scriptures revealed by God to the prophets. The
statement that “My righteous servants shall inherit the earth” is obviously an echo of the promise, “You are bound to rise high if you are
truly believers” (3:139) - the implication being that it is only through faith in God and righteous behavior on earth that man can reach the
heights envisaged for him by his Creator’s grace.]
(24:55-57) God has promised those of you who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds that, of a certainty, He will cause them
to accede to power on earth, [I.e., enable them to achieve, in their turn, power and security and, thus, the capability to satisfy their worldly
needs, this Quranic reference to God’s “promise” contains an oblique allusion to the God-willed natural law which invariably makes the
rise and fall of nations dependent on their moral qualities.] even as He caused [some of] those who lived before them to accede to it;
and that, of a certainty, He will firmly establish for them the religion which He has been pleased to bestow on them; [See 5:3 “I have
willed that self-surrender unto Me (al-islam) shall be your religion”. Its firm establishment relates to the strengthening of the believers’
faith as well as to the growth of its moral influence in the world.] and that, of a certainty, He will cause their erstwhile state of fear to
be replaced by a sense of security [The term amn signifies not merely outward, physical security but also freedom from fear. Hence, the
above clause implies not only a promise of communal security after an initial period of weakness and danger (which, as history tells us,
overshadows the beginnings of every genuine religious movement), but also the promise of an individual sense of inner security - that
absence of all fear of the Unknown, which characterizes a true believer.] - [seeing that] they worship Me [alone], not ascribing divine
powers to aught beside Me. [I.e., the believer’s freedom from fear is a direct outcome of his intellectual and emotional refusal to attribute
to anyone or anything but God the power to shape his destiny.] But all who, after [having understood] this, choose to deny the truth - it
is they, they who are truly iniquitous! Hence, [O believers,] be constant in prayer, and render the purifying dues, [The specific
mention of the “purifying dues” (az-zakah) in this context is meant to stress the element of unselfishness as an integral aspect of true faith.]
and pay heed unto the Apostle, so that you might be graced with God’s mercy. [And] think not that those who are bent on denying
the truth can elude [their final reckoning even if they remain unscathed] on earth: the fire is their goal [in the life to come] - and
vile indeed is such a journey’s end!
CONCLUSION
Contrary to the popular belief, concept of freedom is not solely a Western idea. One thousand four hundred years ago, ideals of freedom
were bestowed for the first time through Quran. Liberty is not an exclusive reward accorded to a few, rather than inalienable right accorded
by God to all men by virtue of their humanity. Liberty in itself is a virtuous concept, which allows human beings to develop their God-
given talents to the full extent. In the eyes of God, the real virtue is the one which is freely chosen and not imposed.For the most of the
middle Ages, the major centers of civilization and progress were the world of Islam. It was in Islamic world where old sciences were
recovered and developed and new sciences created and new industries were born and manufactures and commerce expanded to level
previously without precedent. It was there, too, that governments and societies achieved a degree of freedom of thought and expression that
led to persecuted Jews and even dissident Christians to flee for refuge from Christendom to Islam. The medieval Islamic world offered only
limited freedom in comparison with modern ideals, but it offered vastly more freedom than any of its predecessors, its contemporaries and
most of its successors. If Islam is an obstacle to freedom, to science, to economic development, how it is that Muslim society in the past
was a pioneer in all three. Today, the world of Islam has abandoned many principles of freedom. Those who follow the law of God will
prosper and flourish. If one reviews all the Quranic injunctions regarding freedom of religion, individual rights, and government by
consent, etc., the only conclusion one arrives at, is that as far as liberty is concerned America and some European countries are in principle
more Islamic than the so called Islamic countries. It is not an accident of history that the West is the dominant civilization at present. Pre-
eminence of the Western civilization however could be temporary because of moral decline and lack of restraints regarding sex, alcohol and
drug use.