IMPORTANCE OF FREEDOM OF CHOICE
Religious freedom is a basic human right. The Quran says: “There shall be no compulsion in religion.” (2:256) Islamic jurists hold that any attempt to coerce a person to accept Islam is a grievous sin.
Religious freedom is a basic human right whose violation has caused conflicts, wars, and bloodshed in both ancient and modern societies. Centuries ago, the Quran declared, possibly for the first time in human history: “There shall be no compulsion in religion.” (2: 256) The Quran also states: “You have your religion, and I have mine.” (109:6)
The principle reflected in the above two Quranic verses can be referred to in today’s context as ‘the principle of religious freedom’. Given the prohibition of compulsion in matters of religion, Islamic jurists hold that forcible conversion to Islam is, under all circumstances, null and void. Any attempt to coerce a person to accept Islam is a grievous sin. According to this principle of ‘non-coercion,’ it is not permissible to exploit or manipulate personal weaknesses or calamities (e.g., poverty, sickness, famine, etc.) for religious conversion.
Once, a Jewish widow came to the Caliph Umar asking for some financial aid. Umar promised to take care of her needs and presented Islam to her. However, the woman refused this offer. Umar then gave her more than she had asked for. When she departed, Umar raised his hands towards heaven and said: “O God, bear witness that ‘There shall be no compulsion in religion.’” (Al-Muhalla, Ibn Hazm, Vol. 12, p. 120)
The principle of non-coercion mentioned in the Quran (2:256) has not been confined to religious freedom alone. Rather, it has been extensively elaborated upon and widely applied to other social, cultural, and political spheres of society. This is conducive to developing a culture where individuals enjoy the freedom of expression, dissent, and criticism without fear or restriction.
Two examples may explain how this fundamental human right was observed in some early Muslim societies.
Once, Umar, the second Muslim Caliph, came to a well of the Banu al-Harith, where he met an outspoken person named Muhammad ibn Maslamah. “How do you find me?”, he asked Muhammad ibn Maslamah.
“By God, I find you just as I would like you to be and as it would please any well-wisher to see you. I see you are good at accumulating money, but you keep your hands clean, distributing it equitably to others.” “But” Muhammad ibn Maslamah went on “if you adopt a crooked course, we will straighten you, just as we straighten swords by placing them in a sheath.”
At these aggressively critical words, Umar exclaimed, “Praise be to God, who has put me among a people who will straighten me when I become crooked.” (Kitab al-Zuhd wa al-Raqa’iq by Ibn al-Mubarak, 512)
The second incident again involves the Caliph Umar. This was at a time when in Madinah, Muslims, with their increasing affluence, began to settle huge dowers on their daughters. At this time, Umar, in his capacity as Caliph, ordered that no one should demand or pay a dower that exceeded four hundred dirhams and that anything in excess of this amount would be confiscated and deposited in the public treasury. After the proclamation of this ordinance, when Umar came down from the pulpit, an old woman stood up and confidently said: “The Quran has set no restrictions on this matter. Therefore, Umar has no right to set an upper limit to the dowers.” To back up her contention, she loudly recited a verse of the Quran: “If you desire to replace one wife with another, do not take any part of her dower back: even if you have given her a treasure.” (4:20)
At this, Umar responded: “May God forgive me, everyone knows better than Umar (Sunan Sa’id bin Mansur, 598), everyone knows better than you, even ladies.” (Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya - I’laam ul Muwaqqi’een, Vol. 2, p. 193)
These incidents from early Islamic history show the importance Islam attaches to freedom of expression and healthy criticism.
