"A Russian and an Indonesian are are showing pride in their respective countries.Russians: Our country is known for its 'Russia dies laughing'.Indonesians: Our country is known for its 'Indonesia dies laughing at election fraud.'""Human beings, who are born free, will lose that same freedom if they succumb to the attractions of over-indulgence and hedonism that is also part of their nature, and which can pull them down into corruption, oppression and evil," Jasmine went on while paying attention to the santri, each was carrying their own torch. The flaming torch is a symbol of knowledge, enlightenment, truth, and intellectual optimism—the belief that the light of truth and reason overcomes the darkness of ignorance. This brightly burning torch’s flame symbolizes the ongoing struggle for freedom and the constant need to guard against the forces that seek to extinguish it."Conversely, those who make good use of their freedom, complementing their natural dignity with ethical dignity, will distinguish themselves in history and will fully experience ultimate convergence with the divine.Living as a free being, says Jan Freazier, you no longer experience yourself as the center of the universe. The important thing about whatever life holds isn't how it affects you, what you think or feel about it. The important thing is the plain fact of it. You are free of whatever has been challenging or unresolved. Nor is there the familiar vivid impression of your being a particular individual, in any significant sense, or of being separate or fundamentally different from other people—or from anything at all. Because your sense of identity has changed, your feelings can no longer be hurt, nor can you take offense. You're no longer subject to others' opinions of you (favorable or unfavorable). When you become free of the illusion that you are your ego-mind, there's no longer someone to maintain, protect, or enhance.Being free means freedom from time. You're free of the belief that something important can happen in time. Of the sense that the future has the potential to make things better, or that there's something to be feared in the possibility of change or loss. You're free of ambition, of the idea that you need time in order to finally experience fulfillment, and free too of the constant feeling that you don't have enough time. You are free of the burden of the past, of all it has delivered you: the weight of memory, of conditioning, of patterns, of unresolved anguish.Sometimes the terms 'freedom' and 'liberty' tend to be used interchangeably. Sometimes subtle distinctions are made between 'freedom' and 'liberty'. The concept of liberty can have different meanings depending on context. Liberty can be defined as the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of 'giving oneself one's own laws.'‘Freedom’ is distinct from ‘independence’: whereas freedom refers to the position of the individual within a group, independence is used in reference to the group itself Freedom thus means the immunity of the individual from arbitrary and illegal action by the government, and his right to participate in the formation and conduct of government. Independence, on the other hand, refers to the position of a group in relation to other groups.According to Mohammad Hashim Kamali, there is a word for freedom, namely hurriyyah, but this refers to the condition of the freeman (hurr) as contrasted with the slave. The word 'hurr' in classical Arabic implies ‘free’, it is also used as a qualitative term denoting nobility of origin and character. In order to stress the moral meaning of hurr, it is frequently paired with karim (noble, generous); al-hurr al-karim thus means a true gentleman, a person who is pure in his human dignity, a person of integrity possessing a free conscience unrestrained by material considerations. It seems that the word 'hurriyyah' was not as commonly used by the classical jurists as it is now being used by modern writers in Arabic. The word 'ikhtiyar' (choice, free will) is more commonly used in the writings of Muslim mystics and philosophers than 'hurriyyah'. Historically, Muslim jurists have not addressed the subject of freedom in a comprehensive manner. Instead of advancing a theoretical understanding of the general concept of freedom, they often spoke about some of its manifestations, such as the freedom of opinion, belief and ownership. Muslim philosophers such as Farab and Ibn Rushd took limited notice of freedom as a political term.'Hurriyyah' defined as ‘the opposite of slavery and the independent disposition of a prudent man to manage his own affairs by his own free will; his ability, in other words, to manage his per sonal affairs as he wishes free from the opposition and hostility of others’. Thus, hurriyyah is clearly focused on the free dom for the individual to manage his personal affairs free of the inter ference of others. In Islam, man’s submission to Allah is the tool whereby man breaks all other chains of submission or slavery. Therefore no power on earth has the right to fare with his destiny.Islam has prohibited the primitive practice of captur ing a free man and turning him into a slave or selling him into slavery. Allah says,ثَلاَثَةٌ أَنَا خَصْمُهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ رَجُلٌ أَعْطَى بِي ثُمَّ غَدَرَ، وَرَجُلٌ بَاعَ حُرًّا فَأَكَلَ ثَمَنَهُ، وَرَجُلٌ اسْتَأْجَرَ أَجِيرًا فَاسْتَوْفَى مِنْهُ وَلَمْ يُعْطِهِ أَجْرَهُ'I will be an opponent to three types of people on the Day of Resurrection: one who makes a covenant in My Name, but proves treacherous; one who sells a free person and eats his price; and one who employs a laborer and takes full work from him but does not pay him for his labour.' [Hadith Qudsi; Sahih Al-Bukhari]Thus it is concluded that freedom is a natural right, endowed in everyone from birth. It is inherent and incessant and no man has the authority to take what Allah has granted as a natural right. To say that Allah has created man free by nature is an affirmation not only of freedom as the normative and original state but also of the abilities that man’s nature is endowed with—and that the most distinctive of the natural abilities of man is his faculty of reason. The manner in which Islam is propagated, all subject to basic freedom of choice.On the subject of political freedom, there is no obedience in sin, obedience is enjoined only in righteousness. So, when the ruling authorities give orders that violate the principles of Islam, the individual is not required to obey them. This, in effect, provides the basis of legitimacy for the citizens' uprising against lawlessness and despotism. In this sense, the Shari'ah stands out as the only legal tradition to provide for what is seen as ultimate political freedom. The Prophet (ﷺ) said,أَفْضَلُ الْجِهَادِ كَلِمَةُ عَدْلٍ عِنْدَ سُلْطَانٍ جَائِرٍ'The best fighting (jihad) in the path of Allah is (to speak) a word of justice to an oppressive ruler.' [Sunan Abi Dawud; Sahih according to Al-Albani]The Prophet (ﷺ) also instructed his followers to ‘tell the truth even if it be unpleasant’. He (ﷺ) said,عَلَيْكُمْ بِالصِّدْقِ فَإِنَّ الصِّدْقَ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْبِرِّ وَإِنَّ الْبِرَّ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ وَمَا يَزَالُ الرَّجُلُ يَصْدُقُ وَيَتَحَرَّى الصِّدْقَ حَتَّى يُكْتَبَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ صِدِّيقًا وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَالْكَذِبَ فَإِنَّ الْكَذِبَ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْفُجُورِ وَإِنَّ الْفُجُورَ يَهْدِي إِلَى النَّارِ وَمَا يَزَالُ الرَّجُلُ يَكْذِبُ وَيَتَحَرَّى الْكَذِبَ حَتَّى يُكْتَبَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ كَذَّابًا'It is obligatory for you to tell the truth, for truth leads to virtue and virtue leads to Paradise, and the man who continues to speak the truth and endeavours to tell the truth is eventually recorded as truthful with Allah, and beware of telling of a lie, for telling of a lie leads to obscenity, and obscenity leads to Hell-Fire, and the person who keeps telling lies, and endeavours to tell a lie is recorded as a liar with Allah.' [Sahih Muslim]Another hallmark of the primordial dignity of humankind is knowledge. Allah says,وَعَلَّمَ اٰدَمَ الْاَسْمَاۤءَ كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلٰۤىِٕكَةِ فَقَالَ اَنْۢبِـُٔوْنِيْ بِاَسْمَاۤءِ هٰٓؤُلَاۤءِ اِنْ كُنْتُمْ صٰدِقِيْنَ'And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, 'Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful'.' [QS. Al-Baqarah (2):31]The Angels recognize their limits, but human beings, through their knowledge, possess the means by which they can manage their freedom. Only knowledge can lead to freedom; only knowledge can truly liberate humanity. Ignorance is nothing but imprisonment. In fact, the Qur’anic Revelation begins with an appeal to learn and to know, as the first chapter received by the Prophet (ﷺ) makes plain,اِقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِيْ خَلَقَۚ خَلَقَ الْاِنْسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍۚ اِقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْاَكْرَمُۙ الَّذِيْ عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِۙ عَلَّمَ الْاِنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْۗ'Recite in the name of your Rabb who created. Created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Rabb is the most Generous. Who taught by the pen. Taught man that which he knew not.' [QS. Al-'Alaq (96):1-5]Knowledge of names and things is characteristic of the primordial dignity of humans in their quest for truth; Allah has given them the means to surpass themselves in the two faculties of knowing: the mind and the heart.As free beings granted the power of knowledge, humans must use this power to the utmost. Theirs is a privileged status, and as a consequence they must assume greater responsibility, standing as they do at the very heart of all Creation. With freedom and the faculties of knowledge that are central to their primordial dignity, humans must seek to learn, to understand themselves and the world, to favour the good and to strive for the lofty stature that best expresses their spiritual dignity. They must constantly recall that they are not the owners of the earth and the universe—‘Unto Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth’—but simply play the role of vice-regent (khalīfah) and are accountable to Allah for their self-management, and that of all fellow human beings and of Nature.The deposit of faith has been entrusted to humankind. They must use, experience, investigate and explore it, assisted by freedom of conscience and knowledge. It is a trust that grants human beings a privileged status, but it also burdens them with a commensurately weighty responsibility.In bearing this trust or amanah, they must acquire knowledge, educate and reform themselves in spiritual, intellectual, humane and social terms. They must add to the dignity of awareness of the good that of the natural state and thus fully assume both freedom and responsibility.In the Islamic tradition, the task cannot be accomplished except through the free and conscious decision to reconcile oneself with Allah, to enter into His peace, by responding to His call and to always choose the good and the moral.The faith that has converted the heart has also led to a conversion of the intelligence by way of the heart, which sees and understands in different ways. When humans finally grasp the secret of the prayer of the natural elements, they stand at the threshold of the greater dignity whose mark is triple reconciliation—a calm and peaceful one—with Allah, with Self and with Nature. Peace, which lies at the root of the word ‘Islam’, challenges us to understand, with our hearts and minds, that we cannot protect the inherent dignity of our nature except by resisting its darker side. How? Through a permanent commitment, made in humility and determination, to making moral distinctions.The teachings of sharia are directed, above all, at the human beings who stand at the centre of Creation. They can be interpreted in five extremely explicit ways. First comes that of our common origin, for all women and all men have emerged from the self-same original being. Second, all women and all men possess the same original dignity, irrespective of their religion, their skin colour, their origin or their social status. Third, humanity is one, willed by Allah, with its diversity of nations and tribes that mirrors its diversity of languages and colours. Diversity in the heart of human unity requires respect for Allah’s will and a commitment to know one another better, to gain greater knowledge of other religions, languages and cultures. The function of the pluralism of nations and cultures is to maintain equilibrium between them, the better to avoid corruption on earth. But pluralism also—here lies the fourth point—invites humankind to engage in positive competition to accomplish good deeds. Fifth and last, we must reserve judgement about peoples and nations, judgement belongs only to Allah. All humans, therefore, must endeavour to be individuals possessed of dignity, to be respectful of the spiritual equality of all men and women—the Quran makes it clear that men and women are equal in the eyes of Allah—and attempt to perform good works in the best possible way.Nature must be protected even in wartime. Human being can never forget that each and every element of Creation sings the praises of the Divine, that he is surrounded by the sacred and that he must respect Allah’s gift. It is a fundamental teaching of Islam that covers all animals and natural elements—water, fruit trees, etc.—without exception.We'll talk about environtment in the next episode, bi 'idhnillah."And as before, Jasmine sang,Decisions as I go, to anywhere I flow.Sometimes I believe, at times I'm rational.I can fly high, I can go low.Today I got a million,Tomorrow, I don't know *)
Citations & References:
- Jan Frazier, The Freedom of Being at Ease with What is, 2012, Weiser Books
- Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Freedom, Equality and Justice in Islam, 2002, The Islamic Texts Society
*) "Reality" written by Felix de Laet, Janieck van de Polder & Radboud Miedema
