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In the Nahj al-Balaghah Imam Ali (a.s) has repeatedly emphasized that God
created man as a free being with sound senses and reason, and led him with His
grace to the right path, but it was man who chained himself with false desires
and misguided ambitions. He stresses this point with regard to man's natural
makeup and his ability to exercise his freedom in the right path. Rousseau's
famous dictum "Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains"
echoes the utterance of Imam Ali (a.s), repeated time and again during his
indefatigable struggle for human freedom at a time when it was threatened by
the slaves of worldly desires and encroached upon by those who wanted to reduce
a free Muslim society to a tyrannical monarchy.
Freedom, a yearning of many s inner being, has been expressed in various forms
throughout human history. Adam and Eve, as Iqbal puts it, were compelled by
this urge to leave Heaven. It is presumed that action is grounded in freedom.
Islam does not accept the Christian notion of original sin, as a punishment for
which man was exiled from Heaven. What is called the fall of man' in
pre-Islamic Semitic tradition may he interpreted from the Islamic viewpoint as
man S ascension to a life of freedom. Man's coming to Earth was an act of his
free choice, and he has to earn eternal freedom and conquer time through his
continuous free acts in this world, which tests his urge for freedom at every
step of his life.
The history of mankind is a ceaseless quest for freedom. It is a multipronged
quest: freedom from want, from fear, from the forces of nature, from the
tyranny of fellow beings, from injustice, from superstition, from prejudice,
from tribal and racial loyalties, and, ultimately, from his own egocentric
existence. Man passed gradually through the various stages of realizing all
these freedoms, each of which had a material as well as a spiritual aspect.
Sheer material freedom means nothing unless it brings in its wake spiritual
freedom also. Rather, both of them are complementary to each other and are
inseparable. The quest for freedom suffered setbacks and reverses whenever any
one of the two was neglected. The modern civilization suffers from the malady
of overemphasizing the material dimension of freedom, totally or partially
neglecting the relevance of spiritual freedom to human existence. Religion has
been striving for man's spiritual freedom, while philosophy has been concerned
with intellectual freedom. Art and literature have been interested in realizing
both of them at a different plane. The quest of science and technology has been
always directed towards attaining material freedom. All human activity is a
quest for freedom, and all human evolution represents a course of gradual
realization of various freedoms. Human evolution is creative in the sense that
at its every stage a higher form of freedom emerges as a result of man's
creativity. Human evolution is different from biological evolution, for the
latter is mechanical and deterministic as compared to the former in which man's
aspiration for freedom plays a vital and decisive role. In the course of man's
creative evolution, Islam emerged as an embodiment of all kinds of freedom at a
stage when humanity was in need of a balanced synthesis of material and
spiritual freedoms. At a stage when man's material advancement was still
embryonic, Islam anticipated rapid future developments in the material sphere,
which required Divine guidance in pursuing the right path for future
development of human society and polity. It is in this sense also that Islam
ensures eternal guidance, for it took in its stride all past freedoms attained
by man and laid down a plan for future evolution. At that stage the human mind
was incapable of embracing the infinite future possibilities of human
creativity, because it had not yet developed the intellectual and empirical
tools of the unseen future. The Qur'an, the last of Divine revelations,
contained the guiding principles of scientific induction as well as a moral
code that could suffice for man's socio-political and economic advancement,
ensuring maximum freedom of human action in all the spheres of man's
multi-pronged quest for freedom. The Qur'an's declaration that God has
completed the din (religion, as the totality of Divine guidance) and has
conferred upon man the best of His rewards, points to the fact that through
Islam man attained the utmost potential to realize his freedom. In order to
have a comprehensive view of freedom granted to man by Islam one has to
understand the Islamic conception of freedom along with all its implications
and practical consequences bearing upon human society, State, and economic
activity, at both individual and collective levels.
Freedom can be understood in two ways: theoretically from the ontological point
of view, and practically from the social angle. This division is for the sake
of study, for in reality the latter aspect logically follows from the former.
As pointed out above with reference to Iqbal, the urge for freedom is inherent
in man s nature. It may be called a Divine gift or spark. But I would prefer to
refer to dictum of Ibn Arabi in this context, who said that nothing was imposed
upon man from without: what one's ayn (essence) demanded from God was given
him. Thus freedom was bestowed upon man not as a gift, but he received it
through his own capacity. To borrow a contemporary philosophical phrase,
freedom is man's essence and his existence is grounded in freedom. This view
can be interpreted as being in conformity with the Qur'an, in which a number of
verses refer to human freedom in both willing and acting. The Qur'an also
admits the existence of various grades of freedom in human beings; that is, all
men are not equally capable of possessing or exercising freedom. It means that
every man is given freedom in proportion to his ability to receive it. Mulla
Hadi Sabzawari's doctrine of graded being can be interpreted in the following
manner. Every grade of being has its corresponding ability to freedom. Men
differ from one another with regard to their ability for freedom. The weaker
beings have a weaker urge for freedom, while the stronger ones have a greater
urge for it. It is because of this difference that what is obligatory for
higher individuals such as the prophets, Imams, the awliya' and the urafa' is
not expected from ordinary men.
"God does not saddle a soul with obligations beyond its capability"
(al-Baqarah: 286). This principle is applied to different individuals in
different degrees. Obligation (taklif) implies the ability to fulfill it,
provided a man is willing to shoulder it. All Divine commands and prohibitions
presume that men have ability to follow them and that some of them might obey,
while others might not. The possibility of obedience and disobedience arises
out of human freedom. As everyone acts according to his own will without any
compulsion from outside, he is liable to reward and punishment according to his
deeds. We have to accept that God never imposed a fixed, predetermined nature
upon any individual, and it is man himself who chooses and moulds his own
character and, accordingly, his destiny in full freedom. The Qur'an is quite
explicit in this regard. Without the freedom of choice and action for man there
could never arise the question of reward and punishment, for otherwise that
would have amounted to arbitrariness, that is, injustice on the part of God. In
this context all the controversies in kalam seem to be pointless and
irrelevant. The Qadarite and the Mu'tazilite doctrine of complete freedom also
ignores the relativity of freedom in relation to different individuals. The
Jabrite notion of determinism goes against Islamic teachings and can be
understood in the light of socio-political expediencies of the age. Iqbal has
correctly analyzed and explained the reasons behind the denials of human freedom:
The practical materialism of the opportunist Omayyad rulers of Damascus needed
a peg on which to hang their misdeeds at Karbala, and to secure the fruits of
Amir Mu'awiya's revolt against the possibilities of a popular rebellion. Ma'bad
is reported to have said to Hasan of Basrah that the Omayyads killed Muslims,
and attributed their acts to the decrees of God. "These enemies of God,
replied Hasan, 'are liars'." Thus arose, in spite of open protests by
Muslim divines a morally degrading fatalism, and the constitutional theory
known as the accomplished fact' in order to support vested interests. (1)
It would be out of place here to go into the details of the issue of jabr and
qadar (determinism and freedom). Absolute freedom belongs to God only, and He
has given this power to man in various degrees according to individual human
abilities. It is in this sense that freedom is termed by Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq
(a.s) and Imam Ali al-Rida (a.s) as tafwid, that is, delegated freedom. When
Imam Ali (a.s) was asked to explain the difference between qada` and qadar, he
said: "The first means obedience to the Commandments of God and avoidance
of sin; the latter, the ability to live a holy life and to do that which brings
one nearer to God .... Say not that man is compelled, for that is attribution
of tyranny to God". (2) Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (a.s) made the observation:
"The doctrine of jabr (determinism) converts God into an unjust
Master". (3) However, these traditions cannot be interpreted as advocating
absolute freedom for man. The latest scientific studies of the problem of
freedom, both in metaphysical and political or social terms, arrive at the
conclusion that freedom is always relative. No society or State can give
absolute freedom to man in order to secure harmony and mutual respect of all
the members. This mutual respect lays certain duties on man, which are for the
sake of granting equal freedom to everybody. The saying of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq
(a.s) "There is neither jabr nor qadar or tafwid", but the matter is
a via media between the two can be interpreted both metaphysically and
socially. Metaphysically, or rather theologically, it means that absolute
freedom is for God only; man has been given limited freedom.
Socially and politically freedom is delimited by duties, and is not complete or
absolute. Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida sums up the issue in the following words:
"You are at liberty to take one or the other path, . . . but man has not
the capacity of turning evil into good, or sin into virtue". (4) Thus we
may conclude that man is free, but his own freedom demands of him to fulfill
certain obligations towards himself, towards other fellow beings, and,
ultimately, towards God. Freedom is meaningless if one does not fulfill these
obligations. All human rights become due to man when he exercises his freedom
to shoulder the duties he is expected to perform by his Creator, his fellow
beings, and his own nature.
However, whatsoever may be the degree and extent of freedom accorded to man, he
is free and, consequently, responsible for his acts. The Umayyads' attempt to
justify fatalism, as described by Iqbal, was an atrocity against Islam and
Qur'anic teaching. All forms of government and society which deny freedom to
individuals represent a gross violation of Islam. How far a State or society is
prepared to allow its members freedom determines its Islamic character.
The following are corollaries of human freedom:
1. Every man is able to perform an act he wills and chooses to do.
2. Every man who performs an act is able to perform its opposite also.
3. Every man who is obliged to do a certain act is awarded the power to do it.
4. Even those who do not obey Divine command are given the power to do it, and
they are also free to do or not to do what they are commanded. (5) The
practical side of freedom is related to man's individual as well as social
duties. Every duty requires as its prerequisite condition freedom and the power
to fulfill it, which is called right' in legal terms. As the right to have the
freedom and power to perform desired acts is termed a natural right, the
freedom and power to perform social duties is termed civil rights, the freedom
to act in relation to the State is called political right, and freedom to
defend one's rights in courts is termed legal right. Right is based on freedom,
for it calls on men to fulfill certain duties. Rights are meaningless without
freedom and freedom remains an empty concept without the right to act within a
particular framework. Freedom assumes a definite meaning in each ideology
according to its conception and practice of human rights.
1. Allamah Iqbal, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (Lahore:
Muhammad Ashraf, May 1971) p. 111.
2. Syed Ameer Ali, op. cit., pp. 409-10.
3.Ibid, p.411.
4.Ibid, p.412.
5. Shaykh al-Ta'ifah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Tusi, Tamhid al-'usul, translated
with introduction by Abd al-Muhsin Mishkat al-Dini (Tehran: Anjuman-e Islami
Hikmat wa Falsafeh-ye Iran, 1358 Sh.), pp. 267-383. All points enumerated in
the article are discussed in detail with rational arguments in these pages,
which may be referred to for gaining a better insight into the problems and
their Shi'i Imami solutions.
6. Goodwin, The French Revolution (London: Hutchinson University Library, fifth
ed. reprinted 1974), pp. 74-75.
7. The Encyclopedia Americana (U.S.A., American Corporation, 1963 ed.), XXIII,
5 18-19.
8. Ibid, XXIII, 52 1-22.
9. Encyclopedia International (New York, Grolier Incorporated, 1971 ed.), IX,
36.
10. Syed Ameer Ali, The Spirit of Islam (London, Methuen, 1965), pp. 2 19-20.
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