Islam cannot be molded into any form of political or social man-made structure. Ever since the advent of Islam, particularly after the emergence of Greek philosophy into Islamic thought, many Muslims have tried to find a ‘common ground’ between an emerging ideology and Islam. To summarize, I will confine this post to the last 100 years and show how contemporary era Muslims are mistaken in thinking that Islam entirely coincides with any man-made ideologies, such as capitalism, socialism, liberalism, conservatism and the likes.
When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the last Messenger of Allah, first started his journey in Mecca, the Quraysh tribe initially tried to resist the new message through the employment of brute force. Essentially, they tried to pressure people (both physically and socially) to stay away from Muhammad and his message. However, such tactics did not work. With the spread of Islam’s message, Quraysh devised another course of action. “What if we give up some of our beliefs and teachings, in the hopes that Muhammed would give up some of his?” they asked.
وَدُّوا لَوْ تُدْهِنُ فَيُدْهِنُونَ
Surat Al-Qalam (9)
“They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you,” Allah (SWT) affirmed in Surat Al-Qalam. Quraysh hoped that the Prophet (PBUH) would show any sign of compromise to his beliefs so that they could embrace and give him the freedom to preach his message. However, the Prophet (PBUH) did not compromise. He never thought, “We are in a weak position with Quraysh. Hence, we should try to focus on our similarities and work to eliminate our differences”. If something of the sort had happened, the religion of Islam would neither have spread like it did nor would it have been pure. The Prophet was conscious of this fact and recognized that the stark difference between Quraysh’s beliefs and Islam is too profound to ignore. Paganism, a unique religious movement, believes in multiple deities. On the other hand, Islam has the ‘oneness’ of God as its central theme. Also, the Holy Quran makes it clear that all sins of humanity could be forgiven, except for paganism (polytheism or idolatry).
إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّـهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَىٰ إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا
An-Nisa (48)
The Islamic belief system is built upon the idea of a “revealed” religion. Considering this fact, compromising even a small fraction of this pure religion would ultimately ruin the whole message. The reason is simple. Changing or compromising on any part of it would not preserve its sacredness. Moreover, comprising a part of Islam’s beliefs to get “approval” from Quraysh would have meant that any part of the religion could be given up one day. If the Messenger showed any kind of compromise with Quraysh, there is no guarantee that his followers would not one day do the same.
In recent times, the world has witnessed the rise of numerous ideological systems that championed different ideas. Each ideological system has a unique set of beliefs and leaders. However, one attribute is similar; they were all man-made. To put it simply, all such systems were formulated due to different social, economic, and historical contexts. The problem with adopting any man-made ideology is its man-made nature. No matter how closely some Muslims feel an ideological system resembles Islamic teachings, there would be ensuing differences. Another significant inconvenience with adopting these ideologies is that most, if not all, of such ideologies stemmed from a secular mindset (which, in essence, rejects the role of religion in the public sphere).
One of the best examples in this regard is that of the rise of the Soviet Union and communist thought in the early 20th century. A great number of Muslims believed that many communist ideas, such as the redistribution of wealth and “equality” for all, mirrored major tenants of Islam. This led to the belief that Muslims should adopt communism as a political thought, whereby governments must implement them in Islamic countries. Obviously, it was a major failure as Communism is founded on the rejection of God. It is a purely materialistic concept with no spiritual dimension. Compromising the major tenant of Islam, the oneness of Allah, to adopt a foreign ideology does more harm than good. Communism gives little importance to individual liberties. Therefore, even something straightforward as attending the five daily prayers at the mosque disrupts the Communist system (which views such acts as nonsense).
It is worth mentioning here that many communist ideas died with the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the challenge remains for Muslims, even more significant today than there ever was. Today’s ideologies and the pressure used by some countries is overwhelming. Liberalism is one such ideology, and by far, the greatest force being pushed on to Muslim countries. It is another ideology that has been built on the rejection of God, a system of beliefs that rejects the role of religion in the public sphere. However, I consider that one of its greatest weapons is its idea of “freedom.” According to liberal ideology, people should do as they please, as long as they are not hurting anyone. They can choose which religion to follow, speak their minds, and choose which gender they are associated with. Although liberalism does have many definitions and branches, their foundational beliefs are quite similar – advocating individual liberties.
In Islam, individual freedom is also given a priority. Freedom of religion and speech have always been part of the Islamic scripture.
وَقُلِ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ ۖ فَمَن شَاءَ فَلْيُؤْمِن وَمَن شَاءَ فَلْيَكْفُرْ
Surat Al-Kahf (29)
And say, “The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills – let him believe; and whoever wills – let him disbelieve.”
This is a clear guidance from the Quran asserting that individuals have full right to choose; to either believe or disbelieve. With regards to freedom of expression, countless verses in the Quran command Muslims to constantly stand up to truth and reject falsehood, wherever they see it.
كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّـهِ ۗ
Surat Ali’Imran (110)
“You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah.”
There is no arguing that due to these similarities between Islamic and liberal teachings, many could find comfort in adopting the latter. However, liberal ideology is far from similar to Islamic teachings. In some cases, the idea of freedom in liberal thought is the complete opposite of the idea of freedom in Islam. With liberalism, as explained above, freedom essentially means no restrictions as long as you are not hurting others. If you wake up one day and decide to change your gender, you are free to do so. If you decide to have unrestricted sexual interactions with different people every day, you are free to do so. These examples could extend to all sorts of actions. In many cases in Islam, the definition of freedom is the complete opposite. Freedom is being able to control your desires, and not let them loose. Sexual encounters are within marriage, greed is controlled by giving some money to charity, and so on.
The major difference between these two schools of thought, if I may call it that, is that Islam sets boundaries and conditions to individual liberty. There is a foundational text, the Quran and the Sunnah, that Muslims use as guidance to live a balanced life, a life in which all desires are met, but within the boundaries set by these foundational texts. The issue with relying solely on man-made rules is that there is no sanctity to them. One day society could believe one thing, and the next day, it could believe in another thing that completely contradicts the initial belief(s). There is no foundation to be relied upon. Today, for example, we see that many countries have legalized same-sex marriage while it was forbidden in these same countries some years back. How do we know there won’t be people calling for other forms of relationships to be legalized in the future? We don’t. Anything is possible.
The idea of freedom in Islam does have a few similarities to the liberal ideology. However, a Muslim will find it extremely hard to adopt a liberal ideology. In essence, liberalism contradicts Islam in its major tenets. One believes that religion does not play a major role in the public sphere, while the other makes it central to its belief system. One believes in unrestricted individual liberty, while the other provides Muslims with a guided form of liberty. One puts emphasis on the individual, while the other puts emphasis on the society. They are not the same.