Share As we have seen, in the essence of Islam, there is intellectual freedom, freedom of faith and expression. Some people assume that democracy entered the history of humanity with the ancient Greeks. However, it is Allah Who teaches democracy to people. From the time of the Prophet Adam (pbuh), all prophets have been the genuine representatives of intellectual freedom and respect to views. The essence of all the primary concepts – freedom of justice, not putting any pressure upon anyone, treating everyone as a first class citizens, respecting and trusting people, not judging anyone due to his views- which are associated with democracy are present in the morality of religion. Throughout history, people have learned these concepts from the righteous religions revealed by Allah and witnessed its most beautiful examples during the times when people lived by the righteous religions.
When we look at the times when people were oppressed due to their opinions and their different ideologies, members of various religions were humiliated, while the arts, science and architecture died out; times when people lost their joy in living and almost turned into robots, or when book burnings, murders, massacres, genocides became widespread, we see the influence of irreligious, atheist ideologies or those who misinterpreted religious morality with a radical mindset by distancing it from its essence.
Once Allah’s righteous religion is lived in the form it is commanded by Allah, the true justice, democracy, respect and love, that people have been longing for, can be experienced. Very soon, democracy, brotherhood, love, friendship and peace will, by Allah’s leave, dominate the world and people will experience the joy, bliss and abundance of faith as much as they can. As one can clearly see from the signs of the verses, hadiths of our Prophet (saas) and words of great Islamic scholars, the time in which we live is the End Times. The difficult and troublesome days of the End Times will, in this century, come to end with the Prophet Jesus’ (pbuh) and Hazrat Mahdi’s (pbuh) being instrumental, and the world will enter a brand new, bright era. Communicating the Oneness and Unity of Allah in the most beautiful and wise manner, and introducing people to Islam as described in the Qur’an and lived in Age of Felicity lays a very important foundation for the bright days that we will attain in the near future. Our wish is that Allah will also render this article instrumental in attaining the beauties in question. We sincerely hope that the days when we see “people entering Allah’s religion in droves” come at once. Allah reveals these glad tidings as follows in the Qur’an:
When Allah’s help and victory have arrived and you have seen people entering Allah’s religion in droves, then glorify your Lord’s praise and ask His forgiveness. He is the Ever-Returning. (Surat an-Nasr, 1-3)
Freedom Is Important in Islam, and Compulsion and Pressure Are Prohibited
Every Muslim, as a requisite of the morality of the Qur’an, is responsible for showing people the true path, enjoining the good and forbidding that which is evil. But this never means to oblige others to think, live, act and dress like oneself. A Muslim shows the truth and leaves the choice to the person himself. This is the commandment Allah informs us in the Qur’an in the verse, “There is no compulsion in the religion...” (Surat al-Baqara: 256).
In line with Almighty Allah’s commandment, our Prophet (saas) made a contract with the Christians of Najran, who lived in the south of Arabia. This makes it clear that Islam is the true source of freedom of thought and belief in democracies. The contract included the following article:
“The lives of the people of Najran and its surrounding area, their religion, their land, property, cattle and those of them who are present or absent, their messengers and their places of worship are under the protection of Allah and guardianship of His Prophet.” (The Pact of Najran, Article 6, http://www.islamicreso urces.com /Pact_of_Najran.htm.)
The Compact of Medina, signed by the Muslim immigrants from Mecca, the indigenous Muslims of Medina, the Christians and the Jews of Medina is one of the finest examples of the conception of democracy in Islam. As a result of this constitution, which established justice between communities with differing beliefs and ensured the protection of their various interests, long years of enmity were brought to an end. One of the most outstanding features of the treaty is the freedom of belief it established. The relevant article reads:
“The Jews of Banu 'Awf are one nation with the Muslims; the Jews have their religion and the Muslims have theirs…” (The Constitution of Madina, http://www.islamic- study.org/jews-prophet- p.-2.htm)
Article 16 of the treaty reads: "The Jew who follows us is surely entitled to our support and the same equal rights as any one of us. He shall not be wronged nor his enemy be assisted.” (The Constitution of Madina, http://www.islamic- study.org/jews-prophet- p.-2.htm)
The Prophet’s (saas) companions remained true to that article in the treaty, even after his death, and even practiced it with regard to Berbers, Buddhists, Brahmans and people of other beliefs.
Like all the other prophets, many events took place during the course of Rasulullah’s (saas) prophethood that manifested his conception of democracy. Peoples of various races, religions, languages and tribes lived together in the lands in which our Prophet (saas) lived. It was not easy for these communities to live together in peace and harmony and for those who wished to create strife to be neutralized. One group could be angered and attack another as the result of the slightest word or action. But our Prophet’s (saas) conception of justice, his just rule, represented a source of peace and security for these communities as much as for Muslims. During the Age of Felicity, everyone on the Arabian Peninsula, Christians, Jews, pagans and everyone, without distinction, was treated justly. In line with Almighty Allah’s commandment, “there is no compulsion in the religion...” our Prophet (saas) told everyone of true religious moral values but left the final decision up to them.
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