By religious freedom we mean that a person may accept any religion of their choice or believe in any creed, and equally may live without any religion or creed. A person has full freedom to adopt a religion or creed or not to, and no one may force them. But they may be invited to the great ideals of Islam through the hope of paradise and the fear of hell, and through reasoned argument. Just as Islam gives people the freedom to accept a religion or not, it also gives the right to invite anyone to Islam. But it has declared it unlawful to bring anyone into the faith by force. Among the Ansar of Medina, a man’s two sons had become Christians before the coming of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). When the sons came to Medina, their father tried to force them into Islam, and they complained to the Messenger of Allah. Then a verse was revealed from Allah: “There is no compulsion in religion. The right way has become clearly distinct from error.” (Surah Al-Baqarah: 256)
The essential point is that there is no compulsion of any kind to embrace Islam. But once a person has embraced Islam, there is no room for trifling with the religion.
Despite the severe persecution the Prophet (peace be upon him) suffered at the hands of the Arab idolaters, he never used force against them, because he wanted religious freedom for himself and for others. Allah, Lord of the worlds, instructed the Prophet: “Say to the polytheists: For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.” (Surah Al-Kafirun: 6) Another verse says: “Say: The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills, let him believe, and whoever wills, let him disbelieve. We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire.” (Surah Al-Kahf: 29)
These verses make clear that belief or disbelief has been left to human will, though that will depends on the mercy of Allah, the creator of all things. People earn sin and reward through their own deeds. There is no room here to force anyone into Islam, because a true religion does not need force to gain followers.
The hearts of people of other faiths are won by showing love. Truth stands entirely apart from falsehood, so what need is there for force?
Islam gives non-Muslims full freedom to observe their religious festivals and occasions, within the limits of the law of the state. Non-Muslims living in a Muslim state are also given freedom in all their dealings and business. So no one may obstruct the religious rites of non-Muslims.
An example of Islam’s generosity towards non-Muslims shows this easily: if a Muslim’s wife is Christian or Jewish, her Muslim husband may not forbid her to go to her church, but must give her the freedom to observe her religious rites without hesitation.
Muslims are also forbidden to stop Christians and Jews from slaughtering pigs, or to break their wine vessels, because they are used to eating pork and drinking wine. In the same way, Islam gives non-Muslims full freedom in their personal affairs, such as marriage, divorce and inheritance law.
A remarkable incident shows Islam’s approach to the religious freedom of non-Muslims. A delegation of Christians of the Najran tribe once came to the Messenger (peace be upon him). They entered the Prophet’s Mosque after the asr prayer, when the time of their own worship came. When they stood to worship, some Muslims tried to stop them. The noble Messenger (peace be upon him) forbade them, saying: let them worship. The delegation then faced east and completed their worship.
Islam reflects freedom in every sphere of human life, the writer argues. Non-Muslims have enjoyed their religious freedom well in Islamic states. Whenever Muslims conquered a country, they made arrangements for non-Muslims to practise their religion freely, and unlike non-Muslim conquerors, they never tried to force the defeated into their faith. History offers much proof of this. Non-Muslims have always been the majority in Hindustan, yet Muslims ruled it for eight hundred years. In Spain, on the other hand, there were about three million Muslims, but since rule passed to non-Muslims there are hardly any Muslims left there. The writer says more than six thousand mosques have been destroyed in India in the past ten years under Modi’s rule, that Muslims are constantly obstructed in practising their religion and forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram”, and that Muslims are being lynched in the name of cow protection.
After the great Salahuddin Ayyubi conquered Jerusalem (Bait al-Maqdis), he granted a general amnesty to all Christians. Reading the treaties and agreements Muslims made with non-Muslims in the lands they conquered gives easy proof of Muslims’ generosity and tolerance of other views. It was through this generosity and tolerance that Islam spread so widely.
So, according to the teaching of Islam, it can be said clearly that peace and harmony will be established if followers of every religion and community, regardless of nation, religion or colour, freely follow their own faith while working for the country’s development and progress. May Allah, Lord of the worlds, grant all humanity the ability to follow the truth. Amen.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report