According to God’s creation plan, man has been granted total freedom. Freedom means that, from a moral standpoint, he can take either the right path or the wrong path as he chooses.

This fact has been expressed in the Quran in these words: “This is the truth from your Lord. Let him who will, believe in it, and him who will deny it.” (18:29)

That is to say, let one who wants to accept the truth, accept it. And let one who wants to reject the truth, reject it. In such a situation it is quite natural that there should be total freedom of speech in Islam. Placing any curb on freedom of speech will go against the creation plan of the Creator Himself. Anyone who misuses his freedom should be countered with logic and argument, not with violence. In other words, the pen will be countered with the pen and not with the sword.

Source: The True Face of Islam

Man has been granted total intellectual freedom in Islam. Rather the truth is that it was Islam itself which brought into existence that revolution in human history granted freedom of expression to all human beings. Prior to Islam in all periods of human history system of absolutism prevailed in the world. That is why man was denied intellectual freedom. Intellectual freedom is no simple matter. The truth is that the secret of all human progress lies hidden in intellectual freedom.

The first benefit of this intellectual freedom is that man receives that highest good which is called fear of God in the Quran (5: 94). It consists of man’s recognition and realisation of God in full freedom and, of one’s own free will, without any external pressure from God. So long as there is no atmosphere of total freedom, none can experience the indescribable pleasure of spiritual experience which is called fear of God in the Unseen. Hence it is impossible (without freedom) to grant anyone credit for the highest of human actions.

Freedom of expression is the thing that saves one from hypocrisy. Man is a thinking creature. His mind necessarily thinks and forms opinions. In such a situation if curbs are placed on freedom of expression, people’s thinking cannot be ceased, the only thing that will take place is that their thinking will not come to their lips and pens. Any institution, nation, or state which places curbs on freedom of expression will be ultimately brimming with hypocrites. In such an atmosphere sincere people can never be produced.

In this way, intellectual freedom is directly related to creativity. A society having intellectual freedom breeds creative people whereas a society that curbs intellectual freedom will necessarily stagnate and as a result, the production of creative minds and their growth and development will forever be stopped.

The proper stand in the matter of disagreement and criticism is that people shed off their unnecessary sensitivity in this matter, instead of attempting to put a stop to the act of criticism and disagreement itself. This is the demand of Islam as well as the demand of nature.

The attribute of a true believer described in the hadith is: ‘whenever a truth is presented to them, they accept it.’ (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 11678) Here by truth is meant a matter of truth. In other words, a believer is one who has full capacity of accepting the truth. Whenever truth is brought before him, whenever any error of his is pointed out to him, no complex comes in the way of his accepting the truth.

The truth is that the acceptance of the truth is the greatest act of worship. It is an act for which man has to make the greatest of sacrifice. This great sacrifice makes this act the greatest form of worship. This is the sacrifice of one’s prestige; of losing one’s greatness. To lose one’s sense of greatness for the sake of truth is an occasion when man earns his entry into heaven by paying its price.

When one receives the blessing of having performed this great form of worship? This opportunity comes to man only when there is full freedom of speech. When one can criticise another without any obstacles. When such atmosphere prevails in society as people can speak freely and frankly and the listeners listen to them without raising any objection.

Just as the mosque is a place to offer prayer in congregation, similarly the freedom of speech provides that conducive atmosphere in which great virtues flourish. It is in such an atmosphere that those situations are created when a person is given the credit for the pronouncement of truth and another is rewarded for the acceptance of the truth.

Source: The True Face of Islam

The Quran states: “There shall be no compulsion in religion” (2:256) This principle of non-coercion mentioned in the Quran has not been confined to religious freedom alone. Rather, it has been extensively elaborated upon and widely applied to all social, cultural, and political spheres of society. This has led to the development of a new culture in which individuals enjoy freedom of expression, dissent, and criticism without any fear or restriction. Two examples may suffice to explain to what extent this essential human right was observed in earlier Muslim societies.

Once Caliph Umar came to a well of the Banu Harithah where he met an outspoken person named Muhammad ibn Maslama. “How do you find me?” he asked Muhammad “By God, I find you just as I would like you to be and just as it would please any well-wisher to see you.

You are good at accumulating money, I see, but you keep your hands clean of it yourself, distributing it equitably to others.” “But” went on Muhammad ibn Maslama, “If you adopt a crooked course, we will straighten you, just as we straighten swords by placing them in a vice.” At these aggressively critical words, Umar, the second Muslim Caliph, exclaimed:

“Praise be to God, who has put me among a people who will straighten me when I become crooked.” (Kanz al-Ummal, Hadith No. 35763)

In another example when Muslims at Madinah, with their increasing affluence, began to settle huge dowers (mahr) on their daughters, Umar, in his capacity as Caliph, ordered that no one should demand or pay a dower that exceeded four hundred dirhams, and that anything in excess of this amount would be confiscated and deposited in the public treasury. (Baitul-Mal)

After the proclamation of this ordinance, when he came down from the pulpit, a tall, old woman stood up and confidently said: "The Quran has set no restrictions on this matter: Umar has no right to set an upper limit to the dowers.” To back up her contention, she loudly recited this verse of the Quran:

“If you decide to replace one wife with another, do not take any part of her dower back: even if you have given her a treasure.” (4: 20)

Umar’s immediate reaction on hearing this was to say: “A woman has quarreled with Umar and has bested him.”

According to another account, Umar said: “May God forgive me, everyone knows better than Umar, even this old lady.” (Musnad al-Farooq by Ibn Kathir, Vol. 2, p. 573)

With the advent of Islam in the seventh century, it was declared for the benefit of mankind that all greatness was the exclusive prerogative of God and that in the eyes of God, all human beings were equal. The Prophet Muhammad declared not once, but on many occasions that all were alike, all were brothers.

The Prophet not only stated the truth but also made it a reality by bringing about a total revolution based on the idea of human equality.

On achieving political domination in Arabia, he was able to put this theory into practice in his capacity as ruler of a state. In this way, Islam put an end to discrimination between human beings on the basis of race, colour, status, etc. People were assigned a high or low status according only to their moral worth.

Source: Spirit of Islam December 2017

Contrary to the common misconception that Islam denies religious freedom to others, Islam enjoins religious freedom to others.

Religious freedom is the basic human right whose violation has caused conflicts, wars and bloodshed in both ancient and modern societies. The Quran, therefore, has declared for the first time in human history:

'There shall be no coercion in matters of religion.' (2:256).

The Quran also states clearly, "To you your religion and to me mine." (109:6).

The principle that we obtain from the above verses of the Quran is generally referred to, in today's context, as religious freedom.

In view of this prohibition of coercion (Ikrah), all Islamic jurists (Fuqaha) without any exception hold that forcible conversion is under all circumstances null and void. Any attempt to coerce a non-believer to accept Islam is a grievous sin, (Ahkam al-Quran, al-Jassas). According to this principle of 'non-coercion', it is not permissible to exploit or manipulate personal weaknesses or calamities (e.g. poverty, sickness, famine, etc.) for religious conversion. That is why old and downtrodden non-Muslims were exempted from taxes and given all monetary support by the Islamic state without ever being asked to embrace Islam just for the advantages it would give them.

Once a Jewish widow came to the Caliph Umar asking for some financial aid. Umar tried to persuade her to accept Islam. He promised to take care of all her needs if she embraced Islam. But the lady refused. Umar then gave her more than she had asked for. When she departed, Umar raised his hands towards heaven and said:

"O God, bear witness that I have not exercised any coercion on this lady." (Tarikh Umar ibn Khattab, Ibn al-Jawzi)

The principle of non-coercion mentioned the Quran (2:256) has not been confined to religious freedom alone. Rather, it has been extensively elaborated upon and widely applied to all social, cultural, and political spheres of society. This has led to the development of a new culture in which individuals enjoy freedom of expression, dissent and criticism without any fear or restriction. Two examples may suffice to explain to what extent this essential human right was observed in earlier Muslim societies.

Once Caliph Umar came to a well of the Banu Harithah where he met an outspoken person named Muhammad ibn Maslama. "How do you find me?" he asked Muhammad, "By God, I find you just as I would like you to be and just as it would please any well-wisher to see you. You are good at accumulating money, I see, but you keep your hands clean of it yourself, distributing it equitably to others." "But," went on Muhammad ibn Maslama, "If you adopt a crooked course, we will straighten you, just as we straighten swords by placing them in a vice." At these aggressively critical words, Umar, the second Muslim Caliph, exclaimed:

"Praise be to God, who has put me among a people who will straighten me when I become crooked." (Kanz al-Ummal)

When Muslims at Madinah, with their increasing affluence, began to settle huge dowers (mahr) on their daughters, Umar, in his capacity as caliph, ordered that no one should demand or pay a dower that exceeded four hundred dirhams, and that anything in excess of this amount would be confiscated and deposited in the public treasury (Baitul-Mal).

After the proclamation of this ordinance, when he came down from the pulpit, an old woman stood up and confidently said:

'The Quran has set no restrictions on this matter: Umar has no right to set an upper limit to the dowers."

To back up her contention, she loudly recited this verse of the Quran:

"If you decide to take one wife in place of another, do not take back from her the dower you have given her, even if it be a talent of gold.' (4:20).

Umar's immediate reaction on hearing this was to say:

"A woman has quarreled with Umar and has bested him."

According to another account, Umar said:

"May God, forgive me, everyone knows better than Umar, even this old lady." (Tirmidhi/Ahmad)

With the advent of Islam in the seventh century, however, it was declared for the benefit of mankind that all greatness was the exclusive prerogative of God, and that in the eyes of God, all human beings were equal. The Prophet Muhammad declared not once, but on many occasions that all were alike, all were brothers.

"The Prophet not only stated the truth but also made it a reality by bringing about a total revolution based on the idea of human equality. On achieving political domination in Arabia, he was able to put this theory into practice in his capacity as ruler of a state. In this way, Islam put an end to discrimination between human beings on the basis of race, colour, status, etc. People were assigned a high or low status according to their moral worth."

(Islam, the Creator of the Modern Age, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan)