Islamic Ideology of Freedom and Present Exploitative System

Rahimia Magazine (August,2014)

Islam is torch bearer of human liberties and sovereignty. With the concept of oneness of God, Islam freed mankind from all sorts of superstitions, psychological subservience and slavery thereby introducing freedom of expression and action in the world. Islam raised human societies from the marginal mentality of race, color, factions, sects, etc. Teachings of Islam spread awareness about the contemporary imperialism which denied human beings their basic rights. Imperialism has always been the actual cause of division, humiliation and exploitation of humanity. By harnessing the ideology of equality, prosperity and freedom from the unfair systems of Persia and Rome, Islam laid down the foundations of an independent political and economic system. This changed the course of entire human history and is indeed the greatest contribution of Islam to mankind. True essence of Islam is autonomy and progress of all human societies without any discrimination of race, color, religion, language, ethnicity or geographical location. Thus, Islam can be regarded as a message of global social change which contains declaration of struggle and resistance against all sorts of oppressive and exploitative systems.

Prominent scholar Moulana Ubaid Ullah Sindhi narrates: “Condemnation of the lifestyles of Roman and Persian empires, abolition of their social, political and economic systems and implementation of an alternative, progressive and beneficial system were a few objectives of the revelation of Quran.Quran asks every nation and community to reject their ruling classes which adopt the practices of the Roman and Persian emperors as their existence depends upon the exploitation of common people and the sole aim of their lives is to remain indulged in lavish festivities. The message of the Quran cannot be confined to a particular nation, time-span or geographical location. Quran refuses to coexist with every cruelty and injustice. It infuses confidence and motivation in every oppressed human being so that he may stand against every oppressor and perform his duty to abolish all sorts of injustice and tyranny in the society.”

When Muslims adopted this ideology of freedom, peace and justice, they strived hard to provide liberty to the oppressed human beings of Asia and Africa from the domination and slavery of unjust economic and political systems. Muslims developed economic and political systems based on fairness, equality and prosperity in all their territories.

On the contrary, during the era of European industrial and political revolutions, western powers initiated their colonial period by enslaving various nations of Asia and Africa. These countries that were once independent, prosperous and civilized were altogether trapped into political and economic subjugation. Their national and historic identity was distorted and they were forcefully restrained in the darkness of poverty, misery and ignorance.

When the region of Indo-Pak subcontinent was colonized by the western powers, genuine Muslim scholars and freedom fighters set a remarkable history of freedom struggle. This struggle was inspired and influenced by Islamic ideology of freedom and justice. It is a great dilemma of our society that our youngsters are deliberately kept unaware of the efforts and sacrifices offered by these scholars and freedom fighters. As a result, our youth is hopeless, directionless and completely disconnected from its glorious past. Today, there is a dire need to equip ourselves with the Islamic ideology of freedom and we must stand against the exploitative powers of our age with the help of knowledge and foresightedness.

Translation: Muhammad Usman, Faisalabad