Concept Hub: Freedom

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What Is Attributed to Shahrur

Shahrur states: “3. Freedom of belief and choice: God has granted it to all people, even with regard to disbelief and faith, in His words: {THERE SHALL BE NO COMPULSION IN RELIGION} (al-Baqara 256). Thus, freedom of belief is also among the highest ideals in Islam and is not subject to voting in the first place.” He also states: “4. Freedom to express one’s opinion: God has bestowed it upon all His servants, and no one has the right to deprive them of it for any reason whatsoever.”

In his interpretation of the principle “there shall be no compulsion in religion,” he rejects religious coercion, but maintains that coercion may be exercised by an individual or a body, and that some forms are rejected while others are described by him as permitted, as in the example of individuals being subject to the authority of society: “These verses show that there are certain rejected forms of coercion and certain permitted forms of coercion.”

At the level of the relationship with God, he rejects calling it “people’s servitude to God,” describing it instead as “a free devotional relationship subject to reckoning and accountability.”

In the context of coexistence within the state, he places religious rites within the framework of the individual’s personal freedom, saying: “Because religious rites are personal practices in which state authority does not intervene by permitting or prohibiting them, they fall within the framework of the individual’s personal freedom.”

Atlas Explanation

This hub brings together passages on freedom related to belief, choice, expression, and rites. These are adjacent domains, not synonymous terms: freedom of belief concerns a person’s stance toward faith and disbelief; freedom of expression concerns the voicing of opinion; and freedom of rites concerns personal religious practice.

To begin with the basis of the Qur’anic discussion, see al-Baqara 256. To trace the two comprehensive entries, see freedom and freedom. Freedom’s relation to dignity remains an independent thread in Concept Hub: Dignity.

Synthetic Conclusion

These passages can be connected in a single reading that makes freedom the dividing line between religious choice and religious coercion, and between personal rites and intervention by state authority. Yet this is an interpretive connection among scattered texts, not a single technical definition of freedom in the available evidence.

Moreover, Shahrur’s mention of certain forms of coercion that he describes as permitted prevents his rejection of religious coercion from being turned into a broader claim rejecting every form of social or legal obligation.

Open Question and Scope of the Page

The evidence presented is insufficient to establish a complete constitutional framework for freedom or to determine the mechanisms for balancing individual freedom and the authority of society. The connection that atlas materials propose between freedom and the constitution can be pursued in freedom is constrained by the constitution, though its direct supporting evidence needs to be consulted.

Likewise, this page alone does not settle the relationship between freedom and obedience to the Messenger; for further tracing, see obedience to the Messenger within the framework of freedom.

Appearances in the Books

Conceptual Relations

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas