The Unifying Idea
This axis affirms that religion rests on voluntariness, innate disposition, and freedom, while coercive authority stands on the opposite side. Hence compulsion is incompatible with religion, and worship or obedience cannot be understood outside choice and responsibility.
The Theses Included in the Axis
- Religion and authority are two distinct domains
- Islamic religion accords with innate disposition, and freedom is the basis of the human being
- Religion is based on voluntariness and does not conflict with civil society
- Freedom is an act and a mode of conduct
The Axis Supported by the Atoms
- Freedom is part of human innate disposition
- Compulsion in the name of religion contradicts its essence
- Islamic religion accords with innate disposition
- Innate disposition is the basis of right guidance
- Freedom is the basis of human existence
- Religion is based on voluntariness and choice
- There is no compulsion in religion is a negation of the genus
- Freedom is limited by multiple constraints
- Despotism can only be resisted by freedom
How to Read It
This page is to be read as an ethical and psychological foundation for understanding religion. Its criterion is voluntariness and freedom, not coercion or domination.