These articles are concerned to secure the freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression, including the freedom to change one’s religion and to manifest it in teaching, practice, worship and observance, and the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
In essence every religion possesses a missionary character. It starts with an individual and seeks to persuade and convince others of its truth and of the beneficent nature of the values it propounds. It must, therefore, stand for freedom of conscience, including the freedom to change one’s religion and the other freedoms mentioned in these Articles, which are all consequent upon freedom of conscience; otherwise it would create barriers in the path of its own objectives.
Some religions have set territorial or racial limits to participation in their communion, but Islam’s message is universal. It brooks no such limitation and proclaims these freedoms unequivocally and emphatically. Claiming, like all religions, to be based on truth, it naturally warns, constantly and repeatedly, of the dire consequences, moral and spiritual, that would follow from the rejection or neglect of the values that it proclaims; but it leaves everyone free to make his or her choice. Belief is a matter of conscience and conscience cannot be compelled. A person might be forced to say that he believes, but he can by no manner of means be forced to believe. This truth is proclaimed by the Quran: “There shall be no compulsion in faith. Surely, guidance has become distinct from error; whosoever refuses to be led by those who transgress, and believes in Allah, has surely grasped a strong handle which knows no breaking. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing” (2: 257). “Proclaim: It is the Truth from your Lord; where fore let him who will, believe, and let him who will disbelieve” (18: 30). The Quran explains that it is only within the competence of God, the Almighty, to make a person believe, but even He does not force anyone to believe. He leaves everyone to exercise his or her reason and judgment. If He does that, it behoves no one else to try to force people to believe. “If thy Lord had enforced His will, surely, all who are on the earth would have believed together. Canst thou, then, force people to become believers?” (10-100). “Proclaim: O ye people, now has the truth come to you from your Lord. So whosoever follows the guidance, follows it, only for the good of his own soul, and whosoever errs, errs only to its loss. I am not appointed a keeper over you. Follow that which is revealed to thee and be steadfast until Allah pronounce His judgment. He is the best of Judges” (10:109-110).
“Verily, We have revealed to thee the Book with truth for the good of mankind. So whoever follows guidance, follows it to the benefit of his own soul; and whoever goes astray, goes astray only to its detriment. Thou art not appointed a guardian over them” (39:42).
Attention is, of course, repeatedly drawn to the difference between belief and disbelief and to the moral and spiritual consequences of righteous action in contrast with evil conduct; but there is not the slightest reflection or implication that conscience may be forced or compelled. “The blind and the seeing are not equal; neither are those who believe and act righteously equal to those who work evil. Little is it that you reflect” (40:59).
“The blind and the seeing are not alike, nor the darkness and the light, nor the shade and the heat; nor alike are the spiritually alive and the spiritually dead. Allah causes him to hear whom He pleases; and thou canst not make those to hear who shut themselves up in graves. Thou art but a Warner” (35:20-24).
“Shall We treat those who believe and act righteously like those who act corruptly in the earth? Shall We treat the righteous like the wicked? This is a Book that We have revealed to thee, full of blessings, that they may reflect over its verses, and that those gifted with understanding may take heed” (38:29-30). “So turn aside from him who turns away from Our remembrance, and seeks nothing but the life of this world. That is the utmost limit of their knowledge. Verily, thy Lord knows best him who strays from His way, and He knows best him who follows guidance. To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, that He may requite those who do evil for what they have wrought, and that He may reward with what is best those who do good” (53:30-32).
The Quran lays down directions with regard to the manner in which the message of Islam is to be conveyed to mankind. “Say, O Prophet: This is my way: I call unto Allah on the basis of sure knowledge, I and those who follow me” (12:109). He was commanded: “Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and kindly exhortations, and reason with them in the way that is best. Surely thy Lord knows best him who has strayed from His way; and He knows best those who are rightly guided” (16:126). That command is an imperative for all Muslims.
Islam stands for complete sincerity in all relationships and insists on conformity of conduct to profession.
“O ye who believe, be mindful of your duty to Allah, and always say the straightforward word. Thereby will He bless your works for you and forgive you your defaults. Whoso obeys Allah and His Messenger, shall surely attain a mighty success” (33:71-72).
“O ye who believe, why do you say that which you do not? Most displeasing is it in the sight of Allah that you should say that which you do not” (61:3-4).
Hypocrisy and insincerity are frequently condemned in the Quran in severe terms. “The hypocrites shall surely be in the lowest depth of the Fire, and thou shall find no helper for them, except those who repent and amend and hold fast to Allah and hold their faith sincerely for Allah alone. These are among the believers. Allah will soon bestow a great reward upon the believers” (4:46-47).
It follows that Islam requires a person to profess what he truly believes in, and not to profess belief in what he does not sincerely believe, nor continue to profess belief in that which he has ceased to believe in. Claiming to be the truth, it invites everyone to believe in its doctrines and to practise its teachings and does not encourage disbelief or a hypocritical profession of belief. Should anyone cease to believe in Islam, he does not thereby incur any legal penalty. From the point of view of Islam he abandons the path of peace, security, beneficence and progress, and puts his moral and spiritual welfare in jeopardy. In the Hereafter he will be among the losers. “Whoever rejects the faith his work has doubtless come to naught, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers” (5:6). But in all matters of conscience his choice continues to be free. This follows from “There shall be no compulsion in faith” (2:257). If, along with his change of faith or in consequence of it, he indulges in activities which constitute an offence, he will render himself liable to punishment for the offence, in the same manner and to the same degree in which he would have been liable had he been guilty of the offence without any change of faith. In other words, apostacy, by itself, however condemnable is a spiritual offence and entails no temporal penalty. This is the essence of the freedom to change one’s religion. The Quran is explicit on it.
He who turns his back on the truth having once recognized and accepted it, and persists in his rejection of it till death overtakes him and no opportunity is left open to him to retrace his steps and make amends, enters the Hereafter in a state of spiritual bankruptcy. “They will not stop fighting you until they turn you back from your faith, if they can. Whosoever from among you turns back from his faith and dies in a state of disbelief, it is such as he whose works shall be in vain in this world and the next” (2:218). As the context shows, this verse has reference to a state of war. If in that state a Muslim went over to the enemy and took up arms against the Muslims he would be guilty of treason whether a change of faith was or was not involved; though in the then conditions it would have been inconceivable that such a one would still profess being a Muslim.
In the same context is the assurance, “O ye who believe, whoso from among you turns back from his religion, should know that in his stead Allah will soon bring a people whom He will love and who will love Him, a people kindly and humbly inclined towards believers and firm and impervious towards disbelievers. They will strive in the cause of Allah and will not fear the reproach of a fault-finder. That is Allah’s grace; He bestows it upon whomsoever He pleases. Allah is Bountiful, All-Knowing” (5:55). This was a comforting and consoling assurance against any desertion that the enemy might succeed in procuring during the course of the war.
Change of belief, unconnected with hostilities, is looked upon in the same way. It does involve a grave penalty, the displeasure of Allah, worse than death in the eyes of a believer, but of no consequence in the estimation of one who has ceased to believe. No temporal penalty is attracted, if the change of belief has not led to the commission of an offence. “Those who believe, then disbelieve, then again believe, then disbelieve, and then go on increasing in disbelief, Allah will never forgive them nor will He guide them to the way” (4:138).
“Surely, those who disbelieve after they have believed and then go on increasing in disbelief, their repentance shall not be accepted, and they are the ones who have gone astray” (3:91).
The Jews in Medina were constantly devising stratagems to create trouble for and confusion among the Muslims. One of the devices contemplated by them is referred to in the following verse: “A party of the People of the Book say: Profess belief in that which has been revealed unto the believers, in the early part of the day, and proclaim disbelief in it in the latter part of the day, perchance this might induce them to return to disbelief ” (3:73).
This is clear proof that change of faith entailed no temporal punishment. For if apostacy had been treated as a capital offence, as has been alleged, no such device as is mentioned in the verse could even have been contemplated, since the party having recourse to it, having proclaimed themselves believers in the morning, would on announcing their disbelief in the afternoon have been liable to be executed. According to their poor opinion of the quality of the faith of the Muslims, this would have struck terror into the hearts of the weaker and wavering Muslims, rather than served to induce them to follow the Jewish example.
On freedom of teaching, practice, worship and observance of religion, the following may be instructive and of interest:
“Surely, We sent down the Torah wherein was guidance and light. By it did the Prophets, who were obedient to Us, judge for the Jews, as did the godly persons and those learned in the Law; for they were required to preserve the Book of Allah, and because they were guardians over it. Therefore fear not men but fear Me; and barter not My signs for a paltry price. Whoso judges not by that which Allah has sent down, these it is who are the disbelievers. Therein We prescribed for them: A life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for other injuries equitable retaliation; and whoso waives the right thereto, it shall be an expiation for his sins. Whoso judges not by what Allah has sent down, these it is who are the wrongdoers .
“We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, fulfilling that which was revealed before him in the Torah, and We gave him the Gospel which contained guidance and light, fulfilling that which was revealed before it in the Torah, and a guidance and an admonition for the God-fearing. Let the People of the Gospel judge according to what Allah has revealed therein, and whoso judges not by what Allah has revealed, these it is who are the rebellious” (5:45-48).
The Prophet permitted a Christian delegation from Najran to hold their service, in accordance with their rites, in his mosque at Medina, and they availed themselves of the permission.1
The Quran invites, indeed enjoins, reflection and the exercise of reason, understanding and judgment at every step. Failure to do so counts as a serious default for which an individual is accountable. It thus seeks to foster the development of these faculties and actively promotes freedom of thought, opinion and expression . “In the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of the night and the day there are indeed Signs for those who possess understanding; those who remember Allah standing, sitting and lying on their sides and ponder over the creation of the heavens and the earth” (3:191-192).
“We sent Our Messengers with clear Signs and Scriptures, and We have sent down to thee the Reminder that thou mayest explain to mankind that which has been sent down to them, and that they may reflect” (16:45).
“Do they not reflect in their own minds? Allah has not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between the two but in accordance with the requirements of wisdom and for a fixed term. But many among men believe not in the meeting with their Lord” (30:9).
‘This is a Book which We have revealed to thee, full of blessings, that they may reflect over its verses, and that those gifted with understanding may take heed” (38:30).
“These are illustrations that We set forth for mankind that they may reflect” (59:22).
From what has been said so far, it follows that everyone must be free to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. This is essential so that knowledge may be fostered and ignorance dispelled. ‘’Shall those who know be equal to those who know not? Verily, only those endowed with understanding will take heed” (39:10).
The Prophet has said: “The seeking of knowledge is a duty laid upon every Muslim, man and woman.”2 He exhorted: “Go forth in search of knowledge to farthest Cathay.”3
It is somewhat paradoxical, however, that while the Declaration sets forth the freedom “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,” it does not seek to promote the freedom of travel, without let or hindrance, across frontiers in search of knowledge, information and ideas-a freedom that mankind had enjoyed for centuries and which has been seriously hindered in the present generation, with the consequent restriction of a fruitful source of knowledge and understanding.
1 Zarqani IV, p. 41.
2 Ibn Majah I, Ch.: Dignity of the learned.
3 Baihiqi, on the authority of As-Sayuti I, under letter A, p. 37.