Freedom as a human value between the Qur’an, jurisprudence and hadith narratives

Freedom as a human value between the Qur’anic text and Hadith and jurisprudential narratives

Rachid Eilal

Introduction:

Freedom is synonymous with humanity, given that man is a being who can only be free, and in this regard it cannot be said that it is an intellectual luxury in Qur’anic philosophy, as it is the essence of human existence that gives man his dignity and meaning. It is the breath of the spirit that God breathed into humanity, and the essence of creation based on freedom of will and choice. The Qur’an does not see man as a slave to an institution or a secondary text, but as a slave to God alone, and from this absolute worship comes absolute freedom from any human or intellectual authority that restricts the mind and shackles the conscience.

Freedom in the Qur’anic Vision
A careful reading of the Qur’anic text shows that it came to liberate man from all forms of double slavery: The slavery of the body and the slavery of the mind.

The Almighty says: {There is no compulsion in religion; it is clear what is right from what is wrong, so whoever disbelieves in the idol and believes in Allah, he has grasped the strong bond that is indissoluble, and Allah is all-knowing (256)}.

This verse establishes the principle of religious, political and intellectual freedom: The first is a negation of coercion, and the second is a declaration of human liberation from guardianship in the name of heaven: A declaration of human liberation from guardianship in the name of heaven. God did not make faith a coercive act, but an act that must be based on conviction and responsibility based on an awareness of what your choice is based on your rationality and not on your stupidity.

And in the words of the Almighty: {Say: “The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wishes to believe and whoever wishes to disbelieve, We have prepared for the unjust a fire that surrounds them, and if they call for help, they will be given water like water that roasts their faces, the worst of drinks.” (29)} Al-Kahf verse 29

This Qur’anic verse declares that freedom of belief is part of the divine order of the universe, because forced belief has no meaning in the balance of God. It has no value in the Qur’anic constitution.
The Qur’an does not punish worldly disbelief, but leaves the accountability to God alone, while we find that the traditionalists, whether jurists or modernists, have turned this principle into a system of punishments and blood, from the “apostasy limit” to the jurisprudence of “blind obedience.” They have committed a heinous crime in the name of God and Islam, contradicting this great Quranic principle.

Freedom vs. Hadith narratives
When we move from the Qur’an to the Hadith, we see a serious shift in the concept.
The hadith that says: “Whoever changes his religion, kill him.” This completely contradicts the Qur’anic principle of freedom of belief. Through this narrative, the logic of the sultanic state, which sees religion as a system of obedience rather than a system of freedom, has crept in, turning faith into a political identity that has nothing to do with freedom of conscience and its will.
The spirit of the Qur’an is based on choice, while the spirit of the inherited hadith often tends toward compliance, turning man into a follower rather than a thinker. Hence the unpleasant disconnect between the Islam of the Qur’an and the Islam of the narratives: The first is a religion of freedom and responsibility, the second is a system of control and authority.

Jurisprudence and the transformation of freedom into obedience
Islamic jurisprudence, a historical product of sultanic culture, was conceptualized in the shadow of the sultan rather than the Qur’an.
Instead of reading the text in the light of freedom, jurists read it in the light of submission, and instead of making the human being the center of legislation, he made him the subject of restriction.
Therefore, we find that jurists have turned freedom into an exception and slavery into a rule, legislating “obedience to parents” without restriction, “hudud apostasy” without discrimination, and “male guardianship” without logic, forgetting that the Qur’an said:

{And strive in Allah with the righteousness of your striving – He is the one who chose you and has not made no difficulty for you in religion – the way of your father Abraham – He is the one who called you Muslims before and in this, so that the Messenger may be a witness against you and you may be witnesses against men – So observe the prayer, pay the zakat, and stick to Allah, who is your guardian, for He is the best guardian and the best supporter (78)}.

Freedom in the Qur’an is a civil right and a prerequisite for the concept of worship – not slavery – of God; there is no worship of God without freedom from everything else.

Between divine and human texts
The Qur’anic text differs from hadith and jurisprudence in essence, spirit, and source.
The Qur’anic text establishes freedom, while the hadith and jurisprudence text has managed it in the orbit of authority.
The Quran frees man from illusion and false holiness, while jurisprudence has established a layer of holiness that reproduces the same guardianship that the revelation fought against.
In this sense, it can be said that the shift from the Qur’an to jurisprudence was a transition from a religion of liberation to a religion of control, and from human conscience to jurisprudential guardianship.

Qur’anic freedom as a universal value
The genius of the Qur’anic text tends to consider freedom as a right for every human being, because it comes out of a cosmic vision expressed by the Qur’an by saying:

{We have honored the children of Adam and carried them on land and sea and provided them with good things and gave them preference over many of those we have created (70)}Al-Israa’ 70

Dignity encompasses the human being as a human being, not as a believer or belonging to a sect or creed.
It is the dignity of the soul, mind and choice, not the dignity of compliance and imitation. The word obedience in the Book of God is done willingly and voluntarily, and thus the concept of obedience stems from human choice and conviction, not unilateral obedience without choice or choice.
Hence, any juridical or political system that restricts human freedom of thought and opinion contradicts the essence of the Quran, which makes the mind the tool of guidance, and freedom the path of faith.

Conclusion.
As for the artificial narratives and ideologized jurisprudence, they turned religion into an institution of control, and the Muslim man lost his free face and his living conscience.