FREEDOM OF RELIGION, PLEASE!

Written by Ahmed Maajid

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace!

Article 9 of the proposed (as of June 2008) Constitution of the Republic of Maldives states that only an adherent of Islam can be, become, or remain a citizen of the country. The said Article categorically denies any possibility of a non-Muslim being a citizen of the Maldives. According to this constitutional provision a Maldivian citizen cannot believe in, follow, profess, or preach another religion within the confines of the Maldivian polity and its jurisdiction. If he/she does so, he is no more a Maldivian citizen, and he/she is subject to whatever consequences that the lawmakers will (or might never) decide on in the future! There is no need to explain how this Article of the Maldivian Constitution constitutes a blatant and straightforward denial of the freedom of religion. It is only too clear!

While some people have voiced out their criticism of this constitutional statement of a "No Muslim, No Maldivian" ideology (with varied intentions and objectives), others have vehemently defended it (also, with varied intentions and objectives). To me, the said constitutional provision seems to be nothing more or less than a pathetic, shameful, and impractical attempt to dictate over people's conscience - something that countless tyrants and despots in gone-by eras have attempted but none in the history of mankind ever succeeded at!

This is a very sensitive matter that needs to be handled with utmost prudence and attention, given the complexity of the issue and its multi-dimensional scope of socio-political relevance. We ought to deal with the matter very carefully and honestly. In any case, the truth cannot be simply ignored for the sake of vested interests and political objectives. What is true and right cannot be sacrificed in order to be "politically correct” (though that is a basic rule in the devilish New World Order of modern times)! The truth should be upheld at all costs - for a nation's true and real dignity lies there and not anywhere else!

God's Decision

Some people would have us believe that the concept and practical application of the golden principles of freedom of religion (like other human rights) are achievements of human intuitive endeavors. Some say that this freedom was first proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Also, many people tend to consider it as a concept that is contradictory with Islamic ideals. They think that speaking about freedom of religion is tantamount to speaking against Islam, or at least speaking in a tongue unintelligible to Islam.

However, the truth in this matter is seen in a totally different picture. As a matter of fact, the Noble Qur'an - the uncreated Word of God Almighty - is the oldest known proclaimer of the idea and underlying principles of freedom of religion and conscience, in its true sense. The Noble Qur’an has stated the concession of this freedom in crystal-clear terms at a time when this idea was most strange to theological circles and academic sittings of men! As such, it is not an achievement of man’s intellectual development and maturity. It is not the fruit of any philosophical endeavors on the part of man. It is a God-given freedom! It is God’s decision to give His people this freedom!

God says in the Noble Qur'an: "There shall be no coercion in matters of faith. Distinct has now become the right way from [the way of] error: hence, he who rejects the powers of evil and believes in God has indeed taken hold of a support most unfailing, which shall never give way." - Surah al-Baqarah: 256 (Trns. by Muhammad Asad). In another place, God says: "And say: "The truth [has now come] from your Sustainer: let, then, him who wills, believe in it, and let him who wills, reject it." - Surah al-Kahf: 29 (Trns. by Muhammad Asad). These and other Qur’anic verses make it very clear that freedom of religion is a fundamental Qur’anic concept. However, since it will be a deviation from the topic, I will not go into details of how the principles of the concept are derived from these verses. Any sister or brother who needs further clarifications on this issue can refer to the writings of good Islamic scholars (like Muhammad Asad or Charles Le Gai Eaton). In any case, these verses are extremely clear and self-explanatory, and there is no need to rack your brain to understand what they say! (yea, these verses actually mean what they say, unlike what most of the supposed “scholars” of Islam would have us believe!)

In accordance with the supreme divine plan with the race of men, God has granted every human being the freedom to choose whatever religion that might seem appropriate to him/her. This freedom includes in its ambit the liberty even to deny God! Having made that decision, God has shown men two pathways (the Najdain, to use a Qur’anic term) - the path of righteousness and the path of error. The one who chooses the path of righteousness does so to his own benefit, and the one who chooses the path of error does so to his own destruction.

When God's decision is communicated to us in terms so clear, we ought to respect it and implement it. We should not change it, and we can never improve on it. Only the very arrogant among men would dare shout out that the laws of God should be repealed, reformed, or modified! Similarly, if a Law of God is, at any given moment, incompatible with a prevailing social, economic or political condition of any society, that implies a problem with the society in question. As such, the society must immediately strive to change and adapt to the Law of God (if it wishes worldly success and eternal salvation, that is), instead of foolishly trying to modify and improve on God's Law!

The Prophetic Example and Caliphal Precedents

Muhammad – the Noble Messenger of God – implemented the Qur’anic concept of freedom of religion with unprecedented and unsurpassed broadmindedness, tolerance, and mercy. The Prophetic State of Islam established in Madinah – the City of Light – was a multi-religious society by all means, and people of non-Qur'anic faiths could live there as fully-recognized and assimilated citizens. They could and did practice and preach their religions by all and every peaceful means; their religious institutions and sanctuaries were held in due honor, given ample protection, and accorded due respect; they were consulted in the government and they had their part to play in the social, economic, and political affaires of the State! If anyone wants proof of these statements, he/she can refer to the Constitution of Madinah (the Sahifah al-Madinah) and reliable biographies of the Noble Messenger (I would recommend to my readers the Life of Muhammad by Muhammad Hussain Hykal for one, and I would urge my brothers and sisters to be aware of books such as The Sealed Nectar, or Al-Raheeq al-Makhtoum, which propaganda has often hailed as the best on the shelves).

The rightly-guided Caliphs of Islam recognized the basic freedom of religion in accordance with the Will of God and the explanatory example of God’s Noble Messenger! As an enlightening precedence, we could study the famous incident that happened immediately after the liberation of Jerusalem from the tyrannical Byzantine Empire during the caliphate of Umar the Great. Umar visited Jerusalem and he was having a look at the Church of Resurrection (or the Sanctum Sepulchrum, where the Holy Sepulcher of Jesus Christ lies according to the Christian tradition) with the Grand Patriarch Sophronius when the call for prayer was made. When the Adhan sounded, the Patriarch cordially invited Umar to pray inside the Church. Umar, however, refused to do so, and said that if he prayed in the Church, the Muslims might one day claim a right to build a mosque in the place by reason of his offering prayers there, and might demolish the Church. Reasoning thus, he went out and prayed in a nearby empty area (where a mosque dedicated to his name has, in fact, been built later as he had predicted).

Umar’s statements clearly stated a brotherly respect for the Christian religion and their holy places. He didn’t want the Church to be demolished one day to be replaced by a mosque, as it would lead to bitter clashes between Islam and Christianity! He wished for a peaceful coexistence of Islam and Christianity in the Holy land of Jerusalem! He was fully aware of the Christians’ freedom to practice their religion in all its peaceful manifestations – a freedom that Umar knew well to have been granted by God – who was more important to him than petty political interests!

God's Messenger implemented the Will of God by respecting freedom of religion in the very heart of Islamic State (in the Prophetic state of Madinah). Those who truly understood and followed the Prophetic example (the devouted Companions) respected and upheld freedom of religion. After that, I don't understand how the matter would be clearer. Or, do the Maldivian Constitution writers and politicians know even better than God, His Messenger, and the Pious Caliphs?

A Question of Choice

Islam teaches that belief in God with full submission, love, commitment, devotion, trust, and obedience is the foundation stone from which all the other aspects of the religion, be they dogmatic, ritual or behavioral, stem forth. In fact, countless Qur’anic verses state that one’s adherence begins, continues, and fulfills itself with the belief in God and all entailing implications of this belief. Also, the Noble Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Noble Messenger of God make it very clear that belief and faith are matters related to one’s intellectual faculties. They are not actions that a person commits with his hands and tongue. You believe in God and have faith in Him with your heart and your mind. In a word, religion is a matter basically for one’s intellect, for one’s heart and mind!

If this is the case, then it is simply stupid to think that a person can follow or believe in a particular religion without his own, voluntary, and informed choice. This is the simple yet profound reason why, as aforementioned, the Qur'an declares that there cannot be any compulsion or coercion in matters of religion. That is the reason why the Qur’an “lets anyone who wills reject the truth and anyone who wills accept it” through and by his own choice and decision. When the Qur’an says so, it means so. It is not rhetoric that twists and abuses language to deceive and mislead people. It is God speaking, and when God says something, He means it; He means all of it; nothing more, and nothing less. He is fair, and He never plays foul, though many men seem to understand it not.

A tyrannical, despotic, and authoritarian government can make laws and regulations forcing the citizens of a country to lip-serve Islam. They can force the citizens to name themselves as Muslims, to dress like Muslims dress, or to perform Islamic rituals, and so on. But a truth that cannot be changed by tyrants is that when a people follow or pretend to follow a religion under duress and compulsion, without their hearts and minds being content with it, their "following" has no meaning whatsoever.

If you want a person to follow a particular religion, the only way is to convince his heart and mind as to the truth of that particular religion, and thereby making him chose for himself that religion. A bullet shot from an AK47, or a bomb thrown from a B52, or a pathetic provision in a Constitution simply cannot do the job! The Maldivian constitution writers and all other fools who try to arrest people’s conscience would do well to understand and remember this truth preached by Islam and affirmed by human reason!

An Absurdity

An undeniable fact is that, while the overwhelming majority of the Maldives is Muslim (at least in theory), there are many who adhere to other faiths (such as Christianity and atheism – yes, atheism is a faith!). Do we really believe that a statement in our Constitution saying that every Maldivian should be Muslim would make such people Muslims? Do we really believe that forcing these people to profess Islam would yield any fruitful results? Don’t you think that such spiritual dictatorship would result in bitter hatred, which would someday erupt like a volcano and would, in all likelihood, give way to bitter religious conflicts and bloodshed?

Another point to ponder over is how we might act to enforce such a provision in the Constitution. What are we supposed to do when we find out that someone who used to be a Maldivian (and so, presumably a Muslim!) has opted out of Islam and embraced another religion? Will we behead him/her, or put him/her in jail, or deport him/her from the country for ever? Or shall we allow the person to remain in our country as a tourist with a life-time visa or something? …

In short, isn’t it sheer absurdity to try to control what the hearts of men believe with laws and swords and guns?

Constitutional Muslims

Welcome to the age of Neo-Islam!

In Saudi Arabia we have the Saudi Official Patriarchal Version! In Egypt we have the Egyptian Standard Moderate Version. In Turkey we have the Turkish New Age Secular Version. In Pakistan we have the Sub-Continental Militant Version. In Malaysia we have the Malaysian Latest Capitalist Version. The list is growing as newer versions are coming out and new types of Muslims keep on emerging.

The modern age has seen practicing Muslims and non-practicing Muslims. Look out and you will see democratic Muslims, communist Muslims, feudal Muslims, fanatic Muslims, and many others. The newest type seems to be Constitutional Muslims. You wouldn’t see this term described in a dictionary of Islamic disciplines now, but you are not unlikely to see it in a few years. Let us guess the meaning of the term as it might appear in the pages of such a dictionary – “A Constitutional Muslim is one who doesn’t actually believe in Islam, but professes to be a Muslim because the national constitution he/she adheres to forces him to do so, under pain of political and communal ex-communication and criminalization!”

A Disgrace to Islam

Not a single “Islamic” nation on earth today has taken Islam in its own terms and conditions! Each of them has accepted Islam with reservations and modifications to suit her own desires and wishes. Every single one of them has given a more important role to her traditions, cultural heritage, political and economic interests etc. In doing so, Islamic nations have often deliberately tampered with the true teachings of Islam.

The Maldivians, too, are on the same path. We are following a man-mad Islam, instead of following the true, God-given Islam. We do not read and consult the Qur'an in order to understand Islam. We refer to "textbooks" of Islam written by people who have, more often than not, misinterpreted and misrepresented Islam. These textbook writers have tampered with true Islam for various reasons. Sometimes they do it deliberately as a result of their vested interests. Sometimes they do it out of their love of their nationalist beliefs, traditions and cultural heritage. Sometimes they do it because they blindly follow their forefathers instead of trying with their own minds to understand God’s Word for themselves and for their times.

The claim that Islam doesn’t acknowledge freedom of religion in its fullest sense is one that has been made by one group of people as mentioned above. This group, which self-labels itself the orthodoxy of Islam, vehemently and wrongly claims that the denial of freedom of religion is something that has its root in the Noble Qur’an and the Blessed Sunnah of the Noble Messenger of God. We, the Maldivians, are holding onto this erroneous understanding of Islam for our own political interests; because our political stability seems (at least to some people) to be dependant on our religious "unity".

Those who change and modify Islam in this manner are but a disgrace to Islam!

Political Reasons

When we speak about recognizing the God-given freedom of religion and conscience in the Maldives, we often hear the adversaries of this ideal truth speaking about a consequential situation of turmoil following the granting of this freedom. They say that recognition of the freedom of religion would entail a state of chaos in the country, as many people will instantly declare apostasy from Islam, and many Muslims would likely react without tolerance. Definitely this argument has its weight and validity; but in this case, the withholding of freedom of religion in the Maldives is being justified merely and wholly by political arguments! It has nothing to do with Islam!

We should ask ourselves one very important question at this point! Can we justifiably snatch from the people a basic freedom granted to them by their Lord on account of collective political and communal interests of our nation? Certainly not! We cannot build a community by killing the individual! Definitely the society does have its rights as a communal entity! But, the individual cannot possible be destroyed in order to build the society? That is simply wrong!

If we make reservations on basic human rights of the people, why don't we pass a law saying that no Maldivian who has completed a university degree can live and work abroad? That seems to me to be a more sensible law than any pathetic law barring the freedom of religion!!!

Avoiding the eruption of inter-religion chaos and mayhem resulting is definitely essential. Politically speaking, we, as a nation, cannot afford to have our country lost in a state of religious wars. We cannot afford to see the lives and property of the people being forfeit on account of such wars. If there is a real possibility of religious differences giving way to such a chaotic state, we must find solutions to that. However the solution to such a potential problem doesn’t lie in the pathetic attitude of forcing every Maldivian, at the point of the sword or the gun or the law, to profess Islam and to guise Islam (being blind to every person's real religious conviction)! The solution lies in two very plausible grounds not far away from our reach.

What Should We Do?

First, we can try to guarantee the continued unity of the Maldivian nation in its adherence to Islam by making the people truly love Islam. The government has the power, and is in a position to do it. For this, teach them Islam for what it is! Teach them the Noble Qur’an (and not what some pathetic people interpret the Noble Qur’an to be). Tell our children about God instead of making them worship President Maumoon, Britney Spears, Shah Rukh Khan, Batman, Benten, Catman and Supermario! The Muslims in the West – in countries like the United States of America and the United Kingdom – understand Islam much better than those of the failed Orient, and we can redirect our religious life in their manner!

Secondly, teach the people the Islamic ideal of religious tolerance! Tell the people that Islam has mandated religious freedom and the peaceful co-existence of religions in all God’s lands (including the Maldives, which, when last I looked, was also a part of God’s lands). Tell them that fighting for religious differences is a great evil in the Eyes of God. Make them truly realize and internalize this Islam-preached universal truth! Show them the beautiful examples of Islamic Sham (currently Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and part of Turkey) and Islamic Spain. Tell them how the Syrian Christians of the Sham enjoyed religious freedom and much more religio-intellectual development under the Muslim Caliphate of Raashidun, compared to their supposed religious brothers of the Byzantium. Tell them how the Jews enjoyed their greatest post-prophetic golden age (which produced Jewish scholars of the stature of Moses Maimonides) under the patronage of Islamic Spain! By teaching the Maldivian Muslims the ideal of tolerance that Islam has prescribed, we can make them ready to accept and respect the decision of their fellow countrymen who choose other religions for themselves.

Dishonesty or What?

As I have said in the beginning, many people have defended the “No Muslim, No Maldivian” provision in the prospective Constitution of the Maldives. Those people who defend this provision do not belong to one ideological or political faction, and as such, all of them do not share same and similar intentions in their stance in this matter. Some of them are doing it purely for political reasons. They are shouting out the slogans of "No Muslim, No Maldivian" ideology just for political purposes.

These "dirty politicians" know that the bulk of the Maldivian population is still "Muslim" - at least in theory! They know that those Muslims have been reared and brainwashed to think and believe that all their fellow Maldivians should be Muslims as well. They are aware of the fact that those Muslims are not yet prepared to tolerate any religion other than Islam (obviously, in their ignorance of true Islamic values and rules). As such, these "dirty politicians" also know that by upholding the flags of "No Muslim, No Maldivian" ideology, they are bound to win the sympathy and support of a considerable number of the Maldivian people!

The painful truth is that these "dirty politicians" are not shouting the “No Muslim No Maldivian” slogans because of any respect or any love for Islam! They do not love God or His religion! They do not, in fact, love anything other than their mundane desires! They do not even have the capacity to love truly! What they seek are only votes in elections! They are abusing Islam and people's inherited love for Islam as tools for achieving their political purposes.

They are wretched, huh? … By God, they really are, and more! They are dishonest, evil, arrogant, ignorant, and destructive to Islam as well as this country by all accounts. Left in their hands, and this country will sink so low that in no time it would be humanly impossible to make things right again.

Think, and Learn from History!

History of mankind is full of occurrences from which we can learn our lessons if we are prudent enough. As I have said before, despots have many a time tried to arrest people’s conscience and run ideological dictatorships. They have tried to write with their swords, guns, and laws the doctrines that people should believe, the principles they should live by, and the aspirations they should harbour. However, in each of these cases, it led to nothing but an ultimate stage of chaos in which people, in one way or the other, rose up in defense of their true convictions, beliefs and principles. In each of these cases, the despots who tried to suppress the natural rights of the people were shamefully ousted and disgraced. Dishearteningly, most of these cases involved unspeakable violence and bloodshed. One very good example was the French Revolution – an even that every student of history is likely to be quite familiar with.

We have seen the same drama in our history – and not long before. The Maldivian government has, for about 30 years, tried to dictate the political beliefs of the country. It has tried to suppress opposition by trying to force the people to have particular political viewpoints. However, this oppression created bitterness among people who disliked the government, and there came a point at which the inevitable eruption occurred. The opposition, which was so long put down with force, by means of inappropriate utilization of the country’s security forces and unfair, unreasonable and improper laws, ultimately came out defying even the rule of law, and a state of chaos and violence is the result as we are now seeing.

Another idea that history has constantly supported is that religious clashes are much bitterer than political clashes. A religious clash is often bloodier and more violent, as religion is a more sensitive issue than politics. As such, societies should be more alert to possible religious clashes than political problems. We must remind ourselves that if we continue to suppress the religious convictions of many hundreds of Maldivians, there will come a moment when those people will rise together, possibly with arms, to fight for their religious rights. Isn’t it better to give them their rights, as Islam has ordered us, with decency, kindness, and fraternity before it is too late? Isn’t it wiser to let them have their way with peace before they get it by fighting? The Maldivian Constitution writers and politicians may have denied the people the freedom of religion thinking that they are ensuring political unity and stability by doing that. But if history can tell us anything, they will be proven wrong before long, and what we are doing will result in nothing but conflicts and tumults in the future. The sooner we realize this and do something about it the better!

Honesty and Truth, Please!

Let us leave our dishonesty, arrogance, and ignorance behind for good! Let is truly rise in the Path of God! Let us truly love and obey Him by truly loving and respecting all His slaves! Let us not slander, denigrate, and disgrace the truth by forcing people who despise it to lip-serve it! Let us be truthful by all means! May the Peace and Blessings of God by upon all the people! May the Mercy of God be shown to all – Believers and the Lost as well – for the Lost may well be found by the Light and Hand of God – the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace!

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(Note: On the true position of Islam on the issue of apostasy, see these articles - http://www.islamicperspectives.com/Apostasy1.htm and http://www.naseeb.com/naseebvibes/prose-detail.php?aid=4839&PHPSESSID=33115943d4afa20bdb28b302bcf1406b)