Author: Mufti Obaidullah Noorzahi
Crises of Liberalism in the Contemporary World (Part 5)
Liberal intellect
The liberal intellect understands what it does itself; but it is often unable to understand the actions of others, and therefore it wants its thoughts and beliefs to be judged and investigated solely on the basis of what it says and does; but the beliefs and correctness of others’ actions are irrelevant to it until it itself says and does them. This ignorance is in the principles of thoughts and beliefs, and this is the greatest obstacle that stands between them and understanding their foundations; the foundations under which a set of actions, words, and beliefs are based; what it considers correct about others goes back to a single foundation; the same foundation that has made its own actions and words correct.
The correct and the corrupt, the strong and the weak, cannot be distinguished except by comparing them with each other, because meanings are known by comparison. One of the wonders of the universal traditions of Allah is that if two similar things are smashed together, both will break, like smashing two identical glasses and two identical stones; but if the strength or shape of the two is different, the weaker one will break and the stronger one will remain; the same is true of beliefs and thoughts.
Accordingly, “liberal” thought is against rule-making and principle-making. The result of this approach is that there is no great and holy writer or theorist among them who does not go beyond the framework of his theory. What exists is the intellect of the individual, and actions and statements revolve around it. This has caused many people to not understand liberalism and make mistakes in interpreting it, or to only follow one form of “liberalism” and ignore its other forms. This uncertainty is an obstacle that makes liberals unable to recognize the standard of right and wrong, and their desires, doubts and personal and national interests take them in all directions. Some of them even do not know the comprehensive principles of this thought, which all its components fit under it, because they do not believe in anything; except with their own intellect and the issue outside the intellect of the speaker, whoever it is, does not matter to them, but is rather false. They believe in freedom from every sacred matter that takes the form of command and prohibition, even if it is slight, to the extent that some of them refuse to start speaking with “Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim” in books and letters, in order to get out of control of the sacred matter; therefore, the correct and appropriate name for liberalism is the one mentioned in the Quran, namely: “Sadism” (aimlessness – abandonment), as it says: “أَيَحْسَبُ الْإِنسَانُ أَن يُتْرَكَ سُدًى” Translation: “Does man think that he will be abandoned without a purpose?” [1]
Imam Shafe’i, may Allah bless him, said: “As far as I know, the scholars of the Quran do not disagree on this matter that «سُدی» is someone who is not commanded or forbidden.” [2] Bayhaqi has narrated something similar from Mujahid ibn Jabr.
Because they have made freedom from any command and any commanding person their principle, and they interpret or empty the content and cancel its fruit where it cannot be denied. People often think of nothing but achieving their personal goals and do not pay attention to other issues that people want under the umbrella of “liberalism”; because the general public is pragmatic, not theorist and thinker, the peak of what each of them wants is the realization of his desire, the satisfaction of instinct and the return of his violated right, at this time they cannot understand “liberalism” to its principles by understanding the totality of the results; rather, everyone only demands and gets his own needs (by relying on liberalism). This goes back to one of the philosophies of liberal logic, which is “the rational material analysis of affairs, freedom, equality, and self-love,” and one cannot understand ideas and thoughts except by understanding all their principles and consequences that are composed of these principles.
Many times, a person knows his need, as well as the principles that made him realize his need, and as a result, he is happy for this principle and this thought that helped him achieve his need and supports it; but he remains unaware that knowing the principles and rules of an idea is not achieved solely through the interest of an individual. If this were the case, all systems, laws, and judicial principles in the world and in all centuries have been formed based on the interest of the individual, but this is not enough for its legitimacy, either from the perspective of intellect or from the perspective of Sharia.
Human nature considers his personal interest to be great, and this personal interest is not excluded from two cases:
First: Returning a blessing that was taken from him, whether rightly or wrongly, such as taking away his wealth or freedom of action (speech or action).
Second: Obtaining a new blessing, such as wealth, children, and other achievements. The thing that most preoccupies a person’s heart and affects him is first type. For anyone who returns a blessing that was taken from him, he feels a favor in his heart, even if it is through false means. Likewise, the thoughts and systems that herald this return, take the person’s heart with them, and when he hears such invitations, he does not think of anything except the taken dinar and his own voice. I have seen that a person loves a person who returns a dinar that was taken from him through oppression and coercion more than someone who gives him many times its value as a gift. If a person has one million dinars and one hundred thousand of them are forcibly taken from him, his heart and mind will be more concerned with the one hundred thousand that was taken away than with preserving and using the remaining nine hundred thousand, because human instinct is more concerned with calamities than blessings. That is why Allah Almighty has called him “Kanood” in the Quran. Ibn Jarir has quoted Hasan Basri as saying regarding the verse: “إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لِرَبِّهِ لَكَنُودُ” “He often blames his Lord, counts his calamities, and forgets his blessings. [3]
For this reason, the thoughts that deal with and talk about the blessings that have been taken away are accepted in people’s minds in an unbalanced way, causing a kind of intoxication, ignorance, carelessness, and haste in their understanding: “خُلِقَ الْإِنسَانُ مِنْ عَجَلٍ سَأُرِيكُمْ آيَاتِي فَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلُونِ” Translation: “Man was created in haste; I will show you My signs soon, so do not ask Me to hasten (the punishment).” [4]
Man does not like to have anything taken from him, and if that happens, he loses his balance. For example, a man may not speak more than an hour or two a day of his own free will; but if his speech is restricted to no more than an hour a day, this will be more difficult for him than not speaking voluntarily for several years.
The basis of the formation of “liberalism” is the restoration of all types of deprived instincts; whether this instinct is right or wrong, correct or deviant; as a result, liberalism is in all respects in agreement with instinct and in some respects with thought. Thoughts are formed in accordance with their agreement with instincts and meeting their needs over time, let alone when powerful governments support an idea and spend everything, they can to spread it through persuasion and threat, which is true of “liberalism.”
Liberalism is one of the ideas that was formed without any framework, and its writers and theorists try in vain to set a framework for it. This idea is still moving and has no boundaries except the end of instinct and surrender to the temptation of the soul. That is why the Almighty Creator has set frameworks for the human soul that are conducive to the good of his religion and world and has sent prophets to guide healthy and deviant minds.
Every human soul wants to fulfill its desires, instincts, and needs; but there are obstacles from intellect, nature, and society’s religion in front of it, the basis of liberalism is to eliminate these obstacles.
Continues…
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[1]. Surah Al-Qiyammah, verse: 136.
[2]. Al-Sunan Al-Kubra, vol. 1, p. 113, Al-Ma’arif India.
[3]. Tafsir Ibn Jarir Al-Tabari, vol. 24, p. 567.
[4]. Surah Al-Anbiya, verse: 37.
