Author: Mufti Obaidullah Noorzahi
Crises of Liberalism in the Contemporary World (Part 6)
Definition of “Liberalism”
Many writers interpret liberalism based on its literal translation from Latin to Arabic, meaning “freedom”. The word liberalis means what is worthy of a free man, and the words libet and lubet mean: free.
But this is merely a literal translation, and this term (in its literal sense) does not encompass liberal thought with all its roots and applications; although freedom is its great principle; but there are other principles as well and many Muslims are unaware of the position of Islam regarding the subjects that fall under these principles.
So, liberalism in the literal sense means freedom with specific rules and is referred to a wide array of ideas and theories related to the state that consider individual freedom as the most important political goal.
Modern liberalism has its roots in the Enlightenment. In general, liberalism places a strong emphasis on individual rights and equality of opportunity. Different branches of liberalism may propose different policies, but they all generally agree on a few principles, including the expansion of freedom of thought and expression, limits on the power of governments, the strong role of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market or mixed economy, and a transparent system of government. All liberals, and some supporters of other political ideologies, also support a form of government called liberal democracy, with free and fair elections and equal rights for all citizens under the law.
As a term of political thought, liberalism has had many meanings, but it has never been separated from the Latin root libber, meaning free. The term refers to the views or policies of those whose primary orientation in politics and government is to gain or maintain a certain degree of freedom from government control or direction or from other factors that may be considered undesirable for the human will.
Liberalism has traditionally been a movement to secure the view that people are not generally subject to despotic government; that they are protected by law in their private lives, and they can control the executive branch of government in public affairs through a freely elected legislature.
Liberalism has tended to follow the English philosopher John Locke in the field of pure theory, who believed in the state of nature and the law of nature, which affirmed that no one should harm the health, life, or property of others.[1]
What is necessary for every rational person is to know the limits of his own intellect so that he does not perish and to be aware of the decree of his Creator about it.
Liberalism is a rational thought that is devoid of any superior ruler and cannot be in agreement with the divine law in all respects; except at the cost of diminishing liberalism or diminishing religion, except in cases where individuals interpret religion according to their own desires in order to abhor what is in conflict with liberalism, or they interpret liberalism and limit it according to their desires in order to free themselves from what is in conflict with religion. Many also become fascinated with liberalism in order to restore to them what politics and society have unjustly taken away from them; but when they are reminded of the consequences and requirements of their words and behavior, they deny it and perhaps become preoccupied with interpreting these requirements, and many of them do not care about the weakness of this interpretation and its contradiction with the certainties of “liberalism”; because in fact they do not occupy their minds with these contradictions until after accepting this thought; Then they start to regularize it, otherwise the basis of their thinking is for their own specific behaviors and obtaining their denied needs and they have nothing to do with the behaviors of others. These people often face their intellectual contradictions one by one (not all at once) and as a result they interpret, resolve and return to them gradually (not all at once).
Someone who enters liberalism also sees religion with liberal intellect and eyes; many of them have it in the back of their minds that accepting liberalism is in conflict with religion means losing the “rights” that they have gradually acquired (by accepting liberalism); whether these “rights” are true or false, they gradually rise up against Islam out of selfish desire until nothing remains of it, while at the beginning they entered liberalism for one or a few limited issues.
Only those who deceive themselves and see Allah and His Messenger as small in comparison to their desires will enter this path. It is said: “If a person does something that he knows is wrong, it is due to the desires of the soul, and desires of the soul are a plague of chastity, and leaving an action even though he knows it is right is negligence, and negligence is a plague of piety, and doing something that he does not know is right or wrong is rebellion, and rebellion is a plague of intellect.” In order to reveal the truth of the idea of liberalism, the principles to which all the details of this idea return must be recognized; in such a way that all these details are necessary and indispensable from all or most points of view.
Meanings are often associated with similar meanings and revolve around an axis with their counterparts. Ideas are also related and have common principles, as similar as the situations they face and the causes that create them. Liberalism also has principles like every thought and belief, which are four in number.
Origin of the Naming
The name Liberal is a French word that has roots in Latin. In Latin, Liber meant “free” and “unbridled”. In Old French (around the 12th century), liberal meant “noble” or “decorative of the free”. By the 15th century, the word had changed to mean “unbridled” and “expensive”, which had a negative connotation. During the Age of Enlightenment, liberal gained a positive connotation with meanings such as “free from prejudice” and “tolerant”. In the 19th century, before taking on a political meaning, it was considered a religious term and opposed to orthodoxy. [2]
Liberal was first used in a political sense in 1814, when a group of members of the Spanish Parliament who wanted constitutional rule, and the return of previous freedoms were called “Liberals” (Spanish: Liberales). In France in the 1830s, anyone who opposed the return of the old regime was called “a liberal” (French: libéral). Between the 1850s and 1920s, the Liberal Party was one of the two major parties in Britain, and in the modern era, the name has been applied to countless parties around the world. [3]
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References:
[1]. Baqir Parham, quoted from the Dictionary of Sciences, p. 10.
[2]. Harper, “Liberal”, Online Etymology Dictionary.
[3]. Freeman, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics
