Author: Mufti Obaidullah Noorzahi
Crises of Liberalism in the Contemporary World (Part 7)
History of “Liberalism”
Liberalism is a famous topic whose meaning remains unknown to many people; even those who think they understand liberalism well or have less knowledge of it or have a wrong understanding of it. Many politicians despise their opponents for being not liberal and introduce themselves as liberals; but in fact, they only use the topic of liberalism as a label (slogan and ceremony).
Liberalism is a topic that covers most of the social and human sciences and cultural issues under its umbrella, and this idea was born with the works of “John Locke” and reached its development stage in the 18th and 19th centuries. The word liberalism, which is a Spanish word, entered the history of social thought in the 19th century. This word was first used by “Adam Smith” under the title “Liberal Imports and Exports”. Among the great scholars who have addressed the subject of liberalism are John Locke, David Hume, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Spencer, and Frederic Bastia.
The importance of liberalism decreased with the spread of the ideology of socialism and fascism in the first half of the 20th century. In 1947, 39 thinkers gathered in the Swiss town of Montpellier at the invitation of Hayek. Great thinkers such as Popper, Polanyi, Friedman and Roebuck also attended the aforementioned gathering. They raised their concerns about some of the values that were disappearing, because on the one hand, new ideologies (socialism and fascism) threatened the aforementioned values and had gained the support of a large part of the youth, and on the other hand, the belief in private property and free trade, which are essential for free societies, had weakened. The aforementioned intellectuals gave a new order to the principles of their thoughts according to the requirements of the time and were determined to strengthen them in the intellectual arena.
It is worth noting that liberalism has dominated as a political movement in the last four centuries, although the term liberalism was not officially used as a reference to this school until the nineteenth century. Perhaps the first modern state founded on liberal principles was the United States of America, which declared in its Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain rights and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This is reminiscent of John Locke’s words that were central to his theories: life, liberty, and property.
A few years later, the French Revolution overcame the country’s aristocratic legacy with the slogan of liberty, equality, and fraternity, and became the first country in history to grant universal suffrage to all men. [1]
The Declaration of the Rights of the People and of the Citizen was first drafted in France in 1789 and later became a foundational document for both liberalism and human rights. [2]
Falsification of Truths
The life of this world is not organized except with material things and the life of the Hereafter except with belief and worship, just as matter is counterfeited in the form of gold, silver, and money, and made to resemble its original appearance so much that if there were not specialist who knew money and jewelers, people’s lives would be ruined, so are beliefs, thoughts, and morals. Perhaps a person accumulates (fake) wealth for himself so much that people consider him to be one of the great and wealthy; but he goes bankrupt by stating that what he has is fake.
The most difficult situation for the human soul is to continue with a fake work or method, because the human soul accepts change and transformation from one state to another with difficulty and hardship, and even becomes arrogant and stubborn in the face of change, except for a pure and vigilant soul, which is rare.
If a person’s soul gets used to making mistakes and remains in this state for a long time, it becomes hard and inflexible, to the point that it becomes harder than a rock in the face of change, as Allah Almighty says about the Children of Israel: “فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَمَدُ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ” Translation: “So the waiting period was prolonged for them, and their hearts hardened, and many of them are transgressors.” [3]
And he whose heart is hardened does not remember the truth; Except when he sees the promise: “فَذُوقُوا بِمَا نَسِيتُمْ لِقَاء يَوْمِكُمْ هَذَا” Translation: “So taste the punishment for having forgotten the meeting of this Day of yours.” [4]
Just as the attributes of greed, avarice, and stinginess apply to wealth, they also apply to belief and thought, and the intellect goes to its slaughter under the shadow of greed. Allah the Almighty says about the penetration of stinginess into the human soul: “وَأُحْضِرَتِ الأَنفُسُ الشُّحَ” Translation: “And stinginess is present in the souls.” [5]
Ibn Jarir al-Tabari narrated from Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) from Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) who said: ” Shoh (Stinginess) means wanting something for which one is greedy.” [6]
A materialistic view of life is the same water that fosters greed and covetousness. This is why, whenever Allah Almighty speaks in His Book about the rights of people over each other, He often commands worship afterwards. Because worship reminds us of the other world and the Creator who honors man for forgiveness, and this creates a balance between the innate nature (stinginess) and revelation, and as a result, the two sides of the scale of life become equal.
Allah the Exalted says about the rights of husband and wife: “وَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ عَلَى الْمُوسِعِ قَدَرُهُ وَعَلَى الْمُقْتِرِ قَدْرُهُ مَتَاعًا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿۲۳۶﴾ وَإِن طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَمَسُّوهُنَّ وَقَدْ فَرَضْتُمْ لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً فَنِصْفُ مَا فَرَضْتُمْ إِلا أَن يَعْفُونَ أَوْ يَعْفُوَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ وَأَن تَعْفُواْ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى وَلا تَنسَوُا الْفَضْلَ بَيْنَكُمْ إِنَّ الله بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ (۲۳۷)” Translation: “And provide for them in a good manner, the rich according to their means and the poor according to their means. This is the duty of the doers of good. And if you divorce them before you have had intercourse with them, and you have appointed for them a dowry, then give them half of what you have appointed, unless they forgive or the one in whose hand the marriage bond is granted forgives. And that you forgive is nearer to piety. And do not forget to show kindness to one another. Indeed, Allah is Seer of what you do”. [7]
This is what materialistic ideas such as liberalism and the like do not admit; ideas that begin and end with calculation and demand.
Continues…
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References:
[1]. Emil J. Kirchner, Liberal Parties in Western Europe, “Liberal parties were among the first political parties to form, and their long-serving and influential records, as participants in parliaments and governments, raise important questions… “, Cambridge University Press, 1988.
[2]. Budziszewski, The nearest coast of darkness: a vindication of the politics of virtues, Cornell University Press, 1988.
[3]. Surah Al-Hadid, verse: 16.
[4]. Surah Al-Sajdah, verse: 14.
[5]. Surah Al-Nisa, verse: 128.
[6]. Tafsir Al-Tabari, vol. 9, p. 282.
[7]. Surah Al-Baqarah, verse: 236-237.
