Freedom: The Way to the Light

Freedom is a beautiful concept that instills in the mind the sensation of “emancipation” and “flight.” In the realm of existence, every living and spirited being has a strong desire to have freedom and life free from “constraints” and never want to give up its “will and authority” to another. But in the position of the “dignity of the creatures” and the flagship of creation, which even reaches the position of “Caliph of God on the earth,” they value emancipation and freedom more than any other phenomenon and desire it in their lives.

The history of several thousand years of mankind is full of painful narratives of colonization, slavery, exploitation and the absolute domination of man over man; Something that is in complete contradiction with the spirit of creation and has stained human history.

In the modern world, limitless efforts have been made in the direction of securing and guaranteeing human freedom, and many legal mechanisms have been established, which without doubt, have played a very influential role in improving the “right to freedom” for humans.

Along with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration of Islamic Human Rights, approved by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (now the Organization of Islamic Cooperation), is one of the most important initiatives that Islamic countries have carried out in sync with the world in order to institutionalize the values of human rights in the Islamic world.

Clause A of Article 11 of the Declaration of Islamic Human Rights states that: “Man is born free, and no one has the right to enslave, humiliate, oppress, exploit, or enslave him, except God Almighty.”

In paragraph “b” of this article, it is stated as follows: “Colonialism in its various forms and because it is the worst form of slavery, is strongly sanctioned, and the nations that suffer from colonialism have the right to be freed from it and determine their own destiny.” All governments and nations are also obliged to help the colonialized countries in the fight against the destruction of any colonialism and occupation. All nations also have the right to preserve their independent personality and dominion over natural resources and wealth.

Based on the declaration, which has been signed by all Islamic countries and its provisions have been accepted, Islamic countries should respect the important principle of freedom for all their citizens and respect it in all spheres of life.

But what is experienced in practice shows that Islamic countries, besides having political problems and widespread violence compared to other countries, especially the Western world, in most cases are alien to the concept of freedom in its full and true sense, or as it is necessary, they do not value and respect it.

As the last and most complete heavenly religion, Islam considers all human beings to be equal in every respect and has considered any discrimination and injustice as not allowed. Therefore, no citizen or human group should be subjected to discrimination, double treatment, exclusion and neglect due to their ethnic, racial or even religious affiliations and be deprived of their rights.

Political participation and social justice are the most basic and fundamental principles that should be given special attention in the Islamic society. Based on this, all citizens have the right to participate in their political destiny in a proper and proper way, so that they can participate in the selection of the leader and ruler of the society and represent their will, and they can also participate in power and politics.

Highlighting the concepts of “self” and “other” in any society, especially in the Islamic society, means obvious alienation, and its short-term and long-term consequences are creating opportunities for some people and burning opportunities for others. When the situation is full of discrimination that is depriving some citizens of equal opportunities, which is actually depriving them of the principle of freedom in using opportunities in different areas of life.

For example, if a part of the population of a land is deliberately deprived of access to public services, employment in government offices, and the use of the country’s natural and economic resources due to certain criteria set by another part that dominates the power sources, the freedom of deprived people has been taken away from them and the equality of all has disappeared.

Freedom in holding gatherings and protests, freedom in expression of opinions and beliefs and providing an environment without extremist restrictions in the fields of culture, art and literature is something that moves the society towards development, enlightenment and peaceful life and from other side, It picks out the fields of violence, alienation and the politics of exclusion and self-importance from the society.

Finally, freedom has had a high place in the thoughts of fighters and justice seekers in the long history of humanity. Nelson Mandela; The hero of the struggle against racial discrimination, with the belief that “our movement towards freedom is irreversible and we should not allow fear to block our way”, spent many years in prison and at the end of his work, he tasted the joy of victory in an atmosphere full of freedom. He even defined “death for freedom” in his ideals and said: “I have cherished the ideal of having a free and pro-equality society. This is an ideal that I hope to live for and achieve. But if necessary, it is a cause I am ready to die for.