Tariq Ramadan Examines Liberty at Bethesda Fundraiser

Not only is liberty an Islamic value but a core value, Tariq Ramadan says at the Minarat of Freedom Institute’s annual fundraiser

The Minarat of Freedom Institute of Bethesda Maryland held its annual fundraising dinner on Tuesday, April 27, 2010, with the internationally recognized key note speaker Tariq Ramadan delivering a thought provoking speech entitled: “Is Liberty an Islamic value?”

Ramadan’s speech centered on the theme that freedom is not only an Islamic value, but the very essence of the Islamic concept of what it means to be a fully dignified human. What makes man unique among all of Allah’s creatures is the fact that he is endowed with free will to choose his own path to spiritual enhancement by worship. This freedom of choice, along with the gift of knowledge, is the starting point to understand the special dignity that Allah has endowed to man. There can be no act of true faith without freedom of choice: one chooses with purity of heart to worship Allah.

After opening with a Quranic recitation, dinner, and Maghib prayers, the Minarat of Freedom Institute’s vice president Shahid Shah presented a short introduction about the institutes many activities, as one of the very few Muslim think tank institutes in the USA. He presented examples of proactively working to counter false presentations of Islam in the western media and policy circles, and to promote the Islamic ideas of rule of law and order, and free market “liberal” economy. Naturally there was a pitch to support the institute’s diverse work monetarily in these difficult economic times, but this fundraising time was relatively very short.

MFI vice president Aly Ramadan Abuzaa’kouk introduced the keynote speaker Tariq Ramadan by reminding the attendees that in 2004 he was appointed by the University of Notre Dame in Indiana as the Henry R. Luce Professor of Religion, Conflict and Peace Building, but that the Bush Administration’s State Department refused him a visa (invoking the “ideological exclusion provision” of the USA PATRIOT Act as grounds to keep him out of the country). This decision was later repealed by the Obama administration, yet in the interim he became professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University, England, a position he still holds to this day. His mentioned the list of his many books, including “Radical Reform.”

In his speech Ramadan noted that freedom is never discussed in any tradition including western philosophy, except within the context of a legal framework and a system of laws which limits freedom: otherwise, there is chaos and conflict. Freedom necessitates ethics, rights and obligations. Moreover, there can be no freedom without knowledge. To understand freedom as a core Islamic concept one must return to the basic philosophy of what is called the “Maqasid” (objectives and purposes) of all Islamic law. Muslims need to have an overriding understanding of these objectives of the Islamic law and not become mired by an obsession with details of literal interpretations and implementation devoid of these Maqasid. Without proper understandings the underlying Maqasid of the laws, the laws may become unjust, unwise and counterproductive. The classical understanding of Maqasid, especially in the Maliki juristic traditions like in the writings of al-Juwaini and ash-Shatabi and others, mentions a hierarchy of human needs from most necessary onwards in the Dhururah to Hajiat to Tahseenat (absolute dire necessitates to needs to luxuries) within the six realms of human need which the any system of law must uphold and protect at all times: religion, life, intellect, property, progeny and dignity.

He also mentioned that the classical Muslim scholars gave to the Europeans the basic idea about secularization when they divided the legal framework of the Islamic Sharee’ah (law) into two basic spheres: ‘Ibadat and Mu’amilat. ‘Ibadat are worships (and Aqeedah [creed and faith] is included here), which are based directly on texts of scriptures of the Quran and the Sunnah, and in which a Muslim must simply listen and obey to fulfill his obligations to Allah. In other words, all worships are not allowed except those for which there is a specific text to legislate it. There is some legitimate diversity of opinions in interpretation of the text, but the texts themselves are definitive and absolute. The sphere of Mu’amilat (interactions) on the other hand, is qualitatively different: all human transactions are allowed and everything is halal (food and drink, for instance) except for that which there is a specific scriptural text to prohibit it. Thus, in the sphere of Mu’amilat, man has great liberty and freedom to be creative, expressive, diverse, and adaptive. Here is where the great diversity among man is not only a reality but a respected necessity of the human condition and its various cultures. Note that the Arabic word “Ma’roof” used in the Quran and Sunnah means what is commonly understood by moral custom to be good, and therefore this leaves a great leeway for determining what is legally binding in Islamic law across various historical and cultural situations. Note also that mere “tolerance” of another in their diversity is not enough, but a Muslim must “respect” the others differences.

Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, president, director and founder of Minarat of Freedom Institute, hosted the question and answer session which included a question about the issues of citizenship and modern civic participation in non-Muslim societies, and other issues of urgent concern. In the many controversial issues facing the Muslims today and in which they seek “Fatwas” (legal verdicts), Ramadan explained that the jurists must have a deep vision and understanding of both the legal texts of Islamic scriptures, and the scientific context of the real world, to remain faithful to Islam, to serve the needs of the community, and to not merely adapt in response to the march of technological and scientific advancement but to lead humanity in the modern era by developing a truly proactive Islamic ethics and spirituality.

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