Today, a country of almost 260 million people, will celebrate independence. Pakistan is one year shy of 80. If Pakistan was a man, he would have grown ripe in years – silver-haired and wisened by life’s experience.
Would his be face be wrinkled by all the worries of the difficult life he had led? Filled with regrets with the mistakes he had made? Or smiling at surviving them? Would he be filled with pride at his contributions to science, technology, sports, food, and fashion? Or weary and worn out by the challenges of managing his finances, balancing his books, while repeatedly verging on bankruptcy.
80 years may be the twinkling of an eye in terms of world history, but is old enough for newer generations to be removed from harrowing memories of the atrocities that took place during its bloody inception. The scars and wounds of partition that saw the loss of a million lives and displacement of 15 million others.
Though Pakistan gained freedom from harsh colonial masters who treated its people as second-class citizens in their own land, belittled their colour, their clothes and their culture, denied them basic rights, and exploited their country and its resources, it has never quite shaken off the shackles of the ideas and class divisions they left behind.
As I reflect on the arguably fragile nature of its independence, enmeshed as it is in complex political relationships and economic dependencies, I wonder whether it is possible to ever truly be free?
Islam came to free us from subjugation by oppressive systems – whether they are cultural ideas, superstitions, relationships or even the shackles of our own desires. In order to be truly free, we need a clear sense of identity, financial independence and the ability to live with purpose and in safety.
There are at least four different kinds of freedom:
- Political freedom: freedom from tyranny, coercion and oppression.
- Social freedom: the ability to live with dignity, without humiliation or persecution.
- Economic freedom: enough independence not to be completely controlled by another person or institution.
- Inner freedom: freedom from domination by appetite, anger, addiction, fear and insecurity.
Islamically, true freedom requires all four. A person can be politically free yet psychologically enslaved; economically independent yet enslaved by desire; legally free yet socially humiliated.
The Prophet ﷺ taught us that real freedom also begins within. It is the ability to overcome the baser pulls of our desires, break bad habits, ride out our emotional storms without losing control, and rise above our fears and insecurities.
But he did not teach freedom only at an individual level. In his remarkable lifetime, he built a new society with a clear identity, financial independence and purpose. He established a framework of clear moral and ethical principles from the Quran. He established a new economy where businesses could flourish without oligarchs controlling the market for their own benefit.
He ﷺ also showed us what it means to be environmental stewards by discouraging pollution and waste, and actively promoting the protection and restoration of the natural world. Within ten years, he had laid the foundations for what would become a great civilisation, particularly during the 8th–14th centuries, when scholarship, innovation and commerce reached extraordinary heights.
In Islam, the Shariah seeks to protect the foundations that allow human beings to live freely, safely and with dignity. Its five essential aims are the protection of religion, life, intellect, lineage and property. Freedom means that the sanctity of your life and property is respected, that you are able to worship without persecution, that your mind and intellect are protected, and that your honour and dignity are not violated.
Yet our modern understanding of freedom has become confused and, in some cases, distorted. Freedom is increasingly presented as the removal of restraints and boundaries, as though the ability to do or say whatever we want is the highest form of liberty. Yet, it is the erasing of boundaries that ironically creates a breeding ground for oppression, inequality and injustice. To protect freedom, we therefore need to protect the boundaries and framework that protect freedom.
Moreover, freedom cannot simply mean licence without responsibility. One person’s freedom should not come at the expense of another person’s dignity – even when it is a joke. Real freedom is not merely the freedom to insult, but the freedom to live without being insulted or degraded. The right to dignity belongs to every human being.
May Allah make us of those who live with peace, dignity and freedom. Ameen.