Freedom is a natural urgency. Everyone loves it. A free person loves to exercise freedom while a slave aspires to it. Both men and women love freedom . We’ve been created to be free, or strive to attain freedom, and fight against those who threaten it.
The first book which I personally read two decades ago about freedom was not a university book, nor was it a best seller of Secularism, nor was it authored by some famous philosophers or some ancient sages. It was none of that. Rather, the first and last book I read on freedom was the Qur’an itself. Indeed, it is the book of genuine freedom. It’s not authored by humans and there’s nothing like it, not even close.
The Qur’an teaches humanity that what we perceive is a tiny fraction of the whole reality, that the existence is much more complex, that life has a purpose that if understood correctly, it liberates and frees people. It teaches people about the seen and unseen, about body and soul, about life and death, about the strength and weaknesses, so it brings one to the real senses. That’s freedom and liberation while illusion breeds enslavement.
The Qur’an teaches humanity that no matter how long one lives and how wealthy he or she may be, death shatters everything. It’s a verifiable fact of life. The Qur’an, however, teaches us that it shatters something which was merely an illusion in the first place; the true life is yet to come if only people get prepared for it. Indeed, this is freedom.
The Qur’an teaches humanity that above every individual, there’s another one more powerful, and God is the most powerful. In the end, people are all the same; they’re mortal and equally dependent on God. Indeed, this is liberation from the class despotism and human oppression.
The Qur’an teaches humanity that the path to God is equally accessible for everyone regardless of social or political status, rich or poor. This is indeed freedom and liberation. While God is everything we need, nothing has power over us to prevent us from beseeching Him and submitting to Him. This is undoubtedly liberation from human tyranny.
The Qur’an teaches humanity knowledge, wisdom, dignity, the moral code, and the essence of all truth. It’s memorization is the best language training and the most powerful eloquence. Its recitation in our prayers and the deep reflection on its meanings give us serenity and the best rational principles of wisdom, and above all it is in the public domain. This certainly guarantees the true freedom.
While Secularism says something but it means another thing, preaches one thing in order to achieve the opposite – full of pragmatism and deception, the Qur’an doesn’t abstain from emphasizing the bitter truth. Secularism preaches addiction to the limited materialism, alcohol, the immediate pleasures and a reckless life style while the Secularist governments control all the natural resources; the Qur’an preaches the exact opposite because it’s the book of freedom.
Sabri Lushi
