Source: venninstitute.org
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Image source: HeraldMalaysia Website
I wish to begin by thanking the Venn Institute, on behalf of myself and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, for the most gracious invitation to take part in this effort to find common ground among the world’s religions around freedom of religion. In what follows, I will make my humble attempt to present the best theological argument for why Muslims should support and work towards religious freedom for all. And yet, to do so briefly, as the assignment requires, is an exceedingly tall order, because as Ahmadi Muslims, we believe that “[f]reedom of conscience –freedom to believe and to preach – is the cornerstone of religion.”1
For an Ahmadi Muslim, any discussion of theology within Islam must begin with the Holy Qur’an, which we believe “deals adequately with all problems arising within the sphere of religion.”2 Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the fourth successor to the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, places the exercise of complete free will in matters of faith at the very heart of the Holy Qur’an:
For you, you religion and for me, my religion,” it proclaims.3 In an earlier passage, God refers to the same principle by asking a rhetorical question. Addressing the Holy Prophet [of Islam, Muhammad (peace be upon him)], He says: ‘If thy Lord had enforced his will, surely all those on earth would have believed, without exception? Will thou, then, take it upon thyself to force people to become believers?’4 In the scheme of creation, man must have complete free will to believe or reject; there is no compulsion; a man must use his reason and understanding. After all, faith is a gift given by God to those He thinks deserve it.5
Thus, the Holy Qur’an explicitly enjoins that “[t]here should be no compulsion in religion,6” because the freedom to choose one’s faith is essential to God’s plan for humanity. The Holy Qur’an, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad argued, “contains well-reasoned arguments which carry conviction. Not one of the doctrines and principles and commandments that it sets forth is sought to be imposed merely by authority; as it has explained, they are all inscribed in… continue reading at venninstitute.org
By Mahmood Ahmad | Assistant National Director of Public Affairs | Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA
Categories: Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, Americas, ISLAM, Islam, United States