Freedom of Inquiry

"To make a case against Islam, one must possess adequate knowledge about its doctrines and fundamental values. One must study each aspect of the religion to gain understanding of the world of Islam. Pretty much a typical academic exercise."

Now, the question is: does someone actually have the right to question Islam? Of course, everyone does. We all have the freedom of speech (or should have). But will someone be able to make a sufficient case against Islam? Everybody can say whatever they want, but should we listen to them or not? If someone has a prodigious knowledge in a particular field or subject, he or she has the authority to speak on anything related to that subject. I think everyone knows this. After all, one can't question Einstein's theory if one does not have sufficient knowledge in physics to question it or perhaps, an advanced degree in physics.

Nevertheless, each of us is entitled to our own opinion. You can talk about politics, religion et cetera...don't let anybody deter you from doing so. Let's take politics as an example. You see a lot of people talk about politics in the cafes, pubs and other places...but most of these folks might not actually have any first-hand knowledge about whatever they are speaking. 

Do we need a degree in politics to talk about politics? Do we need to have a degree in literature to talk about literature? Do we need a qualification in something before we can open our mouth? 

In the matter of religion however, we are all so passionate in proving who is right...and who is wrong. We do this because we don't want to consider the possibility that we could be wrong. In fact, the problem with most religionists is that, they believe their religion to be the absolute truth that they won't even consider the possibility that they might be wrong. In the words of Frithjof Schuon: 'The intellectual-and thereby the rational-foundation of Islam results in the average Muslim having a curious tendency to believe that non-Muslims either know that Islam is the truth and reject it out of pure obstinacy, or else are simply ignorant of it and can be converted by elementary explanations; that anyone should be able to oppose Islam with a good conscience quite exceeds the Muslim's powers of imagination, precisely because Islam coincides in his mind with the irresistible logic of things.' (Stations of Wisdom).

Aren't we all interested in learning what is right...in learning what the world is all about? I wish some of my friends would open their mind and appreciate the diversity in the world and treat everyone as equals. The reply that I usually would get is: we have al-Qur'an and the hadiths, why should we look anywhere else? I realize that this is quite a problem in itself. Some simply don't care much about what is happening in the world. Some are backward in their knowledge of science and technology. Some of the Muslim countries have among the highest record of human rights abuses in the world.

A merciful God will not command His followers to subjugate other people to follow what they believe. There is not enough love in the world to be shortchanged for hate. It does not matter how big or small our effort is, it is enough that we care to contribute in making a positive change in the world. I heard this quote once and I have been holding on to it ever since: Life is not fair, but you can be. 

Having an opinion is not wrong. We can't be absolutely sure of anything. If we can't speak about something because we don't have enough knowledge about it, then the whole world should be silent.

When someone presents a worthy question, they deserve a proper answer. That's how we learn. Unless our priority in the first place is to safeguard the truth, a truth which we ourselves hold as the absolute truth, and which others have no right to question because we simply deem that they don't have the 'authority'.

The problem is, the rest of the world don't necessarily subscribe to the same beliefs as we do.