The Pitfalls of the Liberal Muslim in Society and Politics

What can be said of the Muslim who fights in the name of anything other than God? The influence of liberalism on Muslims in the West today has breathed life into this question as with its rise, we’ve seen an eruption of support for causes that go against Islam entirely, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

Muslims have found themselves trying to navigate their beliefs in the shadow of an ideology that presents itself as both morally and universally valid, which has led to confusion, misguidance and a complete lack of direction in our pursuit of social justice.

This problem finds its roots in the lack of adherence to a truly Islamic worldview; one that interacts with the world around us with the precepts of Allah’s (swt) divine laws in mind. Instead, our causes have been influenced by a liberal, secular understanding of social justice and liberation, which has sparked an internal battle between our core Islamic beliefs, and what we have been taught to accept as morally correct in western societies.

Over time, this battle has slowly eroded our ability to recognise its threats, and how incompatible its values are with Islam. Western liberation ideology has embedded itself so deep into the recesses of our minds that we have become blind to the ways it has swayed us from the path to pursuing true Islamic social justice and liberation.

In this article, we attempt to put an end to this battle and reorient back on the path by shedding light on the main ways liberalism has affected Muslims in hopes of correcting it. We trace the prevailing understanding of Western liberation to its roots, uncover its flaws, and place this against an Islamic understanding of justice in order to show how it is antithetical to the teachings of Islam. In the last portion, we remind ourselves of what liberation means in its Islamic essence, to derive a clearer picture of what its goals are and how they should be sought by Muslims.

Western liberation in context: where have the prevailing attitudes on western liberation ideology today stemmed from?

At an ideological level, current understandings on the purpose and goal of liberation in the West stem from the French Existentialist movement of the 1940s, which dominated the postwar intellectual space.

This movement’s roots trace back to the so-called enlightenment movement in Europe, which saw the decline of Christianity and divine values, and instead enshrined and venerated the human ego and service to self. Whatever colonial crimes existed during the Christian period of Europe pale in comparison to what was done when God was removed from the picture and man began to worship himself. This movement also had strong connections to the secretive paganistic fraternity known as Freemasonry. The newly-formed United States of America was entirely based on these liberal ideals, not Christian values. After the formation of the US, this movement gained strength and permeated global society.

This was an intellectual movement concerned with ideas surrounding identity, freedom, and liberty. With a primary emphasis on the attainment of personal freedom, from it grew the idea that true freedom is choice; the individual choice to do things, to be things, and to engage in certain pleasures.

It is this context and line of thinking that has come to shape the western liberal understanding of what true liberation is and what it would require today. However, by extension, it has also influenced the Western Muslim’s understanding of liberation, which acts directly against its Islamic interpretation in its pursuit and goals. We see this in our skewed attitude towards liberation and the social ills we have begun to accept in its name, which have negatively impacted the quality of our engagement with politics in a number of ways.

Contemporary effects of western liberation ideology on Muslims 

1. Liberation for the sake of liberation: lack of direction in the causes we pursue

The primary problem with western liberation theory is its lack of direction, which has driven its causes toward a haphazard pursuit of individual liberty without a clear purpose, and has inadvertently led Muslims down the same path.

It is assumed that attainment of absolute freedom of choice at the individual level will naturally ‘cure’ society, despite the excess of it being partly the problem. Choice for the sake of choice has led to a number of social issues we have witnessed today, such as the rising levels of gender confusion among the youth in the West¹ and the destruction of the God-centric family unit in exchange for greater individual autonomy.

Despite this, freedom of choice still plays a fundamental role in the Muslim understanding of social justice. We often find ourselves allied with an array of causes that enshrine this principle, without adequately assessing their effects, goals, and whether they are even compatible with Islam. We’ve handicapped ourselves by engaging in liberation dialogue while being ignorant to how Islam defines a truly liberated society.

2. The loss of a generation of Muslim women to feminism: acceptance and promotion of contradictory values

The effects of this ignorance can be seen by looking at the influence of feminism on many Muslim – specifically Muslim women’s – understanding of the purpose of liberation, its diagnosis of our current social problem and suggested cure.

Existentialists like Simone de Beauvoir, a respected figure within the feminist movement, suggested that the main ailment of society is man becoming the ‘ideal’ and woman taking on a subordinate role, which limits her freedom of choice and progression in society.² Liberation of society would then require a dismantling of the gender binary, which propels men into a position of dominance and women automatically into a subordinate role where she is destined to live an unfulfilled life:

“If I want to define myself, I first have to say, ‘I am a woman’; all other assertions will arise from this basic truth. A man never begins by positing himself as an individual of a certain sex: that he is a man is obvious.”

Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex³

“Woman is shut up in a kitchen or in a boudoir, and astonishment is expressed that her horizon is limited. Her wings are clipped, and it is found deplorable that she cannot fly. Let but the future be opened to her, and she will no longer be compelled to linger in the present.”

Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex⁴

This narrative completely underestimates the essential differences between both genders as nothing more than a social construct which has a grave impact on our understanding of liberation; when influenced by this narrative, it does not cater towards or nurture our different masculine/feminine temperaments, and instead strengthens one of our main social problems today, which is the complete eradication of this binary that has encouraged a life of constant competition between both genders instead of one of harmony:

Women have also been taught to idealise masculine values at the expense of the feminine sides of life. Many women have spent their lives in a constant feeling of inferiority because they felt that to be feminine was ‘second best.’ Women have been trained that only masculine activities, thinking, power, and achieving have any real value. Thus Western woman finds herself in the same psychological dilemma as Western man: developing a onesided, competitive mastery of the masculine qualities at the expense of her feminine side.”

Robert A. Johnson⁵

Since Islam stands in defiance of this logic by championing and nurturing these differences, Muslim women in the West have found themselves fighting an internal battle between a conflicting set of values; one that encourages a life of harmony, and one that feeds our greed and ego by constantly demanding more in exchange of status or monetary value.

This has affected many of us in our quest for liberation, as we begin to view causes that adhere to Islamic principles sceptically, and are more susceptible to believing narratives co-opted by the feminist movement. We saw this in late 2021, with the Muslim support offered towards western feminists that called for an end to mandated hijab in Iran in pursuit of freedom of choice, despite a) the ample support for the mandate within Iran, b) Hijab being an obligation in Islam which as such would naturally manifest in a country governed by Islamic law, c) the movement itself being led by Masih Alinejad, a questionable pro-Zionist figure who has worked under organisations that are known to have close ties to the CIA like Voice of America, and has even been bankrolled directly by the US government.⁶

The false pretences of this ideology have led to the loss of a generation of Muslim women to an unislamic worldview, which has promoted the destruction of the God-centric family unit, the erosion of gender roles, the breakdown of femininity, and the promotion of sexual freedoms.

In pursuit of liberal causes, we have neglected Islamic teachings which see the preservation of these things as our best interest, backdropped by the idea that pursuit of choice should never come at the expense of our dignity:

“Do human values include absolute freedom? A woman’s freedom is worthy [only] if it is coupled with dignity.”

Ayatollah Sayyid Munir Al-Khabbaz⁷

3. Inability to differentiate between truth and falsehood

“If wrong had been pure and unmixed it would not be hidden from those who are in search of it. And if right had been pure without admixture of wrong those who bear hatred towards it would have been silenced. What is, however, done is that something is taken from here and something from there and the two are mixed. At this stage Satan overpowers his friends and they alone escape for whom ‘virtue has been apportioned by Allah from before.”

Imam Ali (as), Sermon 50⁸

Though we live in an age that stands true to the words of Imam Ali (as), many of us remain blind to the realities of it – of how discretely the lines of truth and falsehood can be blurred, and how it even affects those causes which we hold closest to our hearts.

Plenty of the causes we do support have been co-opted by a liberal, secular worldview which distorts and sways its purpose away from God-conscious activism, towards a promotion of agendas which are antithetical to Islam and can even serve to protect the tyrants by de-fanging their opposition. Yet, it is Muslims who are seen hogging the front-row seats in support of them.

For example, well-known organisations and NGOs that have made a seemingly anti-Zionist stances and calls for the liberation of Palestine like Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)⁹ and the Adalah Justice Project¹⁰ which rely on masses of Muslim support, have also heavily integrated a liberal ideology into their activism, promoting the so called ‘queer’ liberation of Palestine, despite this having nothing to do with the call to an end to settler colonialism, no matter how desperately they try to contrive a connection.

Their abandonment of the cause is also seen in other stances, such as JVP’s statement condemning the Palestinian Resistance¹¹ despite claiming to support Palestinians against settler colonialism, and Khaled Beydoun’s call to extend support and dialogue towards the ‘good’ Zionists¹². The only principle these organisations and so called ‘activists’ uphold is normalisation, pushing for a reversion to the status quo, which only allows Palestinian’s to exist as victims rather than liberators. They define the parameters of acceptable resistance – which is usually only forms that are quiet enough to drown out – and force Palestinians to exist within it, and it is Muslims who are often the first to blindly accept.

In reality, this is the all too familiar show of self-importance embedded so deeply into the liberal ideology, which views its values as the only ones synonymous with modernity, progressiveness, and rationalism. Despite masquerading as one which welcomes all, a vision of a liberated Palestine which cherishes and preserves the values that have given it its status as the Holy Land for all the Abrahamic faiths agitates these activists; it simply won’t do.

Here, it is made clear that if liberation is to be sought, it must be on their terms, even if the values that create these terms are antithetical to those of millions both inside and outside of Palestine who support the Palestinian cause but do not accept a liberal ideology.

The quicker we recognise that we are only seen as allies when our beliefs are silenced or compromised, the quicker we will wake up to the fact that we do not need to operate on the backfoot by supporting organisations that view our beliefs as backward; we will approach activism with more discretion, and stay true the words of the Quran, which encourage us to avoid succumbing to half-truths:

Do not mix the truth with falsehood, nor conceal the truth while you know.

Holy Qur’an 2:42

The constant erosion of our beliefs has eroded our discernment in activism. As Muslims, we must choose to submit to an Islamic worldview above all else, and reject narratives that attempt to dilute our beliefs and package them into boxes that are supposedly more ‘acceptable’ for the times we are living in.

An Islamic Solution: Liberation Through an Islamic Worldview

Defining Islamic liberation: reformation of society

All of the above problems can be solved when turning back to our roots, through adopting an Islamic worldview when approaching matters concerning liberation and justice.

An Islamic worldview posits that the reform of society from shirk (polytheism) and actively working against the efforts of the Taghut should be the primary purpose of liberation. This provides clarity over what causes to stand for and which to not, and what organisations to support and which to ignore, based on how well they align with our Islamic prescriptions, and how these terms are defined in Islam. Here, true liberation cannot be obtained through a never-ending pursuit of individual freedom, but through a more principled approach, which makes every individual directly responsible for the reform of society:

“We are responsible for eradicating shirk from our societies and banishing them totally from our lives. At the same time we must prepare the right atmosphere in order the bring up a believing and righteous generation which will smash the thrones of the taghuts and destroy their illegal authorities, because corruption and deviation grow at their hands.”

Imam Khomeini (ra)¹³

If we cannot envision the complete liberation of society from corruption in the foreseeable future, that does not mean we do not work towards it. In the words of Imam Khomeini, we pour our efforts into lessening the consequences, even if the fruits of our efforts will likely only manifest for the next generation:

“… under a pharaonic rule controlling and corrupting the society, an Allah-fearing believer is unable to live upholding and adhering to his belief and righteousness. He has only two options open to him: either he will be forced to commit sins or to rebel against the rule of Taghut, fight it and try to eradicate it, or to lessen the consequences, at least. Only the second option is open to us. We have no option but to endeavor to bring down the corrupt and corrupting systems and to crush the treacherous and oppressing cliques tyrannising the people. Muslims wherever they may be are entrusted with this obligation in order to create a triumphant Islamic political revolution.”

Imam Khomeini¹⁴

Freedom through submission

What sets an Islamic worldview apart from all others is that it views reform through a divine ideology. While freedom is obtained through an expansion of choice (or the illusion thereof) in the West, freedom in Islam is obtained through submission. The more we submit to Allah (swt), the more we free ourselves from external worldly attachments like material gain, and the internal constraints of our ego. This is a concept that confuses the western liberal, for how can you be free if you must first submit to something?

This confusion is rooted in the lack of a divine ideology to guide the western secular understanding of liberation. In Islam, the primary goal of liberation is not the attainment of absolute individual liberty for material progression, but the creation of a reformed society that operates with its obligations to Allah (swt) at the forefront of its mind, which incites a feeling of responsibility toward the wider community in the individual.

It is not assumed that the attainment of individual liberty will automatically liberate society, but that a society in service to God, in which every individual has a personal incentive to feel responsible to the wider society beyond the Self, will produce the necessary reforms that respect the differences in masculine and feminine temperaments which are integral to the functioning of a healthy and responsible society. While the primary benefactor of liberation in secular thought is the Self, the primary benefactor of Islamic liberation is wider society, which naturally requires constraints and discipline in the liberties of both genders.

A system based on tawhid

If liberation must be taken as a social responsibility made to achieve the goal of reforming society, there must be incentive for it to do so, which can be found in emulating our religious teachings. For example, a true understanding of tawhid leads to the natural conclusion that this world does not belong to us, but to Allah (swt). If everything around us belongs to Him, then we start to see things like the unjust treatment of His creation, the hoarding of wealth under capitalism, corruption, or a class system which significantly puts people at a disadvantage as a direct offence against not us, but Him, which means we have a responsibility to maintain it according to His laws rather than our own personal whims and desires.

Likewise, those who work for us or the money we earn do not directly belong to us, but to Allah (swt), which means we have a duty towards them; they are things that should be used for Allah’s (swt) pleasure and cared for responsibly. The misuse of Allah’s (swt) property becomes detestable, and something to liberate ourselves from and stand firmly against. Sayyed Ali Khamenei encapsulates this idea beautifully:

“Tawhid in Islam is an inspiration for the kind of society that we wish to build, the direction we want this society to take, and the goals we want it to reach. This extends to people’s moral duties, their duties towards God, their duties towards one another, their duties towards society, and their duties to all the other beings in the cosmos. This is the true meaning of belief in God.”

Sayyed Ali Khamenei¹⁵

Here, tawhid cultivates in Muslims the attitude necessary to see liberation as a social responsibility which has an effect on the way we interact with the world and what causes we choose to support, as if they involve the misuse of Allah’s (swt) property or the undermining of His laws, we would feel it necessary to stand firmly against them in order to protect what is His.

There is no understanding of what a truly liberated society would look like, how we would need to model it, or what its goals should be without adherence to fundamental principles of our faith like tawhid. This would suggest that any form of liberation first and foremost begins as an inner journey; we must first submit ourselves to these Islamic guidelines, and then recognise that our Islamic beliefs have an outward manifestation, which allows us to recognise the things that are placing shackles on us in society and offer the best solution to free ourselves from this:

Certainly We sent Our apostles with manifest proofs, and We sent down with them the Book and the Balance, so that mankind may maintain justice; and We sent down iron, in which there is great might and uses for mankind, and so that Allah may know those who help Him and His apostles [with faith] in the Unseen. Indeed Allah is all-strong, all-mighty.

Holy Qur’an 57:25

This is what the Palestinian resistance embodies, as has been made clear during the recent bombardment of Gaza. It is the families of Gazan martyrs whose faith alone seems to have stopped the western world in its tracks, with millions watching in awe of their servitude to Allah (swt) and dedication to Islam despite losing their loved-ones and entire livelihoods. To be successful, you must be a servant of Allah (swt). This is what the Palestinians teach us daily, even under the brutal campaign inflicted on them by the Zionist entity.

“We revealed to the Children of Israel in the Book: ‘Twice you will cause corruption on the earth, and you will perpetrate great tyranny.’ So when the first occasion of the two [prophecies] came, We aroused against you Our servants possessing great might, and they ransacked [your] habitations, and the promise was bound to be fulfilled.”

Holy Qur’an 17:4-5

Here, it is made clear that to fight in Allah’s (swt) way you must first be a servant of Allah (swt). Before fighting for any cause against any injustice, you must ensure that you are spiritually grounded; the more spiritually grounded a person is, the more able they are to become a moral force in society. The greater the understanding of the foundations of justice in Islam, the easier it is to convey it, as what comes from the heart is more able to penetrate another.

Relying on the faithful: emulating the examples of women in our faith

Considering that western liberation’s main target is often the Muslim woman and everything she stands for, it is important to give a God-centric alternative to feminism specific attention.

Instead of latching ourselves onto any representation offered to us by feminism, if we were to turn our attention towards the ample examples of liberation fought by women in our faith, we would not pander to western ideals or fall victim to narratives which sway us from the path of truth.

We would see that any pursuit of justice by women in our faith was done in accordance with Allah’s (swt) laws, and was initiated first and foremost to please Him and live by His command. This was the story of Sayyeda Fatima (sa) in her fight for her rightful inheritance, and Sayyeda Zainab (sa) in fulfilling her duty of clarification in the aftermath of the Battle of Karbala:

“You claim that I have no entitlement, and that I do not inherit from my father, and that there is no kinship between us! Did God reveal a special verse for you, from which He excluded my father? Or do you say; ‘They (Fatima as and her father) are people of two different faiths, so they do not inherit from each other?’ … Or is it that you have more knowledge about the specific and general verses of the Quran than my father and my cousin (Ali)?”

Sayyida Fatima (sa)¹⁶

“O people of Kufa, woe upon you. Do you realise which piece of Muhammad’s heart you have severed, which pledge you have broken, whose blood you have shed and whose honour you have desecrated?”

Sayyida Zainab (sa)¹⁷

Through their example, we find the blueprint for jihad al tabyeen (clarification) and our role in it as Muslim women which we have lost touch with. If we were to follow in their footsteps by focusing our attention on Godly causes that are strengthened by our temperaments, we would understand the fundamental role that women play in fighting against the propaganda of the soft war and intellectual imperialism which is overlooked in the feminist narrative that instead wastes its time pursuing causes which further oppress them and foolishly pit them against men.

Islam sees liberation as a joint effort which both men and women must partake in because both are oppressed by the current system. The concept does not centre around the ‘male’ or ‘female’ because they are not opposed to each other; the real ailment of our society and culture is the eradication of opportunities to nurture the masculine and feminine, and a connection to the Divine, which prevents the production of a healthy society. Reforming society is therefore a joint effort to reverse this problem.

In an Islamic conceptualisation of social justice, women have been afforded a great responsibility that should be held onto with pride. It is one that can help us redefine what it means to be ‘free’ away from values that enshrine over-indulgence in personal pleasures, vanity, and material progression, towards God-centric values, which see our feminine qualities as something to derive strength from rather than something to loathe, and promote causes which enshrine Allah’s (swt) laws above all else.

Conclusion

The basic problem with liberalism is that it is contradictory; it poses as an all-encompassing ideology that’s basic tennant is the attainment of absolute freedom for all, but in reality it is one that demands submission. This has shown itself even in its conceptualisation of liberation, which is only deemed legitimate if it is fought on their terms and in the name of their causes. However, while it has dominated western minds for decades, its sanctimonious claim to universal validity has caused many people’s patience to wear thin, and it is Muslims who should be at the forefront of this awakening. We must now choose what we are willing to submit to; the guidelines of the religion we claim, or the guidelines of an ideology that is corrupting a generation.

If we were to water our roots, and dust off the Islamic teachings we have too often neglected, we would find that an Islamic worldview provides us with everything we need to diagnose the problem with our society and find its cure; the reformation of society based on an understanding of tawhid which inspires an individual responsibility to society, and preserves and nurtures the temperaments of both genders. Here, we find the primary difference between a liberal worldview and Islam; Islam is a religion of discipline, not indulgence. We do not pursue personal freedom at the expense of our dignity and the preservation of a healthy society.

Adopting an Islamic worldview presents an opportunity to practise tracing the epistemology of our belief system by asking ourselves if the beliefs we hold with conviction are rooted in Islam, or something else entirely which is misguiding our activism. This is because advocacy necessitates a set of values that you protect from violation. If Islamic values are not at the forefront of our advocacy, we must ask ourselves who we are advocating for, and what actions our words embolden.

In a world where the pendulum of truth constantly sways, Islam is the only thing that remains constant. Its principles and solutions have stood the test of time, and it is therefore essential that we honour it by remaining firm in our beliefs, no longer holding onto liberalism as a crutch because of the little representation it has traditionally offered us, even though this has always been deceptively conditional on us shunning our core beliefs.

We must turn back to the examples of God-conscious activism in our faith like that of Sayyeda Fatima (as) and Sayyeda Zainab (sa) to understand the blueprints of fighting for justice. Engaging in forms of activism while neglecting Islamic principles any longer will lead us away from truth, and is only a disservice to ourselves.

References
[1] Jennifer Block. (2023). Gender dysphoria in young people is rising—and so is professional disagreement. BMJ. https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p382 
[2] Simone de Beauvoir.  (1953). The Second Sex.  Johnathan Cape. 
[3] Ibid, p.25.
[4] Ibid, p.731.
[5] Robert A. Johnson. (1983). We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love. HarperOne. p.ix
[6] Al Mayadeen English (2022). Exposed: Masih Alinejad cashes out on anti-Iran ‘cinematic’ stunts. ttps://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/exposed:-masih-alinejad-cashes-out-on-anti-iran-cinematic-st, and MintPress, https://www.instagram.com/p/CjoIO98ukM_/?img_index=1 
[7] Ayatollah Sayyid Munir Al-Khabbaz. (2022). Islam and Women: A New Approach. Buraq Publications, p.176.
[8] Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 50. 
[9] Jewish Voice for Peace, https://www.instagram.com/jewishvoiceforpeace/ 
[10] Adalah Justice Project, https://www.instagram.com/AdalahJusticeProject/ 
[11] Jewish Voice for Peace statement https://www.instagram.com/p/CyR_Jj6ASzX/?img_index=4 
[12] Khaled Bedyoun’s talks in support of ‘good’ Zionists https://www.instagram.com/p/C1ZJk9BoHq7/ 
[13] Abdar Rahman Koya. (2009). Imam Khomeini: Life, Thought and Legacy. Islamic Book Trust & Crescent International, p.90. 
[14] Ibid. 
[15] Ayatollah Khamenei. (2021). Islamic Beliefs: Reclaiming the Narrative. Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission, p.147. 
[16] MS Bahmanpour. (2011). Fatima al-Zahra (sa): The Blessed Tree. Muhammadi Trust, p.157
[17] Muna Haeri Bilgrami. The Victory of Truth: The Life of Zaynab bint Ali. Ansaryian Publications, p.15.