Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Teachings of Islam
The principle of non-coercion mentioned in the Quran (2:256) has not been confined to religious freedom alone. Rather, it has been extensively elaborated upon and widely applied to all social, cultural, and political spheres of society. This has led to the development of a new culture in which individuals enjoy freedom of expression, dissent and criticism without any fear or restriction. Two examples may suffice to explain to what extent this essential human right was observed in earlier Muslim societies.
Once Caliph Umar came to a well of the Banu Harithah where he met an outspoken person named Muhammad ibn Maslama. “How do you find me?” he asked Muhammad, “By God, I find you just as I would like you to be and just as it would please any well-wisher to see you. You are good at accumulating money, I see, but you keep your hands clean of it yourself, distributing it equitably to others.” “But,” went on Muhammad ibn Maslama, “If you adopt a crooked course, we will straighten you, just as we straighten swords by placing them in a vice.” At these aggressively critical words, Umar, the second Muslim Caliph, exclaimed:
“Praise be to God, who has put me among a people who will straighten me when I become crooked.” (Kanz al-Ummal, Hadith No. 35763)
When Muslims at Madinah, with their increasing affluence, began to settle huge dowers (mahr) on their daughters, Umar, in his capacity as caliph, ordered that no one should demand or pay a dower that exceeded four hundred dirhams, and that anything in excess of this amount would be confiscated and deposited in the public treasury (Baitul-Mal)
After the proclamation of this ordinance, when he came down from the pulpit, a tall, flat-nosed old woman stood up and confidently said:
‘The Quran has set no restrictions on this matter: Umar has no right to set an upper limit to the dowers.”
To back up her contention, she loudly recited this verse of the Quran:
“If you decide to take one wife in place of another, do not take back from her the dower you have given her, even if it be a talent of gold.’ (4:20).
Umar’s immediate reaction on hearing this was to say:
“A woman has quarreled with Umar and has bested him.”
(Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Vol. 2, p. 242-243)
According to another account, Umar said:
“May God, forgive me, everyone knows better than Umar, even this old lady.” (Musnad al-Farooq by Ibn Kathir, Vol. 2, p. 573)
With the advent of Islam in the seventh century, however, it was declared for the benefit of mankind that all greatness was the exclusive prerogative of God, and that in the eyes of God, all human beings were equal. The Prophet Muhammad declared not once, but on many occasions that all were alike, all were brothers.
“The Prophet not only stated the truth but also made it a reality by bringing about a total revolution based on the idea of human equality. On achieving political domination in Arabia, he was able to put this theory into practice in his capacity as ruler of a state. In this way, Islam put an end to discrimination between human beings on the basis of race, colour, status, etc. People were assigned a high or low status according to their moral worth.”