In pre-Islamic Arabia, some Arabs used to make their idols out of dates; when they got hungry, they would eat their gods! Today, history repeats itself, but in a more complex form. The Western ideology that once elevated the concept of freedom to a sacred status—freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; freedom of speech and expression; freedom of peaceful assembly; political participation; minority rights protection; and prohibition of torture and cruel treatment—is now betraying these very values when they conflict with the interests of capitalists and ruling elites.
In parts of Europe, Muslim women are prohibited from wearing the hijab in schools, workplaces, and some public spaces, despite the fact that, according to their own liberal philosophy, this should be considered a personal freedom! But it seems that this “freedom” is only permitted when it serves the dominant cultural and political agenda.
Today, we witness yet another stark contradiction in the United States. When university students expressed their opinions on campus, condemning the unconditional support for genocide and the displacement of people of Gaza—an act protected by the U.S. Constitution—the Trump administration, backed by financial and political elites, criminalized the students, threatened to expel them from universities, and even deporting foreign students among them!
The events in Gaza have exposed the hypocrisy of the West’s claims of upholding freedoms. They have proven that liberty in a capitalist system is nothing more than a tool used as long as it serves the ruling elites. But when it contradicts their interests, it is crushed without hesitation.
Isn’t it time for the world to reconsider Islam? Unlike empty slogans, Islam does not treat freedom as a hollow catchphrase but as an integrated system that liberates humanity from servitude to other humans and establishes rights based on justice rather than self-interest. A woman once corrected Umar ibn al-Khattab while he was addressing the people, and he did not denounce or silence her, though he was the Commander “Amir” the Caliph. Instead, he humbly admitted, “Umar was wrong, and the woman was right.” In another instance, he declared, “Since when have you enslaved people, while their mothers gave birth to them as free?”
Islam granted rights and duties to human beings as human beings—without discrimination between men and women, or between races and ethnicities. Islam never imposed faith by force; Allah (swt) says: لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ “There is no compulsion in religion. The right path has become distinct from the wrong.” [Al-Baqarah: 256].
Instead, Islam made faith a decision based on reason and reflection: Allah Says:إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِي تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ النَّاسَ وَمَا أَنزَلَ اللهُ مِنَ السَّمَاء مِن مَّاء فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الأرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخِّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَاء وَالأَرْضِ لآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ “Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of the night and the day, and the ships that sail in the sea for the benefit of people, and what Allah has sent down from the sky of water—reviving thereby the earth after its death, and dispersing therein every kind of moving creature, and the shifting of the winds and the clouds controlled between the sky and the earth—are surely signs for a people who reason.” [Al-Baqarah: 164].
Islam established the implementation of laws based on piety rather than personal whims. It made it incumbent upon the strong to care for the weak; the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: «أَلَا كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ» “Indeed, each of you is a shepherd, and each of you is responsible for his flock.”
Islam obligated people to stand for justice even when it goes against their personal or collective interests, as Allah (swt) says: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاء لِلّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَى أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالأَقْرَبِينَ﴾ “O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives.” [An-Nisa: 135].
Thus, Islamic society became a model for a society governed by mercy and justice.
O’ Muslims rediscover your faith—not as a cultural heritage but as a comprehensive system that rebuilds societies upon the foundation of “Sharia” divine law.
We call upon the American public, intellectuals, and all seekers of truth to rise above the media’s distortion of Islam, to examine Islam with an open mind, free from ideological biases. Perhaps, in doing so, you will find in Islam the just alternative that can rescue the world from the dominance of narrow self-interests that trample over values whenever they cease to be useful.
Allah (swt) says: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اسْتَجِيبُواْ لِلّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُم لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَأَنَّهُ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ “O you who have believed, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life. And know that Allah intervenes between a person and his heart and that to Him you will be gathered.” [Al-Anfal: 24].
Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in America
Ramadan 7, 1446 AH
March 7, 2025 CE
