Page 141 - Seekers Guide Book

The Seeker’s Guide
on authoritarianism and is certainly not compatible
with Western values, which are based on freedom and
democracy. Islam is a religion of nature and operates on
the principle of freedom. Just as nature does not follow
the course of authoritarianism, similarly Islam does not
encourage authoritarianism. Islam recognizes individual
freedom. But this also means that everyone is free to
misuse their freedom. It is this misuse of freedom that
creates problems. In such a scenario, those who misuse
their freedom may be made to understand and persuaded
with reason. However, abolishing their freedom is not
the solution advocated by Islam.

62 Can someone be an Islamic scholar but
not a Muslim?

es, it is possible. The prerequisite for a non-Muslim
Ywould be to be totally objective in his pursuit of
knowledge and the prerequisite for a Muslim would be to
be completely God-fearing and unbiased as he treads the
path of knowledge. These are conditions for both kinds
of Islamic scholars. Without these conditions neither
Muslims nor non-Muslims can become scholars of Islam,
in the real sense.

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