Are Muslims oppressed?

There is a pervasive idea among non-Muslims that the rules and requirements of following Islam restrict individual freedom, and that it therefore is an oppressive religion. People want to set us free from our religion so that we may experience ‘freedom’.

As a Muslim convert, I am surrounded by non-Muslim friends and family who are sympathetic to this viewpoint to varying degrees, and I guess understandably so when you look at the mainstream media rhetoric about what Islam is. I think it is telling that one of the first concerns my parents had about me becoming Muslim was that it would take away my free will and change my identity away from who I really am to who my religion tells me I must be. And I am sure it is a concern that every parent of a convert must have. As a result, I have been thinking a lot about the rules we follow as Muslims and how we explain to non-Muslims that they do not restrict our freedom. I hope this post will help show my perspective on how Islam allows us to be free and, in my opinion, to experience a level of freedom that it is very difficult to attain without Islam.

The rules that people think oppress us are our fiqh – literally translated as the understanding or comprehension of something – and in Islam means the jurisprudence which covers every aspect of a Muslim's life so that we can live in a way that brings us close to God and true to our purpose. It tells us what is allowed and forbidden, recommended and advised against. It covers theology to tell us what we must believe, our ethics so that we can refine our character, and our actions so that we outwardly behave in the best way.

It is important to understand that following fiqh is a means to an end, it is not an end in itself. It is a way of life that facilitates us in this world so that we can have peaceful hearts and restful minds.

In Jeffrey Lang’s book ‘Even Angels Ask’ which I highly recommend, he mentions a Hadith (a saying of the Prophet (saw*)) which says “the more a believer persists in worship and doing good, the clearer his heart becomes so that it is better able to receive the divine light, and if someone is negligent of these, his heart becomes rusted and incapable of receiving divine illumination.”

This Hadith is not very helpful if we don’t know what worship actually is, and are left to our own devices to work out what ‘doing good’ should be. The Quran and Hadith have been studied extensively by scholars to create fiqh so that when we live as the Quran advises us and the Prophet (saw) recommended, we are not just making it up all by ourselves and inevitably getting it wrong. So fiqh is not just helpful, it is absolutely essential for the life of a Muslim.

When I choose to fast in Ramadan, when I choose not to drink alcohol or eat non-halal meat, when I choose to dress modestly, when I choose to get up at 4.30am to pray, I choose to follow fiqh. Because when I do, I feel amazing. I wake up at 4.30am and I smile knowing that the world is asleep and this is my time to be intimate with my creator. I abstain from alcohol and I have stimulating conversation all evening with people whose minds are clear. I eat halal meat and feel happy that this animal’s life was not taken for granted, but honoured, and that it was killed in a way that limits any suffering**. I dress modestly and realise that people are now forced to value me for who I am, not how I look, and I stop caring about whether or not my body looks like unattainable airbrushed images because even if it did, it would mean nothing to me.

So no, Muslims are not oppressed. We are free. Free of superficiality, free of objectification. We are free from that empty feeling that means no matter how much money you earn you still want more. We are free of the need to define our worth by what job we have or status we hold in society. We are free from feeling like the extent to which we look like the celebrities in magazines is fundamental to our happiness. We have this freedom by following our religion. Since becoming a Muslim I have experienced a freedom that I never knew I could. The way I now live my life, following fiqh, has not compromised my identity or taken away my free will. It has made me a better person and it has made me happier. Now, people get to see the best of me because I am empowered through my religion to attain it.

 

*sallallahu alayhi wa salaam (may God's blessings and peace be with him

**With Halal meat, this is a topic I will write more about as I am aware that animal welfare of halal meat, certainly in the UK, is not as it should be. However I must emphasise that this is not a reflection of Islam, but a reflection of people following fiqh without understanding its meaning.

*This article is in reference to the lives of Muslims who are actively seeking authentic knowledge, are focussed on spiritual development, and are meaningfully implementing the principles of their faith.