Explanation of the Position of the Principle of Freedom in Social Justice: An Islamic Approach

Principles of social justice consist in the rules which contribute to the administration of justice by distributing social blessings. Numerous principles play significant role in determining the real position of anything or anybody in society, one of which is the principle of purposeful freedom. Freedom as defined by the Western liberalism means man’s freedom in fulfilling his personal desires without any commitment to what is human or moral, something that is based on humanism, on the idea that intellect is something instrumental and that there is a split between the truth and goodness. However, unlike liberalism, freedom in Islam requires that the ground for the growth and flourishment of the human aptitudes and talents as well as individuals’ perfection in society should be prepared. This idea is based on the following eleven principles which have been deduced from various sources in Islam: faith as being a matter of choice, believers being different in terms of their degrees in faith, social growth, people’s participation, Ijtihad as something open to everyone, enjoining good and forbidding evil, difference of tastes, observing graduality in guidance, non-binding prescripts of religion, dependence of enforcements of laws on general gratification and the principle of non-dominance. The explanation of the conditions, the implications and consequences of these principles through analytical-descriptive method has been offered in detail. This paves the ground for those who make studies on justice to ponder more on these matters and makes the justice-seeking administration informed of the course they wish to take.