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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Political Theory (Legislation): Volume 2 Session 35: The Connection between Freedom, State and Laws The alleged incompatibility of an appointed ruler with freedom and democracy In the previous discussions we have said that just as the law must be enacted either by God Himself or by His leave and permission, the implementer of law must be determined either by God Himself or by His leave and permission.

In any case, the government system—constituted by the executive, legislative and judicial powers—must be anchored in divine permission otherwise it will not be legitimate from the religious point of view. Elsewhere in the previous discussions, whether in the field of legislation or execution of laws, we refuted certain skeptical objections.

One of them is that if we believe that the implementer of laws must be determined either by God Himself or by His permission, we actually deprive the people of what God has ordered and determined, i.e., their legal right of electing a ruler from among themselves. This is inconsistent with the spirit of democracy and populism. At the outset, I shall deal with freedom and then embark on explaining the manner of establishing the Islamic government and implementing Islamic laws.

Examining intrinsic freedom and negating the theory of predetermination While discussing freedom we come across the term “intrinsic freedom” [ al-huriyyah al-takwiniyyah ] in contradistinction to predetermination [ jabr ]. Since time immemorial, thinkers in the world have a difference of opinion on whether man is autonomous or compelled.

A group argues that man is under compulsion and has no free will in this life and to imagine that he performs an action using his own discretion is nothing but an illusion. In reality, he is compelled and the actions he apparently does are out of compulsion and pressure; otherwise, he himself would never perform such actions. The theory of predetermination has exponents throughout history. Some Muslim scholars incline towards this theory.

Among the Islamic schools of thought, Asha‘irah (Ash‘arism), which is among the scholastic schools of the Ahl as-Sunnah, upholds the theory of predetermination.[^1] However, it is not as extreme and passionate. According to our view and that of the majority of Muslims, this belief is rejected in the domain of (personal) opinion and outlook as well as in the domain of action and deed.