Sunday, November 11, 2012

Islam and libertarianism are a good fit

Islam and Libertarianism are a Good Fit - MuslimMatters.org - Dean Ahmad:

November 5, 2012 - "The most fundamental ethical principle with political implications in the Qurʾān is the mandate, 'Let there be no coercion in religion' (2:225). This oft-quoted dictum is sometimes oversimplified as meaning only that no one should be forced to convert to Islam. That is certainly one corollary of the basic principle. However, when one realizes that the word here translated as religion (dîn) actually refers to the Islamic way of life, one understands that it has much broader implications, forbidding aggression in any aspect of Muslim life.

"In this respect, the Qurʾānic verse is an endorsement of the fundamental principle of libertarianism, the Nonaggression Principle..... 'No person or group has the right to initiate force or fraud against any other person or group to seek to attain their values.' This common sense principle is accepted by everyone in their daily lives, except for murderers, thieves, and con artists. The problem is that too many people are willing to make an exception to this rule when it comes to the state. The divine law, or (for some) natural law, applies to the state, not just individuals.... In other words a war of aggression is murder (on a massive scale, no less) even though it is conducted by a state; unjust taxes are theft even though collected by the state; and the Federal Reserve Board is engaged in fraud when it prints currency backed by no commodity of value, even though it was chartered by the state to perpetrate the counterfeiting."

Read more: http://muslimmatters.org/2012/11/05/islam-and-libertarianism-are-a-good-fit/
'via Blog this'

No comments:

Post a Comment