Liberalism

Liberalism
Presented By: Shahid Mahmood Khokhar

• Liberalism is the world’s most predominant ideology with almost all western nations having embraced
its fundamental political values and ideas. Liberalism represents a global force that seeks to transform
societies in accordance with it’s values and practices, and under the banner of the ‘Liberal Project’ the
United Nations regime on human rights is an attempt to enforce liberal values on non-liberal nations.
• The effects of Liberalism are felt not only in the political arena but at the social level as well. Influential
economic, political and social structures are used to propagate its values.
• As an ideology Liberalism many definitions. It can be best portrayed as a broad political philosophy that
considers and emphasizes individual freedoms, and the primacy – or priority – of individual rights
• Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on individual liberty (with a different
understanding) and equality (with exceptions)
• Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they
generally support civil rights, democracy, secularism, gender and race equality, internationalism and
the freedoms of speech, the press, religion and markets
• Liberals typically believe that government is necessary to protect individuals from being harmed by
others, but they also recognize that government itself can pose a threat to liberty
• In neo-classical liberals’, or libertarians’ point of view the problem, is to devise a system that gives
government the power necessary to protect individual liberty but also prevents those who govern
from abusing that power
• Most liberals have insisted that the powers of government can promote as well as protect the freedom
of the individual. According to modern liberalism, the chief task of government is to remove obstacles
that prevent individuals from living freely or from fully realizing their potential. Such obstacles include
poverty, disease, discrimination, and ignorance

• Today’s liberal parties (both Liberal / Democratic & Conservative /
Republican) continue to wield power and influence throughout the world
• The early waves of liberalism popularized economic individualism while
expanding constitutional government and parliamentary authority
• Liberals sought and established a constitutional order that prized
important individual freedoms, such as freedom of speech and freedom of
association; an independent judiciary and public trial by jury; and the
abolition of aristocratic privileges
• Later waves of modern liberal thought and struggle were strongly
influenced by the need to expand civil rights including gender (feminism)
and racial equality (global civil rights movement in 20th Century)
• Continental European liberalism is divided between moderates and
progressives, with the moderates tending to elitism and the progressives
supporting the universalization of fundamental institutions, such as
universal suffrage, universal education and the expansion of property
rights

• Liberalism became a distinct movement in the age of enlightenment, when it became
popular among western philosophers and economists
• Philosopher John Locke is often credited with founding liberalism as a distinct
tradition
• Leaders in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the American Revolution of 1776 and
the French Revolution of 1789 used liberal philosophy to justify the armed overthrow
of royal tyranny
• Liberalism started to spread rapidly especially after the French Revolution
• The 19th century saw liberal governments established in nations across Europe and
South America, whereas it was well-established alongside republicanism in the
United States
• In Victorian Britain, it was used to critique the political establishment, appealing to
science and reason on behalf of the people
• During 19th and early 20th century, liberalism in the Ottoman Empire and Middle
East influenced periods of reform such as the Tanzimat and Al-Nahda as well as
the rise of secularism, constitutionalism and nationalism. These changes, along with
other factors, helped to create a sense of crisis within Islam, which continues to
this day, leading to Islamic revivalism

• Before 1920, the main ideological opponent of
classical liberalism was conservatism, but
liberalism then faced major ideological challenges
from new opponents: fascism and communism
• During 20th century liberal ideas also spread even
further—especially in Western Europe—as liberal
democracies found themselves on the winning
side in both world wars
• In Europe and North America, the establishment
of social liberalism (often called simply "liberalism"
in the United States) became a key component in
the expansion of the welfare state

• Words such as liberal, liberty, libertarian and libertine all trace their history to the Latin word liber, which
means “free"
• "Liberal" could refer to "free in bestowing" as early as 1387, "made without stint" in 1433, "freely permitted" in
1530 and "free from restraint"—often as a pejorative / derogatory remark—in the 16th and the 17th centuries,
In 16th century England, "liberal" could have positive or negative attributes in referring to someone's
generosity or indiscretion
• With the rise of the Enlightenment, the word acquired decisively more positive undertones, being defined as
"free from narrow prejudice" in 1781 and "free from bigotry" in 1823
• In 1815, the first use of the word "liberalism" appeared in English
• In Spain, the liberales, the first group to use the liberal label in a political context, fought for decades for the
implementation of the 1812 Constitution
• The meaning of the word "liberalism" began to diverge in different parts of the world.
• In the United States, liberalism is associated with the welfare-state policies of the New Deal programme of
the Democratic administration of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Consequently, in the United States the ideas of individualism and laissez-faire economics previously
associated with classical liberalism became the basis for the emerging school of libertarian thought and
are key components of American conservatism
• In Europe it is more commonly associated with a commitment to limited government and laissez-faire
economic policies
• Unlike Europe and Latin America, the word "liberalism" in North America almost exclusively refers to social
liberalism
Definition

• Initially, Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Samuel Pufendorf developed a new
understanding of natural law which eventually was to become the philosophical basis for Liberalism
• Central to classical liberal ideology was their interpretation of John Locke's Two Treatise of
Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration, which had been written as a defence of the
Glorious Revolution of 1688
• Locke held that the individual had the right to follow his own religious beliefs and that the state
should not impose a religion against Dissenters, but there were limitations
• Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, was to provide most of the ideas of
economics, at least until the publication of John Stuart Mill's Principles of Political Economy in
1848
• Smith's economics was carried into practice in the nineteenth century with the lowering of tariffs in
the 1820s, the repeal of the Poor Relief Act that had restricted the mobility of labour in 1834 and the
end of the rule of the East India Company over India in 1858
• Classical economics: In addition to Smith's legacy, Say's law, Thomas Robert Malthus' theories
of population and David Ricardo's iron law of wages became central doctrines of classical
economics. The pessimistic nature of these theories provided a basis for criticism of capitalism by
its opponents and helped perpetuate the tradition of calling economics the "dismal science”
• Utilitarianism provided the political justification for implementation of economic liberalism by British
governments, which was to dominate economic policy from the 1830s. Although utilitarianism
prompted legislative and administrative reform and John Stuart Mill's later writings on the subject
foreshadowed the welfare state, it was mainly used as a justification for laissez-faire
Etymology

• Sought to replace norms of hereditary privilege, state religion, absolute monarchy,
the divine right of kings and traditional conservatism with representative
democracy and the rule of law
• End mercantilist policies, royal monopolies and other barriers to trade, instead
promoting free markets
• John Locke argues that each man has a natural right to life, liberty and property,
adding that governments must not violate these rights based on the social contract
• While the British liberal tradition has emphasized expanding democracy, French
liberalism has emphasized rejecting authoritarianism and is linked to nation-building
• Major common facets of liberal thought:
• Believing in equality (with exceptions) and individual liberty (with a different
meaning)
• Supporting private property and individual rights
• Supporting the idea of limited constitutional government
• Recognizing the importance of related values such as pluralism, toleration,
autonomy, bodily integrity and consent

• Classical liberals saw utility as the foundation for public policies. This broke both with conservative
"tradition" and Lockean "natural rights", which were seen as irrational. Utility, which emphasizes the
happiness of individuals, became the central ethical value of all liberalism.
• Although utilitarianism inspired wide-ranging reforms, it became primarily a justification for laissez-
faire economics
• Classical liberals rejected Smith's belief that the "invisible hand" would lead to general benefits and
embraced Malthus' view that population expansion would prevent any general benefit and
Ricardo's view of the inevitability of class conflict
• Laissez-faire was seen as the only possible economic approach and any government intervention
was seen as useless and harmful
• Commitment to laissez-faire was not uniform and some economists advocated state support of
public works and education
• Classical liberals also supported legislation to regulate the number of hours that children were
allowed to work and usually did not oppose factory reform legislation
• The strongest defender of laissez-faire was The Economist founded by James Wilson in 1843. The
Economist criticized Ricardo for his lack of support for free trade and expressed hostility to welfare,
believing that the lower orders were responsible for their economic circumstances. The
Economist took the position that regulation of factory hours was harmful to workers and also
strongly opposed state support for education, health, the provision of water and granting of patents
and copyrights.
Economic Liberalism

• Classical liberals were also divided on free trade
• The classical liberals advocated policies to increase liberty and prosperity.
They sought to empower the commercial class politically and to abolish
royal charters, monopolies, and the protectionist policies of mercantilism
so as to encourage entrepreneurship and increase productive efficiency.
They also expected democracy and laissez-faire economics to diminish
the frequency of war.
• Free trade would promote peace
• By virtue of their mutual interest does nature unite people against violence
and war, for the concept of cosmopolitan right does not protect them
from it. The spirit of trade cannot coexist with war, and sooner or later this
spirit dominates every people. For among all those powers (or means) that
belong to a nation, financial power may be the most reliable in forcing
nations to pursue the noble cause of peace (though not from moral
motives); and wherever in the world war threatens to break out, they will
try to head it off through mediation, just as if they were permanently
leagued for this purpose— Immanuel Kant
Free Trade & World Peace

• Classical Liberalism - Real freedom is freedom from coercion, and that state intervention in
the economy is a coercive power that restricts the economic freedom of individuals, and so
should be avoided as far as possible. It favours laissez-faire economic policy (minimal
economic intervention and taxation by the state beyond what is necessary to maintain
individual liberty, peace, security and property rights), and opposes the welfare state (the
provision of welfare services by the state, and the assumption by the state of primary
responsibility for the welfare of its citizens)
• Social Liberalism - Governments must take an active role in promoting the freedom of
citizens, and that real freedom can only exist when citizens are healthy, educated and free
from dire poverty. This freedom can be ensured when governments guarantee the right to an
education, health care and a living wage, in addition to other responsibilities such as laws
against discrimination in housing and employment, laws against pollution of the environment,
and the provision of welfare, all of which would be supported by a progressive taxation system.
• Conservative Liberalism is a variant of Liberalism representing the right-wing of the Liberal
movement, and combines liberal values and policies with conservative stances. Unlike Liberal
Conservatives, however, who tend to be more committed to authority, tradition and established
religion, Conservative Liberals are supporters of the separation between church and state. It
also differs from Libertarianism in that it is far less radical in its economic program, and in its
support for an active defence policy and military interventions.
• Economic Liberalism is the theory of economics in Classical Liberalism, developed during
the Enlightenment, particularly by Adam Smith, which advocates minimal interference by
government in the economy. Libertarianism, Neoliberalism and some schools of Conservatism,
particularly Liberal Conservatism are often referred to as Economic Liberalism.

• Neoliberalism refers to a program of reducing trade barriers and internal market restrictions,
while using government power to enforce opening of foreign markets. In some ways it is a
modern attempt, championed by Conservatives like Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004) and
Margaret Thatcher (1925 - 2013) since the 1970's, to revert to a purer Classical Liberalism.
• Anarcho-capitalism (also referred to as free market anarchism, market anarchism and
private property anarchism) is a political philosophy which advocates the elimination of the
state in favour of individual sovereignty in a free market capitalism. In an anarcho-
capitalist society, law enforcement, courts and all other security services would be provided
by privately funded competitors rather than through taxation and money would be privately
and competitively provided in an open market. Therefore personal and economic activities
under anarcho-capitalism would be regulated by privately run law rather than through politics.
• American Liberalism is largely a combination of social liberalism, social progressivism, and
mixed economy philosophy. It is distinguished from Classic Liberalism and Libertarianism,
which also claim freedom as their primary goal, in its insistence upon the inclusion of positive
rights (such as education, health care and other services and goods believed to be required
for human development and self-actualization) and in a broader definition of equality.
• National Liberalism is a variant of Liberalism commonly found in several European
countries in the 19th and 20th Century, which combines nationalism with policies mainly
derived from Economic Liberalism (see above).
• Ordoliberalism, Paleoliberalism, Cultural Liberalism

• During 19th and early 20th century, liberalism in the Ottoman Empire and Middle East
influenced periods of reform such as the Tanzimat and Al-Nahda as well as the rise of
secularism, constitutionalism and nationalism. These changes, along with other factors,
helped to create a sense of crisis within Islam, which continues to this day, leading to
Islamic revivalism
• Tanzimat
• Different intellectuals and religious group and movements, like the Young Ottomans and
Islamic Modernism
• The reforms emerged from the minds of reformist sultans like Mahmud II, his son
Abdulmejid I, often European-educated bureaucrats, who recognized that the old
religious and military institutions no longer met the needs of the empire
• Most of the symbolic changes, such as uniforms, were aimed at changing the mindset of
imperial administrators. Many of the officials affiliated with the government were
encouraged to wear a more western style of dress. Many of the reforms were attempts to
adopt successful European practices. The reforms were heavily influenced by the
Napoleonic Code and French law under the Second French Empire as a direct result of
the increasing number of Ottoman students being educated in France.
• Also, a policy called Ottomanism was meant to unite all the different peoples living in
Ottoman territories, "Muslim and non-Muslim, Turkish and Greek, Armenian and Jewish,
Kurd and Arab". The policy officially began with the Edict of Gülhane of 1839, declaring
equality before the law for both Muslim and non-Muslim Ottomans.

• Motives
• To combat the slow decline of the empire
• Ottoman Empire hoped that getting rid of the millet system would lead to direct
control of all of its citizens by the creation of a more-centralized government and an
increase of the legitimacy of Ottoman rule
• Another major hope was that by being more open to various demographics, more
people would be attracted into the empire
• There was fear of internal strife between Muslims and non-Muslims, and allowing
more religious freedom to all was supposed to diminish this threat
• The Ottomans became worried of an escalating intervention of the European powers
in Ottoman affairs, another reason for the reforms. After the Crimean War, caused by
Russia's incursion into the Ottoman Empire in the 1850s, Ottoman leaders tried to
avoid a repeat. They thought that the Great Powers would accept the Tanzimat as
long as the reforms were ongoing.
• Although the motives for the implementation of Tanzimât were bureaucratic, it was
impulsed by liberal ministers and intellectuals like Kabuli Mehmed Pasha, the secret
society the Young Ottomans, and liberal minded like Midhat Pasha who is also often
considered as one of the founders of the Ottoman Parliament

• Al-Nahda
• Al-Nahda (Arabic: ‫;النهضة‬ Arabic for "awakening" or "renaissance") was a cultural
renaissance that began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Egypt, then
later moving to Ottoman-ruled Arabic-speaking regions including Lebanon, Syria
and others. It is often regarded as a period of intellectual modernization and
reform.
• In traditional scholarship, the Nahda is seen as connected to the cultural shock
brought on by Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798, and the reformist drive of
subsequent rulers such as Mehmet Ali
• Recent scholarship has shown that the Middle Eastern and North African
Renaissance was a cultural reform program that was as "autogenetic" as it was
Western inspired, linked to the Ottoman Tanzimat and internal changes in political
economy and communal reformations in Egypt and Syro-Lebanon
• The renaissance itself started simultaneously in both Egypt & Greater Syria. Due
to their differing backgrounds, the aspects that they focused on differed as well;
with Egypt focused on the political aspects of the Islamic world while Greater Syria
focused on the more cultural aspects.
• Prominent Names of Al-Nahda include Rifa'a Rafi' El-Tahtawi, Butrus Al-Bustani,
Hayreddin Pasha

• The influence of Al-Nahda
• Relegion
• Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1839–1897) gave Islam a modernist reinterpretation and
fused adherence to the faith with an anti-colonial doctrine that preached Pan-Islamic
solidarity in the face of European pressures. Al-Afghani's case for a redefinition of old
interpretations of Islam, and his bold attacks on traditional religion, would become
vastly influential with the fall of the Caliphate in 1924
• Al-Afghani influenced many, but greatest among his followers is undoubtedly his
student Muhammad Abduh (1849–1905), Abduh accused traditionalist Islamic
authorities of moral and intellectual corruption, and of imposing a doctrinaire form of
Islam on the ummah, that had hindered correct applications of the faith
• Among the students of Abduh were Syrian Islamic scholar and reformer Rashid Rida
(1865–1935), who continued his legacy, and expanded on the concept of just Islamic
government
• Shia Islam
• Shia scholars contributed to the renaissance movement, such as the linguist Shaykh
Ahmad Rida, the historian Muhammad Jaber Al Safa and Suleiman Daher
• Reforms were also done in Literature, Media & Language

• Politics
• In 1876, the Ottoman Empire promulgated a constitution, as the crowning accomplishment of
the Tanzimat reforms (1839–76) and inaugurating the Empire's First Constitutional Era. It
was inspired by European methods of government and designed to bring the Empire back on
level with the Western powers. The constitution was opposed by the Sultan, whose powers it
checked, but had vast symbolic and political importance.
• The introduction of parliamentarianism also created a political class in the Ottoman-
controlled provinces, from which later emerged a liberal nationalist elite that would
spearhead the several nationalist movements, in particular Egyptian nationalism.
• Egyptian nationalism paralleled by the rise of the Young Turks in the central Ottoman
provinces and administration
• The resentment towards Turkish rule fused with protests against the Sultan's autocracy, and
the largely secular concepts of Arab nationalism rose as a cultural response to the Ottoman
Caliphates claims of religious legitimacy. Various Arab nationalist secret societies rose in the
years prior to World War I, such as Al-fatat and the military based al-Ahd.
• This was complemented by the rise of other national movements, including Syrian
nationalism
• other example of the late al-Nahda era is the emerging Palestinian nationalism, which was
set apart from Syrian nationalism by Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine and the
resulting sense of Palestinian particularism

• On the superficial level these Liberalism’s political values may seem attractive, however under intellectual scrutiny
they are found to directly affect contemporary societies in the most negative way
• Liberalism has directly contributed to a number of social problems, these problems range from child abuse and
neglect to violent crime and rape. A common trend in liberal societies, such as the UK and US, is that social breakdown
has become a norm
• Liberalism has NOT always sought to export itself from the west via peaceful, and some may argue, covert means.
The various contemporary military expeditions, including Iraq and Afghanistan, have attempted to impose Liberalism
using force, as well as trying to fulfil the goals of strategic dominance and the acquisition of much needed resources.
• Liberalism is purely a European product, Liberalism’s core political values emerged as a result of a European
problem, the clash between the Catholic Church and the people who carried ideas that were incompatible with the
Church’s doctrine and philosophy
• Philosophically, liberalism’s political values rest on the premise of individualism, or what some political
philosophers call atomism, individualism is ontologically / in nature false, in other words, it is an incorrect premise
to base a political philosophy
• Individualist viewpoint took the rights of a human being removed away from God’s perceived will for society
• Human cognitive development is not so abstract but is more closely tied to social attachments including socially
prescribed routines and tasks
• Individuality is dependent on aims and values, aims and values can only be truly understood within a social
context,
“For example in a capitalist society competition is fundamental; society is structured around individuals and
organization that compete with each other for jobs markets etc...so that where competition is a fundamental feature of
social economic life, what you will get is competitive people.”
• Individualism, as a premise for an entire political outlook, has been found to be philosophically incorrect and it has
produced problems in society, making a value system based on false premise is problematic

• Liberalism’s theories were limited in their intellectual scope, which
was to ensure tolerance rather than seeking a true understanding of the
human being and their standing in the world
• Conformity represents a form of social influence in which sources of
influence – such as the political and social structures in a society – steer
society’s members into a particular way of thinking or behaving.
• A common feature of all social influence is the concept of the social
norm.
• Social norms are rules that a group or society develops for appropriate
and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours.
• Social norms are generally adhered to and two major motives for
conformity involve the need to be right, known as ‘informational social
influence - ISI’ and the need to be accepted by others, known as
‘normative social influence - NSI’

• Political values of the Liberalism have played a causative role in the social decay being witnessed today
• In February 2009 the Children’s Society launched A Good Childhood: Searching for Values in a Competitive Age
report, the report states,
• “Britain and the U.S. have more broken families than other countries, and here families are less cohesive in the way
they live and eat together. British children are rougher with each other, and live more riskily in terms of alcohol,
drugs and teenage pregnancy. And they are less inclined to stay in education. This comes against a background of
much greater income inequality: many more children live in relative poverty in Britain and the U.S. But we believe
there is one common theme that links all these problems: excessive individualism. This was identified as the
leading social evil in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s consultation on ‘social evils’”
• Child Abuse
• The seventeen months of torture and agony inflicted on ‘Baby P’ is probably one of the worst stories of child abuse
in the UK. The baby was found dead after months of torture with broken ribs and a broken back. In the UK,
according to NSPCC research,
• 7% of children experienced serious physical abuse at the hands of their parents or care givers during childhood
• 1% of children experienced sexual abuse by a parent or care giver and another 3% by another relative during
childhood
• 11% of children experienced sexual abuse by people known but unrelated to them. 5% of children experienced
sexual abuse by an adult stranger or someone they had just met.
• 6% of children experienced serious absence of care at home during childhood
• 6% of children experienced frequent and severe emotional maltreatment during childhood
Negative Effects of Liberal Values on Society

• In the US an estimated 3.6 million children were accepted by state and local child protection services as
alleged victims of child maltreatment for investigation or assessment.
• An estimated 905,000 children were substantiated as victims of child abuse
• 64.1% of substantiated cases were victims of neglect, while approximately 16.0% suffered from physical
abuse, and 8.8% were sexually abused.
• An estimated 1,530 children died as a result of child maltreatment, an average four children everyday.
• Children 0-3 years of age accounted for 78% of child fatalities, while children under one year of age accounted
for 44.2% of child fatalities.
• Treatment of Women
• Liberalism’s political values have affected the way UK society treats women. According to Women’s Resource
Centre and Women’s Aid,
• Domestic Violence
• 1 in 4 women will be a victim of domestic violence
• Two women are murdered every week by a current or a former partner
• In any one year, there are 13 million separate incidents of physical violence or threats of violence against
women from partners or former partners
• 1 in 5 young men and 1 in 10 young women think that abuse or violence against women is acceptable

• Empowerment and Self-esteem
• 66% of women in the UK would consider plastic surgery because of concerns about their looks.
• 63% of young women aspire to be glamour models or lap dancers.
• 54% of women became aware of the 'need' to be attractive between 6 - 17 years of age.
• Unequal Pay & Employment
• In 2006, female graduates earned, on average, 15% less than their male counterparts at the age of 24;
with this gender pay gap widening with age increasing to 40.5% for women graduates aged 41-45.
• Prostitution
• There are estimated to be around 80,000 people involved in prostitution in the UK. However, many
people believe that this figure is an underestimation.
• A 2002 study found that 74% of women involved in prostitution cited poverty, the need to pay
household expenses and support their children, as a primary motivator for entering sex work.
• Mental Health
• The NHS reported in 2009 that more than one in five of the adult female population experiences
depression, anxiety or suicidal thoughts

• Poverty
• Many older people, especially women over 75, experience severe poverty due to
institutional failure, as levels of state pensions are determined according to years of
employment.
• One in five single women pensioners live in poverty. In 2004, almost 1.3 million older
women lived below the poverty line and suffered significant financial disadvantage -
compared with men of the same age.
• Safety
• Research published in 2006 identified that women aged 16 or over are 5 times as likely
as men to feel very unsafe walking alone in their area after dark.
• Sexual Abuse
• An NSPCC prevalence study in 2000 found that around 21% of girls surveyed
experienced some form of child sexual abuse. The majority of children who experienced
sexual abuse had more than one sexually abusive experience.
• The UK is not alone in its maltreatment of women, in the US a woman is raped every 6
minutes and battered every 15 seconds.

• Crimes: UK
• The effect of Liberalism’s non-cohesive values can also be seen in the following U.K. crime figures,
• 2,164,000 violent incidents during 2007/08 against adults in England and Wales
• 􏰀 Approximately 47,000 rapes occur every year in the U.K.
• Increase in murder rates. Metropolitan Police reported the most incidents, with 167 murders in 2007/8, up from
158.
• Crimes: US
• 16,204 murders a year
• 􏰀 9,369 murders with firearms in one year
• 􏰀 2,019,234 prisoners and this has increased since 2002
• 􏰀 95,136 rapes per year
• 􏰀 420,637 robberies per year
• 􏰀 11,877,218 total crimes per year
• It can be seen that the UK and US are suffering from social breakdown and social decay. The social collapse of
the two most liberal nations is due to their ideological conviction to liberalism. There is a direct correlation
between Liberalism’s non-cohesive political values, their premise of individualism and the social problems.

• In a liberal society, the coercive power of the state is only used with reluctance. Concerning individuals’ personal
lives the state will be particularly conscious of the freedom of the individual, unless a convincing reason can be
found to do otherwise. The problem with this is that the ‘convincing’ reason will be analyzed via the lens of
individualism, which in many cases means asserting individual rights to the point of tearing down a society.
• Legal theorists generally agree that, in liberal societies, law fulfils basic values. The basic values of a liberal
society’s legal system are: order, justice and personal freedom.
• Since personal or individual freedom is a fundamental value taken into consideration when creating new laws, it
can be argued that law, in a liberal society, tends to be individualistic.
• Pornography a Causal Factor in Rape
• Pornography and related material is a good example to show the individualistic propensities in the liberal legal
system.
• Pornography is legal in liberal societies, for example, the UK in 2000 legalized hardcore pornography.
• However, more recently in the UK it was announced on August 30th 2006 that possession of depictions of rape
would become a criminal offence;
• However aggression and violence were not included.
• Additionally the Criminal Justice and immigration Act 2008 introduced a new offence, in England, Wales and
Northern Ireland of the possession of extreme pornographic images;
• Again aggression and violence were not included.
• The notes to the 2008 Act only mention:
Legal Perspective

• An act which threatens a person’s life,
• 􏰀(and few other specific conditions)
• All other acts of aggression and violence depicted in pornographic material are still legal.
• The rights of an individual seemed to have been outweighed by the effects of pornographic material on the wider society.
Pornography, both violent and non-violent, is a major causal factor for the occurrence of rape in modern society.
• There is ample of evidence to show how pornography that is legal in the UK and US has caused rape. For instance, Diana
E. Russel in her publication “Pornography & Rape: A causal model” states,
• “My theory about how pornography – violent and non-violent – can cause rape...I have drawn on the findings of recent
research to support my theory....Just as smoking is not the only cause of lung cancer, neither is pornography the only
cause of rape. I believe there are many factors that play a causal role in this crime. I have not attempted here to evaluate
the relative importance of these different causal factors, but merely to show the overwhelming evidence that pornography
is a major one of them”
• In this study it cited journals and studies which concluded that,
• 56% of rapists implicated pornography in the commission of their offences,
• 66% of rapists claimed they were incited by pornography,
• 25 – 30% of college students would rape if they could get away with it.
• The liberal world view would not ban or criminalize pornography because society is not considered and emphasized under
the liberal value of individual freedom. As can be seen above, liberal values are not conducive to good legislation because
the values that underpin law in liberal societies are individualistic and ignore social obligations, Pornography both violent
and non-violent has been shown to cause rape, and due to the individualistic propensities in the development of liberal law,
society is ignored and women have to face the dehumanization process of this legal activity, and it’s facilitation of this
terrible crime.

• Since non-cohesive liberal values have directly contributed to social breakdown, then an obvious solution is to propagate
cohesive values with the relevant social models and mechanisms to achieve a cohesive society.
• Islam’s view on society doesn’t rest on a false premise; rather it has a unique view on the society and the individual. This
philosophy is best described by the following hadith:
• “Allah’s messenger (SAW) gave an example of people sailing on a boat having an upper deck and a lower deck. The people
from the lower deck require water and request water from the people of the upper deck. The people from the upper deck
refuse water, so the people from the lower deck decide to make a hole in the floor of the ship and get water from the sea.
God’s messenger said, ‘If the people from the upper deck don't stop the people at the bottom from making a hole, the ship will
sink and all the people travelling will drown.’”
• This hadith gives a clear view that individuals are part of society and the society is part of the individual. It highlights the need
for a symbiotic relationship between society and the individual. Certain actions, values and behaviour of individuals in a
society can affect it in negative way, especially if these actions and values are non-cohesive. Hence, Islam propagates
cohesive values in its society to prevent the ‘boat from sinking’, in other words preventing social breakdown and facilitating
social cohesion.
• These cohesive values include justice, compassion, empathy, distribution of resources, tolerance and accountability.
The source texts of Islam i.e. the Holly Qur’an and the Hadith (also known as the Sunnah), which are the bedrock of Islamic
Law known as the Shariah, seeks to propagate these cohesive values. The Qur’an and the Hadith strongly emphasize these
values, for example:
• “The best of all jihad is a word of truth to a tyrant ruler”
• “Let there be among you people that command the good, enjoining what is right and forbidding the wrong. They indeed are
the successful.”
• “...judge with justice between them. Verily, God loves those who act justly.”
• “What will explain to you what the steep path is? It is to free a slave, to feed at a time of hunger, an orphaned relative or a
poor person in distress, and to be one of those who believe and urge one another to steadfastness and compassion”
• “...bear witness impartially: do not let the hatred of others lead you away from justice, but adhere to justice, for that is closer
to the awareness of God. Be mindful of God…”
• “Woe to every slanderer, defamer. Who amasses wealth and considers it a provision against mishap; He thinks that his
wealth will make him immortal”

• These cohesive values were once propagated in the Muslim world. Many commentators argue that these essential political
values have disappeared due to Muslim nations not adopting Islamic political theory comprehensively. However, much
evidence can be sited via historical references, when the Islamic cohesive political values were once disseminated in the
Muslim world.
• For example, Amnon Cohen, an American Jewish historian, studied the 16th century documents stored in the archives of
the Shariah religious court of Jerusalem (commonly known as sijill), whereby he found 1000 Jewish cases filed from the year
1530 to 1601 CE. Cohen published his research in 1994 during which he made some astonishing discoveries, as he himself
states,
• ”Cases concerning Jews cover a very wide spectrum of topics. If we bear in mind that the Jews of Jerusalem had their own
separate courts, the number of cases brought to Muslim court (which actually meant putting themselves at the mercy of a
judge outside the pale of their communal and religious identity) is quite impressive...The Jews went to the Muslim court for a
variety of reasons, but the overwhelming fact was their ongoing and almost permanent presence there. This indicates that
they went there not only in search of justice, but did so hoping, or rather knowing, that more often than not they would attain
redress when wronged…”
• ”Their possessions were protected, although they might have had to pay for extra protection at night for their houses and
commercial properties. Their title deeds and other official documents indicating their rights were honoured when
presented to the court, being treated like those of their Muslim neighbours...The picture emerging from the sijill documents is
baffling. On the one hand we encounter recurring Sultanic decrees sent to Jerusalem – in response to pleas of the
Jews – to the effect that ‘nothing should be done to stop them from applying their own law’ regarding a variety of
matters. There are also many explicit references to the overriding importance of applying Shari’a law to them only if
they so choose. On the other hand, if we look closely at some of the inheritance lists, we see that the local court
allocated to female members of Jewish families half the share given to male members, exactly as in Islamic law.
This meant, ipso facto, a significant improvement in the status of Jewish women with respect to legacies over that accorded
them by Jewish tradition, although it actually meant the application of Islamic law in an internal Jewish context ...he [the
Muslim Judge] defended Jewish causes jeopardized by high-handed behaviour of local governors; he enabled
Jewish business people and craftsmen to lease properties from Muslim endowments on an equal footing with
Muslim bidders; more generally, he respected their rituals and places of worship and guarded them against
encroachment even when the perpetrators were other Muslim dignitaries.”
• ”No one interfered with their internal organization or their external cultural and economic activities...In a world where
civil and political equality, or positive social change affecting the group or even the individual were not the norms, the
Sultan’s Jewish subjects had no reason to mourn their status or begrudge their conditions of life. The Jews of Ottoman
Jerusalem enjoyed religious and administrative autonomy within an Islamic state, and as a constructive, dynamic
element of the local economy and society they could – and actually did – contribute to its functioning.”

• In a world dominated by the Liberal outlook, minorities have undoubtedly faced many problems. The reason
Liberalism fails minorities is because it is in continuous need of temporary adjustment to address their issues.
• Political Philosopher Charles Taylor provides an interesting analysis of Liberalism which leads him to conclude
that it can not accommodate for people of different cultural backgrounds. Under the liberal outlook minorities
are not equal in dignity due to the fact that recognition of someone’s culture and heritage is necessary to dignify
that person. This is because the individual is crucially dependent on recognition by others to determine who that
person is. Since Liberalism does not account for this recognition due to its focus on shaping peoples values to be
inline with the liberal outlook, then it does not dignify the person who belongs to a minority group with an alternative
heritage alien to the liberal tradition.
• As can be seen with Amnon Cohen’s research, under the cohesive political values of Islam these problems seem
to have been virtually non-existent. In light of this, Islam needs to be read with an open mind in order to
appreciate that its political values are a foundation for an entirely unique and cohesive way of life, as Author Lex
Hixon states,
• “Neither as Christians or Jews, nor simply as intellectually responsible individuals, have members of Western
Civilisation been sensitively educated or even accurately informed about Islam... even some persons of goodwill
who have gained acquaintance with Islam continue to interpret the reverence for the prophet Muhammad and
the global acceptance of his message as an inexplicable survival of the zeal of an ancient desert tribe. This
view ignores fourteen centuries of Islamic civilisation, burgeoning with artists, scholars, statesmen, philanthropists,
scientists, chivalrous warriors, philosophers... as well as countless men and women of devotion and wisdom from
almost every nation of the planet. The coherent world civilization called Islam, founded in the vision of the
Qur'an, cannot be regarded as the product of individual and national ambition, supported by historical accident.”
• Islam makes its cohesive values part of its political and social make up, which is in contrast to Liberalism’s
individualistic and atomistic outlook. Islam offers a practical alternative to Liberalism as its political values rest on a
strong premise and its core political values are cohesive.
A Note on Minorities

• Propagating cohesive values alone is too simplistic to achieve positive results in a society. Although cohesive values are a
fundamental feature of a cohesive society, they are inadequate if they do not sit within a workable social model. Liberalism’s
failure is not only due to its lack of cohesive values, it is also due to an absence of an effective social model. This absence is
directly caused by the philosophical underpinnings of Liberalism which has already been discussed.
• Liberalism’s social framework:
• The system is bringing justice in only 3% of offences
committed.
• 􏰀 Punishment is not changing the behaviour of repeat offenders. The courts are still not equipped with powers to attack the
problems which generate crime, with the result that they continue to send too many defendants to custody.
• 􏰀 Courts continue to experience delays
• 24% of prisoners are not delivered to court on time;
• 52% of civilian witnesses come to court and do not give evidence;
• 64% of prosecution witnesses come to court and do not give evidence.
• Files of evidence provided by police to prosecutors are on time and up to quality in only 43% of cases; and
• the preparation by prosecutors is effective in only 60% of cases.
• 􏰀 Forty-four per cent of fines are unpaid; up to 40% of community punishments are unserved.
Social Models: Islam and Liberalism

• The Islamic Social Model:
• In the Islamic society the values manifest themselves via:
• Law: Islamic law provides mechanisms to ensure cohesive behaviour.
• Communications and Media: the Friday sermon, Radio, Posters, Bill Boards, Media
Outlets etc.
• Politics: Islamic leadership, at all levels, will promote cohesiveness. All of which will be
based on the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
• Collective Social Conscious: Individual choice is replace by ideas of social obligation.

• Structure of Islamic justice system also known as the
judiciary:

• Since Islamic political values are not being implemented in any Muslim country today, historical references must be
investigated to highlight some of the results of its Social Model. The reason for this is due to the fact that Islam’s political
values and its models were implemented in history. It must be noted here that the Islamic Social Model can not be established
successfully without a fully functioning Islamic Government, also known as the Khilafah (Caliphate). This is because Islamic
Governance is a comprehensive system where all of its models and mechanisms are interdependent and interlink with one
another.
• Some of the Islamic cohesive values with historical references exhibiting the positive manifestations of these cohesive values.
• Kindness & Liberty
• “There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path.”
• “What will explain to you what the steep path is? It is to free a slave, to feed at a time of hunger, an orphaned relative or a
poor person in distress, and to be one of those who believe and urge one another to steadfastness and compassion.”
• Heinrich Graetz, a 19th century Jewish historian expressed how Islamic rule in Spain favoured the Jews in the context of
kindness and liberty of belief,
• “It was in these favourable circumstances that the Spanish Jews came under the rule of Mahometans, as whose allies
they esteemed themselves the equals of their co-religionists in Babylonia and Persia. They were kindly treated,
obtained religious liberty, of which they had so long been deprived, were permitted to exercise jurisdiction over their co-
religionists, and were only obliged, like the conquered Christians, to pay poll tax…”
• Tolerance and Popular Rule
• Reinhart Dozy, an authority on early Islamic Spain, states with regards to Islamic tolerance,
• “...the unbounded tolerance of the Arabs must also be taken into account. In religious matters they put pressure on no
man...Christians preferred their rule to that of the Franks.”
Some of the Fruits of Islamic Social Model

• Ulick R. Burke, a prominent historian specializing in the history of Spain, reached a similar conclusion,
• “Christians did not suffer in any way, on account of their religion, at the hands of Moors...not only perfect
toleration but nominal equality was the rule of the Arabs in Spain.”
• These historical realities were as a result of the cohesive values of Islam. The Qur’an states,
• “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes,
that you may know each other (not that you may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the
sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with
all things).”
• Justice
• The Qur’an resonates with teachings of justice,
• “O You who believe! Be upholders of justice, bearing witness for God alone, even against yourselves or your
parents and relatives. Whether they are rich or poor, God is well able to look after them. Do not follow your own
desires and deviate from the truth. If you twist or turn away, God is aware of what you do.”
• "... God loves the just.”
• “O You who believe! Show integrity for the sake of God, bearing witness with justice. Do not let hatred for a
people incite you into not being just. Be just. That is closer to faith. Heed God [alone]. God is aware of what you
do.”
• An Italian Rabbi, Obadiah Yareh Da Bertinoro, travelled to Jerusalem in 1486 CE and he wrote a letter to his
father telling him about the country and its people under the Islamic Social Model,
• “The Jews are not persecuted by the Arabs in these parts. I have travelled through the country in its length and
breadth, and none of them has put an obstacle in my way. They are very kind to strangers, particularly to anyone
who does not know the language; and if they see many Jews together they are not annoyed by it. In my opinion,
an intelligent man versed in political science might easily raise himself to be chief of the Jews as well as of the
Arabs…”

• The Jewish historian Amnon Cohen states that the Jewish minorities sought justice from the Islamic courts
rather than their own,
• “The Jews went to the Muslim court for a variety of reasons, but the overwhelming fact was their ongoing
and almost permanent presence there. This indicates that they went there not only in search of justice, but
did so hoping, or rather knowing, that more often than not they would attain redress when wronged…”
• Distribution of Resources
• The distribution of wealth and resources constitutes the macro-economy of the Islamic economic model; the
Qur’an repeatedly mentions distribution of resources and charity.
• “Do good to the indigent (poor) till their economic imbalance is no more.”
• Feed the indigent, without wishing any return from them, not even a word of thanks.”
• The famous letter from a Rabbi found in Phillip Mansel’s book ‘Constantinople’, reflects the Qur’anic reality
of distributing resources,
• "Here in the land of the Turks we have nothing to complain of. We possess great fortunes; much gold and
silver are in our hands. We are not oppressed with heavy taxes and our commerce is free and
unhindered. Rich are the fruits of the earth. Everything is cheap and every one of us lives in peace and
freedom…"
• Justice, kindness, tolerance and the distribution of resources are just some of the cohesive values that are
propagated in the Islamic Social Model. It can be concluded that under this model people lived under a cohesive
society full of justice and kindness, the type of society that is much needed today.

ََ‫ك‬َ‫ن‬‫ا‬َ‫ح‬ْ‫ب‬ُ‫س‬ََّ‫م‬ُ‫ه‬َّ‫ل‬‫ال‬ََ‫ك‬ِ‫د‬ْ‫م‬َ‫ح‬ِ‫ب‬َ‫و‬َُ‫د‬َ‫ه‬ْ‫ش‬َ‫أ‬َْ‫ن‬َ‫أ‬ََ‫ل‬ََ‫ه‬َ‫ل‬ِ‫إ‬ََّ‫ل‬ِ‫إ‬ََ‫ت‬ْ‫ن‬َ‫أ‬َُ‫ر‬ِ‫ف‬ْ‫غ‬َ‫ت‬ْ‫س‬َ‫أ‬ََ‫ك‬َُ‫وب‬ُ‫ت‬َ‫أ‬َ‫و‬
ََ‫ك‬ْ‫ي‬َ‫ل‬ِ‫إ‬
Q & A

References
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/liberalism
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism
• https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_liberalism.html
• http://hittininstitute.co.uk

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