Introduction: the power of three thoughts
We take this article The Power of Free Thoughts from the writings of a great and worthy philosopher. Freedom of opinion is a thing to which every man has a full right. Suppose all men except one agreed on a matter, but that one man alone holds an opinion contrary to them. All those men have no more right to reject the opinion of that one man than that one man has the right to prove the opinion of all those men wrong (if he can prove it).
There is no reason why five men should have the right to reject the opinions of five men as wrong, and one man should not have the right to refuse the views of nine men. The error of opinion does not depend on the number of men but on the strength of the argument. Just as it is possible for the opinion of nine men to be correct as against one man, it is also possible for one man to be correct as against nine.
Supression of Opinion
The suppression of opinions, whether due to religious fear, or due to fear of community and nation, or due to fear of disgrace or oppression by the government, is a terrible thing. If opinion were something whose values were related only to the person who has the opinion and were confined to it, then the suppression of opinions would be considered a loss for a particular person or a few. Still, the suppression of opinions violates the rights of all human beings and harms all human beings, not only the present human beings but also those who will be born in the future.
Although customs and traditions are also a powerful obstacle to expressing opinions against it, religious ideas are a powerful obstacle to expressing and disseminating opinions against religion. Such people are not content with merely disliking the appearance of this opposing opinion, but with it comes religious zeal and lack of common sense, and in this state, they commit such actions and statements that harm their religion, which they support. They are the cause that, due to the concealment of these objections, the people of their religion ignore their solution, and the opponents’ objections remain uninvestigated and unrejected.
Investigated Objections
The remaining uninvestigated objections cause their future generations to deviate from the religion the moment they become aware of these objections. They are the cause that, through their ignorance, they show the whole world that the religion they follow is very much afraid of the objections of the opponents. If someone of their religion wants to spread them for the sake of achieving their goals, they consider him as an opponent and, out of their ignorance, they call a friend an enemy.
Excellent of opinion
What an excellent opinion this philosopher has when he says, “When the supporters of an opinion resist the spread of an opinion contrary to that opinion, the supporters themselves suffer more than their opponents because if that opinion is correct and true, by resisting it, they lose the opportunity to get the right thing in exchange for the error, and if it is wrong, then there is no chance left to achieve the result that is an excellent benefit from the comparison of error and truth, which is more stable than truth and its truth is effective in most hearts and its light settles in the hearts.”
Depression of opinions
In the dispersion of opinions concerning reliable factors or worldly matters, favourable opinions are delicious and helpful. There is an opportunity to consider both views separately, which is better, or whether both are supported by arguments suitable for each separately.
We can never be sure that the opinion we are trying to resist is wrong, and even if we are sure that it is terrible, its resistance and opposition are not free from evil. Suppose that the opinion we want to suppress is correct and correct. Those who want to suppress it deny its correctness and correctness, but it should be considered that those people, i.e. the suppressors of this opinion, are not incapable of making mistakes and errors.
They do not have the right to decide this matter for all humanity and deprive individuals of the right to use their opinions. Refusing to listen to an opposing opinion because we are sure that it is wrong is like saying that our belief has the status of complete certainty, and prohibiting discussion and debate on it is like placing ourselves above the prophets and thinking of ourselves as incapable of error or mistake.
Man as mixture of mistakes
It is a great pity for the understanding of human beings that as much as they consider it possible for them to make mistakes and errors in their thoughts and speculations, based on the famous saying that “Man is a mixture of mistakes and forgetfulness”, they do not consider it as much in the implementation of their opinions and their words.
Their practical actions show their value and status as very low, no matter how much they consider their value and status in their thoughts. However, everyone admits that we can make mistakes and errors. But there are very few people who understand this and must be careful about it in their actions and practically accept that the opinion they are very sure may be an example of such mistakes and errors that they consider possible for them to make.
Those accustomed to unlimited respect and esteem because of wealth, position, government, or knowledge are utterly convinced of the correctness of their opinions in all matters and do not even consider the possibility of their own mistakes and errors. Those more fortunate than them sometimes hear objections and arguments repeated against their opinions. They are slightly accustomed to the fact that when they are in error, they abandon it when reminded and accept the truth.
Although they are not entirely convinced of the correctness of their opinions, they are indeed convinced of the correctness of those opinions accepted by those who live around them or by people whose words they consider worthy of great respect and esteem. It is a general rule that the more a person does not trust his own opinion, the more he generally trusts the opinion of the world, which is called, in some terms, the opinion of the masses or the religion of the masses.
People with similarity
But it should be understood that for such people, the world or the public refers to a few people with whom they have faith or with whom they are similar, for example, their friends or fellow narrators or people of their race or class. Therefore, for them, the meaning of the whole world and the public ends in them, and consequently, that person considers this opinion to be the opinion of the world or the public and believes in its correctness.
Confidence and Certainity
The reason why he has more confidence and certainty in this overall opinion and does not waver in it at all is that he is not aware of what opinions people before his time and in other times, countries, sects, and religions had about it and what opinions people of different countries, sects, and religions still have. Such a person is in a situation where he places the responsibility for whether he is following the right path in his imaginary world or public.
So, whatever his opinion or his problem is, nothing is worthy of trust and belief because for the reasons for which that person was a very holy Muslim at that time due to being born in a Muslim family. For those reasons, if he had been born in a Christian family or country or a pagan family or country, he would have been a Christian or a pagan. He does not think that just as a particular person can fall into error, so what is the reality of his imaginary world and people?
Fall into error
It is possible for a time and a much larger world to fall into error. It is clear from history and current science that every time such opinions have been established and declared Muslim, which in the subsequent times were not only wrong but were considered completely absurd and irrelevant, and certainly in this time, too many such opinions will be prevalent which will be rejected and unreasonable in a future time just as many opinions which were generally prevalent in the previous time have now been denied.
Those who resist
It may be objected to this discourse that those who resist an opposing opinion, considering it wrong and harmful, do not mean by this that they claim to be free from error but rather that they are fulfilling the duty which is incumbent upon them to act by their faith and conviction, which is characterized by being subject to error and fallibility. If people do not adhere to their opinions because they may be wrong, no one can do any of their work. People must establish their most correct opinions as far as possible and state them carefully, and when they are thoroughly convinced of their correctness, try to suppress and resist opinions contrary to them.
Men should use their abilities and capacities to the best of their ability. There can be no perfect certainty in anything, but there can be such certainty that it is sufficient for man’s needs. Men can consider their opinions correct and correct for the conduct of their affairs, and they should consider them so. They do not choose anything more than this when they forbid bad people from corrupting people, morals, or religion by publishing opinions they consider corrupt and harmful.
Supression of opinion
However, suppressing opposing opinions is not only about acting according to their faith and conviction, considering them to be fallible and fallible, but also about much more. There is a difference between an opinion being considered correct because people were allowed to object to it and argue against it in every way. It could not be refuted, and an opinion was accepted because no one was allowed to deny it. Therefore, those who resist opposing opinions do not consider their opinion correct because it cannot be refuted. Still, instead, they think it is accurate because it was not allowed to be refuted. However, the only condition we can legitimately declare our opinion correct for implementation is that people have complete freedom to speak against this opinion and prove it wrong.
Rational and Powerful Powers
There is no other way in which a person whose rational and powerful powers are imperfect can be sure he is on the right path. Religion followers who consider only following their own faith to be the right path cannot be sure that they are on the right path unless they allow for discussion and expression of opinion on whether the way they act and behave or believe and think correctly follows their faith or not.
Past conditions and comparison
Comparing the past conditions of man with the present conditions, it is clear that the condition of man at every age is such that only one person in a hundred can give an opinion on a specific matter, and ninety-nine people are incapable of providing an opinion on it. However, the superiority of this one person’s opinion has only increased because most of the people of the past who were famous for their understanding and ability held opinions whose error has now become very clear. They implemented many things that no one now considers proper and correct, proving that opinions and preferred opinions always prevail among humans. Still, the reason for this is none other than a noble quality of human reason and understanding, which is very desirable. That quality is that human mistakes can be corrected; that is, human beings can correct their mistakes through discussion and experience.
Opinion can be maintaed
Therefore, human opinion’s full power, value, and status are limited to this one thing: when it is wrong, it can be corrected, but it can be trusted only when it is always maintained through fixing. It should be considered that for what reason has the opinion of a person whose opinion is worthy of trust reached this value and status? It has come to this because he has always been naturally inclined to allow his views to be criticized.
He has made it his method to listen to his opponent’s opinion with a calm heart, benefit from what was proper and necessary, understand what was wrong and unnecessary, and, at the right time, inform others of this mistake. Such a person seems to practically accept that the only way a person can know the full extent of a matter is to listen to the conversation of people of all kinds of opinions about it and to think and understand all how people of every understanding, manner, and nature look at the matter.
No wise man has acquired his wisdom in any other way than this.
The characteristic of human reason and understanding is that it cannot be civilized and reasonable in any other way than this and only by the constant habit of comparing and perfecting one’s opinion with the opinions of others. No reason can be imagined to rely on it because, in this case, this person has heard well all that people could say against him and has put his opinion before all the objectors. Instead of hiding the difficulties and objections, he searched and did not close off the light that reached him from all sides. So, such a person is entitled to think that his opinion is better and superior to that of such a person or persons who have not strengthened their opinion in this way.
Genera Public to accept
The only way for a person who wants to have any confidence in his opinion or wants the general public to accept it is to present his argument to the general public and all kinds of people for objection. If Newton’s wisdom and character and the problem of gravity were not allowed to be objected to and argued, the world would not be able to believe in his soundness and truth as firmly as it does now.
Is there any opposition that people have not made to this wise sage, and what religious curse and insult have not been given to this accurate and truthful sage? One should consider the result of this. It has happened that today, the whole world, whether wise or ignorant, whether wise or fanatic, all religious people accept it and know it to be accurate. Its truth is seated in the hearts even more than religious beliefs.
Opinion Freedom
Without freedom of opinion, the truth of anything, as far as its truth is possible, cannot be discovered. The beliefs we consider most just and correct cannot be supported by any evidence or foundation other than the belief that the whole world should be given the power to prove them unfounded. Even if they do not intend to do so or do so and do not succeed, we are not entitled to have complete faith in them; however, by giving such permission, we have obtained the best possible proof of their soundness, which is likely in the present state of human reason.
In Differnce Circumstances
In such a state, we have not neglected anything that would prevent us from reaching the proper and correct truth. Suppose the discussion on the matter is allowed to continue. In that case, we can hope that if there is anything more accurate than this, it will be reached when the reason and understanding of humans can discover it. we can be sure that we have come as close to truth and righteousness as possible in our time. In short, if a fallible being called a human being can attain some certainty about a matter, then this is the method that has been explained and the well-known principle of the Muslim religion that the truth is above all else; this is a lowly interpretation.
Deception
But there is a great deception that tempts humans and sometimes even good governments to close the freedom of opinion. That is the principle of expediency, which has been given false and false names of public interest. And to Allah be the reward of him who said. On the contrary, the name of the scoundrel is forbidden. That principle is that discussing the truth and soundness of an opinion, issue, or belief is prohibited because, no matter what it may be in itself, it is handy and beneficial for ordinary people to adhere to it. This opinion is widely prevalent in India and especially among Muslims; instead, this sinful act is considered a good deed. The result of this opinion is that the closure of debate and freedom of opinion depends not on the truth of the issue or belief but on its general utility.
Claim of Past
But it is a pity that those who hold such an opinion do not understand that the same claim of the past, that is, of considering themselves infallible and infallible, which they repented of, is then again established. The only difference is that before that claim was on one thing, the same claim was on another thing, that is, before it was on the truth of this original issue or belief. Now, it is on its general utility. However, the fact that that issue or belief is of general utility is as much needed for discussion and debate as that original issue or belief needs discussion.
General Uitility
Those who hold such an opinion make another mistake on this mistake when they say that we have only prohibited discussion on its origin and truth, not on the discussion of its general utility, and they do not understand that the truth of the opinion itself is a part of its general utility. We can’t discuss the usefulness of an opinion without proving its truth and validity. If we want to know whether such and such a thing is helpful for people or not, is it possible not to pay attention to whether that thing is true and correct or not? Everyone, high and low, will accept that any opinion, problem, or belief contrary to truth and correctness cannot be helpful to anyone.
Situation we Assumed
All this discussion we have had was related to a situation in which we assumed the prevailing and accepted opinion to be wrong and the opinion people wanted to suppress to be proper and correct. Now, we choose to doubt this; that is, we assume that the prevailing and accepted opinion is right, and the opinion that we want to suppress is wrong and incorrect, and we prove that suppressing this wrong opinion is not free from evil and harm.
Considering Dead or Innert
No matter how strong his opinion may be, and no matter how difficult and reluctantly he may admit the possibility of his opinion being wrong, every person should remember that if this opinion cannot be wholly and thoroughly discussed with utmost boldness and without fear, it will be considered a dead and inert opinion, not a living and fact. It can never be considered a truth or a matter of fact that will have a lasting impact on people’s natures.
Past and Present Shows
A consideration of the history of the past and present shows that sometimes, even tyrannical governments have tried to popularize the most truthful and correct thing. Still, their tyranny did not allow free discussion on it. There are many examples where a well-educated government wanted to popularize the most truthful and correct thing. People either did not raise the debate on their own, thinking that our discussions and arguments had no interference with this opinion or that no one cared, or out of their ill-intentioned fear or fear of the bad temper of the members of the government.
Because they considered it expedient not to say anything against their opinion or because they thought that arguing against the government or anyone was not benevolent, they abandoned the debate. The result was nothing other than that the proposal did not have any effect in anyone’s hearts and did not find any more status in the hearts of the people than a dead opinion. The idea that truth and correctness settle in people’s minds without discussion or argument is a pleasant but false statement.
Look at the world where groups of people are stuck on contradictory opinions, and those conflicting opinions are embedded in their hearts. Are both of those contradictory opinions true and correct? Yes, there is no doubt that many things settle in people’s hearts without understanding, argument, and discussion, but they don’t need to be correct and correct. In truth, there is no such miraculous miracle that they settle in hearts by themselves. The only miracle is that it is not afraid of discussion.
Valid in Evidence and discussion
Even if a valid opinion is accepted in the heart without evidence and discussion, it will not be called a valid opinion. Instead, a mixture of prejudice and ignorance would be its proper name. However, such a way of accepting truth and the truth is unsuitable for a rational creature like man, nor is this the way of recognizing truth and righteousness. Instead, the truth accepted in this way is a corrupt and false idea and is the acceptance of the things that have been assumed to be true.
Adopted the Opinion
It is accurate that the person who has adopted the opinion or religion is the same person responsible for it. The originator of this opinion or the leader, teacher and mujtahid of this religion are not accountable. Still, Muslims have closed their eyes to this brighter issue and have adopted the issue of the Roman Catholics, that is, the idolatrous Christians. In the Roman Catholic religion, those who believe in this religion are divided into two groups: one is those who are allowed to accept the issues of this religion after proof and evidence, and the other is those who must accept them only with trust and confidence, that is, by imitation.
Following this rule, Muslims have also established two groups in their religion: one is those who have accepted the established issue after proof, investigation and documenting evidence, and they are called, with different degrees, the absolute mujtahid, the mujtahid fi al-madhhab, and the Marja.
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Following Unthinking
The second is those who should be followed unthinkingly; their name is Muqlid, and the act is called Taqlid. For this reason, resistance to the opposing opinion has spread widely among Muslims. They make an excellent but foolish and deceptive speech about it. They say that it is neither necessary nor possible for all human beings to know all the things that great sages, people of knowledge, and scholars of religious sciences know and understand.
Nor can it be that every ordinary person knows and proves all the false statements of an intelligent and wise opponent to be false or to be able to refute and prove them false. Instead, it is enough to understand that there will always be someone or something capable of answering them, thanks to whom not a single thing said by the opponent will remain uncontested.
Therefore, it is sufficient for men of simple intellect to be taught the truth of these things, and for the rest of the reasons, they should rely on the evidence of others. While they know that we do not have sufficient knowledge and complete competence to remove all these difficulties, they can rest assured that the problems and objections raised have been answered or will be answered by those who are great scholars.
Accepting the Speech
After accepting this speech, there is no harm in the harm caused by freedom of opinion and resistance to opposing opinions because, according to this speech, it is also established that people should have a reasonable certainty that all objections have been answered to their satisfaction.
This certainty can only be possible when there is freedom to discuss and debate it, and the opponents can state all their reasons against it and leave no effort to prove the issue wrong. If the hot market of imitation, as it is today, and the resistance and absence of free discussion and the harmful effect, if the accepted issues or resolutions are correct, there would be some harm in the value and status of these issues or these opinions that they have a perfect effect on the characters of people, but this is not the case. Instead, there is more harm than that.
Absense of Debate
In the absence of debate and freedom of opinion, people forget the reasons for the issue and often forget the meaning and purpose of the issue or opinion. Thus, the words in which the issue or opinion is expressed, even the establishment of an opinion or idea, are stopped, or very little of what was meant by these words in the beginning is known.
Instead of the belief in this issue or opinion remaining fresh and alive, that is, effective, only a few of its words remain due to memory, and if any of its meaning and meaning remain, only its shell remains, and the core and essence are lost. Now, with some justice, Muslims should see their situation and whether they have become like this due to this resistance to opinion or imitation in all rational and transmitted sciences.
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Extend Which Human have
Up to this time, the extent to which humans have experienced all religious beliefs or all matters and scientific problems proves the correctness of the above issues. Thus, we see that in the time of those who were the originators of religion, knowledge, or opinion and in the hearts of their extraordinary disciples or disciples, those beliefs or issues were full of various meanings, intentions, and virtues.
The reason for this was that there was debate and argument between them and those who opposed their opinions for one to gain dominance and superiority over the other’s beliefs and issues. But when it succeeded, many people accepted it, and the debate and argument ceased; its progress also came to a standstill, and the influence in the hearts also lost its life, that is, movement and movement.
Situation
In such a situation, its supporters themselves are in a state where they are not as ready to confront their opponents as before, and they no longer do so as they used to protect that issue or belief. Instead, they take comfort in false pride and unnecessary exaggeration, and as much as possible, they do not listen to any arguments against this belief and issue.
They also prevent their group from listening to it and discussing it as much as possible by showing them the false fear of going to hell due to the threat of infidelity fatwas. They do not understand that the light of knowledge, which spreads like the sun’s light, can be stopped by the wind of objections if they are correct. And when this time comes, the decline of this belief or issue that their leaders had established with great effort begins.
Nominally Accepted
At this time, all the teachers and holy men considered the leaders of this unfortunate era complained that the beliefs they had nominally accepted did not affect the hearts of the believers. Even though they outwardly accept these beliefs and issues, they do not find such an effect that their believers’ behaviour, morals, customs and social life are also affected by them.
But it is a great pity that those teachers and holy men do not think enough that this situation that has happened, which they complain about, is the result of their grace and mercy. Now, I say clearly and very boldly that what I have described is an exact mirror of the situation of the Muslims of that era.
Validity and Dominance
Now consider the opposite problem, when freedom of opinion prevails, with which debate is also indispensable. Each supporter of a belief or scientific issue argues for the validity and dominance of their belief or issue. At that time, even ordinary people and those with weak faith knew and understood very well what we were fighting about and the difference between our beliefs and issues and the beliefs and issues of others.
In such a situation, thousands of people will have thoroughly considered the principle of that belief or issue. They will have thoroughly understood it in every way and manner and thoroughly examined and weighed its excellent aspects. It will ultimately affect their morals, habits, and character, as is possible, like a person in whom that belief or issue has become deeply ingrained.
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Final Thoughts
The Power of Free Thoughts. But when that belief becomes an inherited belief, and people accept it as a sacred tradition of their ancestors or teachers, it is not a heartfelt affirmation. Nature tends to forget that belief or issue to the point that that belief or issue becomes irrelevant to a person’s inner self and remains only superficially.
All morals and habits are against it. Such situations arise, as have often occurred in this era, which show that that belief or issue is wrapped up outside of nature like bad and thorny skin, due to which those things that relate to the inner qualities of a person do not emerge. Instead, it manifests a kind of strength like that of a thorny hedge, which neither benefits the land it surrounds nor allows others to plant flowers in it and does nothing except let the land of the heart lie empty, desolate, and useless.
The truth of what has been said can be known by every follower of religion by considering his situation. Every follower of religion considers some book sacred and accepts it as the law of religion. Still, it is not an exaggeration to say that perhaps one in thousands examines his conduct and tests its good or badness according to this sacred accepted law; instead, the evidence and binding upon which he acts is only the customs and traditions of his nation or sect or religious group and nothing else.