✦ Liberal State, Principles of Intervention, and the Islamic Perspective
❖ The Liberal Claim: Opposition to State Intervention
The policy framework of liberal states is derived from economic discourse. Most economics textbooks create the impression that the state should not intervene in private sector affairs. This mindset is generally instilled in students and readers of economics or liberal political philosophy. Eventually, this idea is used as an argument against the religious interventions of an Islamic state, labeling them as contradictory to “justice and reason.”
❖ The Reality: Concept of Perfect Competition and the Justification for Intervention
➊ Perfect Competition: A Hypothetical Concept
Liberal economic thought presents the argument of non-intervention in the light of a hypothetical condition—perfect competition—which is not only non-existent but also impossible.
➋ Necessity of State Intervention
Even economics itself acknowledges that where perfect competition does not exist, the state must intervene. In truth, economic theories do not reject intervention; rather, they explain when and how the state should intervene.
❖ The Real Objective of Liberalism
The real objective of liberal political philosophy and economic thought is to establish the state and society upon capitalist principles. The liberal claim that the state has no right to interfere in personal life is actually a distortion of reality.
✦ Adam Smith and State Intervention
➊ The Deceptive Approach
Adam Smith did not explicitly state that the state should not intervene on religious grounds. Instead, he merely said that “the state should not intervene”—a vague assertion.
➋ Academic Propagation Without Critique
This vague claim continues to be presented in economics textbooks without critical evaluation, and our liberal thinkers accept it as established truth.
✦ The Liberal State and Personal Life
➊ Principle of Intervention in Personal Life
In liberal thought, personal life is romanticized with the illusion of freedom. However, in reality, the liberal state intervenes whenever and wherever it deems necessary.
➋ Examples of State Control
- Children’s Education:
Parents are compelled to send their children to schools where they are taught state-approved liberal curricula. - Child Custody Issues:
If parents do not conform to the liberal state’s values, the state can seize their children from them.
✦ Utilitarianism in the Liberal State
In liberalism, state principles are based on utility and efficiency, not on the commands of the Qur’an and Sunnah. The question arises:
Why should an Islamic state accept such restrictions, which are derived from liberal ideology and not Islamic principles?
✦ Personal Life: Liberal and Islamic Perspectives
➊ Liberal Contradictions
Liberal thinkers regard intervention in personal life as a “great sin”, and they justify every form of vice under this excuse.
➋ Absence of Such Concept in Qur’an and Sunnah
There exists no text in the Qur’an or Sunnah that defines this so-called intervention in personal life as a greatest crime.
❖ The Position of the Islamic State
According to Islamic teachings, if a sin is committed openly, it is no longer a private matter. Remaining silent about it, or concealing it under the veil of “private life”, is not acceptable.
✦ A Practical Scenario
If someone sees a woman being assaulted, should he run to call the police instead of stopping the aggressor, even knowing that the police may do nothing?
In such cases, failing to intervene becomes a crime in itself.
✦ Democratic Systems and Intervention
In modern democratic systems, the state and NGOs jointly intervene in public matters—a process referred to as Public-Private Partnership.
➊ Example of Women’s Rights
NGOs often play a more active role in protecting women’s rights than state institutions, and the police are bound to comply with them.
✦ Summary: A Question for the Islamic State
The principles of liberalism—based on efficiency and utilitarianism—cannot be imposed upon an Islamic state.
To abandon Qur’anic and Prophetic principles in favor of liberal ideologies is not only unacceptable, but also leads to intellectual and practical contradictions.
