Hudud Hurriyat al-Fikr fi al-Sharia al-Islamiyya
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Hudud Hurriyat al-Fikr fi al-Sharia al-Islamiyya (The Limits of Freedom of Thought in Islamic Law) is a legal treatise written by the Saudi scholar Salih bin Zabin al-Marzooqi al-Baqmi (b. 1390 AH / 1970 CE) to examine the scope, foundations, and boundaries of intellectual freedom within Islamic law.
Background and Composition
The book was conceived in response to an article published in issue 2057 of the French weekly magazine Jeune Afrique (dated 13 June 2000) by the former Tunisian government minister Mohamed Talbi, titled "Everything in the Quran Calls for Freedom of Thought" (Kull ma yatadammanuh al-Qur'an yad'u ila hurriyat al-fikr). In that article, Talbi rejected traditional Sharia penalties—specifically the death penalty for apostasy and illicit drug traffickers—argued that Sharia is a violent human construct contrasting with the Quran's call for mercy and freedom of conscience, accused Muslim states applying Sharia of rigid "Wahhabism," criticized Saudi Arabia for alleged violations of freedom of thought and its non-endorsement of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and claimed that classical jurists fabricated hadiths to justify capital punishments.
In response to these arguments, al-Marzooqi composed a rebuttal that he sent to Jeune Afrique, which he subsequently expanded into this specialized monograph. The initial draft was finished in 1422 AH (2001 CE), and its revised edition was prepared for publication in the al-Awali district of Mecca on Tuesday, 22 Sha'ban 1444 AH (14 March 2023 CE). The treatise was also published in issue 14 of the journal Majallat al-Majma' al-Fiqhi al-Islami, issued by the Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Muslim World League.
Structure and Content
The treatise is organized into an introduction, three main sections (mabahith), and a concluding summary of findings (khatima):
- The Prophetic Sunna (Fi al-Sunna): Divided into two subsections:
- The Authoritativeness of the Sunna (Hujjiyyat al-Sunna): Al-Marzooqi demonstrates the necessity of relying on the Sunna alongside the Quran, citing Quranic verses commanding obedience to the Prophet ﷺ and referencing scholars such as Ibn Taymiyya and al-Khatib al-Baghdadi. He also cites observations by Western and Orientalist scholars—including Muhammad Asad, Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, Reynold Nicholson, and Arent Jan Wensinck—affirming the foundational role and systematic preservation of Hadith literature.
- Refutation of Claims of Hadith Fabrication by Jurists: Rebuts the claim that classical jurists attributed spurious narrations to the Prophet ﷺ to support legal punishments, defending the authenticity of canonical narrations such as من بدل دينه فاقتلوه ("Whoever changes his religion, kill him"), as recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and the major Sunan collections.
- The Ruling on the Apostate and Drug Traffickers (Hukm al-Murtadd wa-Tujjar al-Mukhaddirat): Analyzes the legal justifications and scriptural proofs underpinning the prescribed penalties for apostasy and illicit drug commerce in Islamic jurisprudence.
- Freedom of Thought in Islamic Law (Hurriyat al-Fikr fi al-Sharia al-Islamiyya): Analyzes the Arabic linguistic roots of hurriyya (freedom) and defines it terminologically as an inherent, God-given right permitting human agency within the parameters and regulations of the Sharia. It establishes the distinction between unconstrained individual desires and legitimate intellectual reflection bounded by Islamic fundamentals.
- Conclusion (al-Khatima): Summarizes the primary results and legal determinations reached in the study.
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