Freedom in Islam

"The activity that is called 'freedom' is in ikhtiyaar, which is an act, not in hurriyyah, which is a condition. The act that is meant in ikhtiyaar is that of making a choice, not between many alternatives but between two alternatives: the good or the bad. Because ikhtiyaar is bound in meaning with khayr, meaning 'good'...the choice that is meant in ikhtiyaar is the choice of what is good, better, or best between the two alternatives.

This point is most important as it is aligned to the philosophical questions of freedom. A choice of what is bad of two alternatives is therefore not a choice that can be called ikhtiyaar, in fact it is not a choice, rather it is an act of injustice done to oneself. Freedom is to act as one's real and true nature demands - that is, as one's haqq and one's fitrah demands - and so only the exercise of that choice which is of what is good can properly be called a 'free choice'.

A choice for the better is therefore an act of freedom, and it is also an act of justice done to oneself. It presupposes knowledge of good and evil. of virtues and vices; whereas a choice for the worse is not a choice as it is grounded upon ignorance urged on by the blameworthy aspects of the animal powers; it is then also not an exercise of freedom because freedom means precisely being free of domination by the powers of the soul that incites to evil."

-Professor Naguib al-Attas - Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam