For the first time of my life someone implied that I am close to the salafi ideology. Not that I have any problems with salafi-ism. I am just not interested in the debate.
I think my beliefs are more or less very straight forward.
I believe Allah gave us mind to think and He gave it to us so that we use it. That distinguishes us from other species. Using our own mind means we have to take personal responsibility on the choices we face.
There is nothing more precious that the mind. Nobody, therefore, has the right to stop anyone from using their minds. Not any individuals, and especially not those ‘in authority’. That leads to my calling for a small state. Not anarchy or laissez faire, but small state.
In order for people to exercise their choice, there must be two things – the ability to choose and the availability of choices. To ensure each individual has the ability to choose, we must have citizen empowerment. To ensure availability of choices, we need free markets with true competition.
In our daily life, we engage with others in our society – be it commercial or social or political engagements. In these interactions, we cannot violate the rights of others, and we also have responsibility towards others. The rights and responsibilities must be respected. In other words, rule of law within a small state is key to ensure people are empowered to exercise personal responsibility in a free market system.
And, I also have a very optimistic view of society. Individuals generally are good and if we trust them, they will prosper. Let us call it husnu-dzan. My husnu-dzan leads me to believe that human beings are good creatures who naturally want order in their lives. Hence my belief in spontaneous order.
So, there we go. What does that make me? I suppose I am very close to classical liberalism. But, really, I am not too bothered about framing myself in a particular school of thought. I believe in personal responsibility, small state, citizen empowerment, free markets, rule of law and spontaneous order. What do you call that? Islam? Liberal? Libertarian?
Filed under: Misc
Salam abang wan,
What do you really mean by ‘small state’? I assume it is some sort of degree of regulation that lies between not too strict and not too loose/passive ends.
A small state is one in which the principal function of a government is to provide the protective services and to enforce the “rules of just conduct” among people. Within the small state, people remain free to pursue their own purposes while dealing with all others solely on the basis of voluntary exchange.
Buy The Constitution of Liberty by Hayek.