Freedom

The word freedom is defined in dictionaries as not being a prisoner, not being bound by or to anything, not being oppressed, and being free. In contrast, Sufis have approached the word’s meaning from a different perspective and expanded upon it. According to Sufis, “freedom” is to dispense with one’s attachments to anything other than Allah and serve only Him.

According to this definition, a Sufi is someone who is connected to only Allah by getting rid of material and spiritual attachments. In this sense, love of the world, passion for ownership and position, wasting one’s life away in pursuit of the desires of the nafs, selfishness, surrendering to habits, pride, stinginess, and envy are the greatest obstacles in the way of a person’s connection with his Creator. Unless one is free from all these, they are a prisoner of their nafs.

The first thing that comes to mind regarding freedom in Sufism is liberation from the captivity of the nafs (ego). It is absurd for someone who fulfills everything their nafs says, who cannot resist its whims, to mention freedom. In cases like this, their master is the nafsu’l-ammara. Nafsu’l-ammara means the nafs that always commands, directs, and dominates.

To be subject to the wishes of one's nafs is a sign of straying further from Allah Almighty. As long as the nafs is not disciplined, it will always be inclined towards the world and busy with meaningless things. That's why Sufis say, “As long as someone is a servant of someone else, they cannot be a true servant to Allah.”

Imam Qushayri (quddisa sirruhu) describes freedom as follows: “Freedom means not being a slave to anything among creation and not being influenced by any material thing. The sign of freedom is seeing all material objects equal in value due to indifference in the heart toward creations.” In this description, “seeing all material objects equal in value” means that an ordinary stone and gold are of equal worth to one’s eyes.

He also expresses the truth of freedom with the following statement: “A servant strives to pave the way to their heart’s freedom, but as long as memories of and the will to pursue their desires persist, and they continue to long for anything other than Allah, they will live on as a slave, unable to attain true freedom. For all their effort, such a servant will be deprived of the truth of freedom.”

When Sufis speak about freedom, they reference the following ayah as the quintessential example: “They love those who emigrated to them and find not any want in their breasts of what they [the emigrants] were given but give [them] preference over themselves, even though they are in privation.” (Al-Hashr, 9). Allah the Exalted praises the group known as the Ansar, from the companions of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), because they opened both their hearts and homes to their brothers who made hijrah by immigrating from Makkah to Medinah. Ibn Ajibah al-Hasani (rahmatullahi alayh) elaborated in the tafsir of this ayah that the Ansar had removed the love of this world from their hearts, that they possessed an altruism that surpassed their sense of self-consideration to such an extent that they prioritized the needs of their brothers before their own. These characteristics point to their generosity and the state of heart known as qalb-i salim, indicating that their hearts achieved peace through obedience to and togetherness with Allah. The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said regarding this: “May he be miserable who becomes the slave of Dinar, Dirham, Qatifa (thick soft cloth), and Khamisa (a garment, striped silk cloak). If he is given anything, he is satisfied; but if not, he is unsatisfied...” (Bukhari)

Zakariya Ansari (quddisa sirruhu) explains freedom with the following words: “Freedom is for none other than Allah to occupy one’s heart. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, ‘May he be miserable who becomes the slave of Dinar, Dirham…’ Whoever dedicates themselves to their Lord refrains from spending time acquiring wealth and turns away from worldly riches. They will gain freedom from everything other than Allah, for a servant only truly exists for Allah.”

The expression “refraining from spending time to acquire wealth” should not be misinterpreted as giving up on our livelihood, not earning a living, or taking leave of the economic cycle that surrounds every aspect of our lives. What is meant here is not allowing money and material things to occupy one’s heart or letting their life become a captive to such worldly pursuits.

Bishr al-Hafi (quddisa sirruhu) shed light on the way of achieving freedom with the following explanations: “To cherish the taste of freedom, be rid of slavery, and find comfort, one should keep their sirr (inner world) between themselves and Allah clean.” This means that the path to freedom goes through purifying one’s heart of everything other than their Lord. Anyone who retains a love for various things and cannot let go of their expectations and anticipations towards these goals, or objects of desire, will not be able to nurture their heart to taste the sweetness true freedom bears. Abu Nasr as-Sarraj expounded on this: “Freedom is a concept that signifies the ultimate stage of servitude to Allah the Most Glorious. It enshrines the notion that humans should not be guided or directed by anyone or anything other than Allah (jalla jalaluhu). Those who become servants of Allah gain true freedom.”

Sufis separate freedom into three categories. The freedom of an ordinary person, also known as awam, is liberation from being a slave to the nafs, which involves disciplining the nafs and reining in its desires. The freedom of hawas, the select servants of Allah, entails ridding oneself of all desires. Their only guide, the only one who directs them, is Allah’s rida and worshipping Him. According to hawasu’l-hawas, the finest, most select servants of Allah, freedom is to cast off the shackles of the causes of events and witness the manifestations of Allah’s attributes in everything they see.

Mansur al-Hallaj (quddisa sirruhu) used the following expression to put forward that the path to freedom goes through servitude to Allah: “Whoever wants to attain freedom, they should hold fast to ubudiyyah (servitude to Allah).” Ibrahim bin Adham (quddisa sirruhu) once said that a truly free person is one who has renounced their nafs before leaving this world.

Imam Ghazali (rahmatullahi alayh) says the following on the subject of freedom: “Whatever a person is attached to by the heart, they are its servant. The true servant of Allah (jalla jalaluhu) is the person who frees themselves from everything else to attain absolute freedom. When a person attains this absolute freedom, their heart becomes vacant; a vacant heart is promptly occupied by servitude and desires nothing other than Allah.”

Cihat Ceylan