Islam Creator of the Modern Age
4. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
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status, could freely criticize the caliphs. The history
of this period abounds in such instances.
This Islamic revolution had such far-reaching
effects, that even in the later period of Islam, when a
form of monarchy had replaced the Caliphate, and
throughout the entire fourteen-hundred-year span
of Islamic history, there was never again a ruler
who succeeded in placing curbs on the right to
expression.
SOME INSTANCES OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
The Islamic revolution brought about by the
Prophet and his, companions did not remain simply
a matter of religion, for the followers of Islam
established powerful states far beyond the
boundaries of Arabia—a process which continued
for a thousand years and affected the whole
inhabited world of that time. But never once,
throughout that period, was there any attempt to
impose censorship on human thinking. In all these
new Islamic states, the people enjoyed total freedom
of thought. Here we shall quote some instances to
this effect from Professor Arnold’s book, titled,
The
