Freedom of Thought and Its Heroes in History

Freedom of Thought and Its Heroes in History by Salama Moussa

(1927)

Intellectual Framework

Salama Moussa’s Freedom of Thought and Its Heroes in History (1927) stands as a foundational text in modern Arab Enlightenment thought.

The book offers a sweeping critique of the historical struggle between reason and authority across civilizations, built around one central idea: “Freedom of thought is a human energy that can only be fulfilled through expression. To suppress it is to torment its bearer and to obstruct society’s progress.”

Moussa begins with a symbolic story, adapted from Hendrik Willem van Loon’s Tolerance, in which a village is encircled by “hills of ignorance.” A lone adventurer dares to climb the hills and reveal new truths, only to be stoned by his peers—an allegory of humanity’s eternal battle against intellectual stagnation.

Core Ideas

Religion vs. Authority: “Religion in itself cannot persecute; persecution arises when authority arms itself with religion.”
The Role of the Masses: People often cling to the familiar, resisting innovation out of fear or vested interest.
The Evolutionary Drive: Beyond hunger or wealth, a stronger instinct propels societies forward—what Moussa calls the “lust for progress”—which compels thinkers to sacrifice even their lives for truth.

Freedom of Thought in Antiquity

Greek Civilization: The First Model of Liberation
- Factors of freedom: A polytheistic religion with weaker absolute power compared to the monotheistic God of Judaism; religion not codified as rigid law; philosophy as a free intellectual pursuit.
- Socrates as a model: Defended humanity’s right to think freely—“No one has the right to dictate to another what he must believe.”
Christianity and the Struggle with Authority
- The 4th century marked a turning point, when Christianity shifted from a persecuted faith to a ruling power—splitting history into two eras: 800 years of relative freedom, followed by centuries of repression.
- Tools of oppression:
  - The Inquisition: Founded to combat Manichaeism, it became the first systematic machinery for punishing dissent.
  - The Papacy: When Rome’s bishop assumed worldly power after the imperial capital shifted to Constantinople.
Comparative Overview

Civilization	Mechanisms of Freedom	Tools of Repression	Heroes/Victims
Greece	Separation of law/religion, philosophy	Trial of Socrates	Socrates
Early Christianity	Relative tolerance	Inquisition, Papacy	Jan Hus (executed 1415)
Early Islam	Tolerance of “People of the Book”	Merging political & religious authority	al-Hallaj, Ibn Hanbal

Freedom of Thought in Islam

Religion and Politics Intertwined
- The caliphate fused spiritual and temporal power—contrary to claims that it was merely a civil office.
- Selective tolerance:
  - Positive: Andalusian Muslims respected Christian traditions (e.g., recognizing Sunday as a holiday) and appointed Copts to government posts in Egypt.
  - Negative: Christianity and Judaism were eradicated from Arabia under Caliph ʿUmar for political reasons.
Science and the Arts: Achievements and Constraints
- Cultural bridge: Muslims transmitted Greek knowledge to Europe while adding a practical scientific spirit.
- Restrictions:
  - Anatomy banned—turning medicine into what Moussa calls “the silliest game ever played in Arab history.”
  - Sculpture and music condemned as symbols of decadence.
Persecuted Thinkers
- Ibn Rushd (Averroes) (1126–1198): His philosophy banned, books burned, exiled to a village near Córdoba.
- Shihab al-Din al-Suhrawardi (1154–1191): Executed in Aleppo at 36, after clerics accused him before Saladin.
- al-Hallaj: Executed for his daring mystical ideas.

The Modern Era and Heroes of Liberation

The Printing Press: The First Revolution
- Ironically, censorship backfired: when the Church issued Indexes of Forbidden Books, demand for them only grew.
- Book burnings were also common in the Islamic world—for example, 400 manuscripts of Ibn Hazm were destroyed.
Western Champions of Free Thought
- Galileo Galilei (1564–1642): Forced to recant his heliocentric theories before the Inquisition.
- Voltaire (1694–1778): Declared, “The king may boast of his scepter, but I boast of my pen,” publishing 70 works in defense of liberty.
- Charles Darwin: His theory of evolution struck a blow at dogmatic thought.
Great Intellectual Revolutions
- The Reformation: A protest against indulgences and papal tyranny, aided by northern European rulers seeking independence from Rome.
- The French Revolution (1789): Proclaimed equality and freedom of press and religion.

Justifying Intellectual Freedom & Moussa’s Contributions

Philosophical Basis of Freedom
- An idea is a “force of the mind”: tortured when imprisoned, unleashed when expressed.
- Enemies of freedom: human laziness, fear of losing privileges, and popular ignorance.
Moussa’s Vision for an Arab Renaissance
- Advocated simplifying Arabic, rejecting “bloated rhetoric” in favor of “eloquent living.”
- Key figures:
  - Muhammad Abduh and Farah Antoun: Debated Islam’s relation to Christianity.
  - Taha Hussein: Sparked controversy with On Pre-Islamic Poetry.
Moussa’s Intellectual Legacy
- Influences: Darwin and Marx during his European studies (1906–1910); member of the Fabian Society.
- Attacks from rivals: accused of hostility to Islam and weak Arabic by critics like al-ʿAqqad and al-Rafiʿi.
- Enduring message: “The worst calamity that can befall a nation is the union of religion and tyranny.”

Heroes of Free Thought Across the Ages (as presented by Moussa)

Hero	Field	Sacrifice	Historical Role
Socrates	Philosophy	Death by hemlock	Defender of questioning
Ibn Rushd	Philosophy	Exile, burning of works	Revived Aristotelian philosophy
Galileo	Science	Prison, forced recantation	Proved heliocentrism
Voltaire	Literature & Philosophy	Exile, censorship	Champion of tolerance
Taha Hussein	Literary Criticism	Institutional attacks	Modernized literary studies

Critical Reading

Moussa closes his book with a bold call to free the human mind from “superstition and the unseen” and to build a “scientific culture for the people.”

Though criticized for overemphasizing the negative aspects of Islamic history, the book remains a landmark in analyzing mechanisms of intellectual repression—particularly in its persistent linkage between:

Religious and political authority.
Economic interests and persecution.
Intellectual stagnation and civilizational decline.

In today’s world (2025), amid battles over free speech and internet censorship, the book feels strikingly relevant. Moussa’s warning against the “alliance of religion and tyranny” and his insight that forbidden ideas eventually shift from banned to tolerated to accepted—much like the printed works of the Renaissance—offer enduring tools for understanding our contemporary struggles.

This is not merely a historical narrative, but a philosophical manifesto declaring:

Freedom of thought is not a luxury—it is the condition of humanity itself.

For the original summary in Arabic