Why, As a Muslim, I Defend Liberty is a little big book I wrote in 2021 for Libertarianism.org, a Cato project, to summarize the key Islamic arguments for classical liberalism. In 2023, its Swedish edition was published by Timbro: Varför Jag Som Muslim Försvarar Frihet. Three years later, in July 2026, it was launched in Pakistan, with the title:
کیوں، بطور مسلمان، میں آزادی کا دفاع کرتا ہوں
— or, in plain English, “Why, As a Muslim, I Defend Liberty.”
The book, published by the Cato Institute, was translated into Urdu by Fida Ur Rahman, a lecturer in Islamic studies at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, who has also organized the printing of physical copies and the promotion of the book in Pakistan. At the same time, Libertarianism.org offered the free digital download of the book in PDF format.
The book received immediate attention from Pakistanis interested in the intersection of Islam and liberty. In just a few weeks, thanks to Fida Ur Rahman’s personal outreach, hundreds of print copies reached faculty members at universities, public intellectuals, social media influencers, journalists, student leaders, and clergymen.
Meanwhile, on July 21, the Islam and Liberty Network, a global platform based both in Pakistan and Malaysia, organized a forum on the book in its Islamabad offices, with both in-person and online attendance. One of the attendees, Khurshid Ahmed Nadeem, a prominent intellectual, soon wrote a review of the book in his column in Dunya News, a national Urdu newspaper. Under the title, “What Is Muslim Liberalism?,” Nadeem gave the following introduction:
Its basic premise is the same as that of liberalism: The human being is naturally free. No external force has the right to impose any restriction upon him. It is his inherent right to choose whatever religion he wishes and to live whatever kind of life he wishes to live.… In the public sphere, its most prominent advocate is the Turkish scholar Mustafa Akyol, who is based in the United States.… His influence extends primarily among modern, educated people. This school of thought has found acceptance in the West, as well as among Muslim circles that have become alienated from religion as a result of extremist religious interpretations.
Afterward, Nadeem shared some reservations about what he sees as too much freedom, as well as about rethinking Islam “while taking the liberal paradigm as its standard.” I sent him a respectful response, which he was gracious enough to publish in full in his own column. You can read its English version here.
Another review, quite a sympathetic one, also came out in the Tajziat magazine, titled “Why, As a Muslim, I Defend Liberty: Echoes of Free Thought in an Age of Stagnation.” It read:
In the contemporary Muslim world, the convergence of religion and state coercion has severely undermined the moral and intellectual autonomy of the individual. Against the backdrop of this intellectual crisis, this work by the renowned Turkish scholar Mustafa Akyol constitutes a rigorous academic endeavor, rendered into lucid Urdu by Fida-ur-Rahman. The author’s central thesis posits that the intrinsic virtue of faith lies in its voluntary nature; when states enforce religion through coercive mechanisms, they foster hypocrisy, intellectual stagnation, and apostasy within society, rather than cultivating genuine piety.… Ultimately, this discourse rejects despotic regimes and offers a vision of a just society wherein human rights supersede institutional power and individual freedom is held inviolable.
Yet another online review by popular author Jamshed Iqbal praised the book as “a bold, fresh perspective” that “introduces a debate into Urdu discourse that has rarely been addressed with such rigor.” It added:
In the context of Pakistan, this work is particularly vital, as liberty remains a deeply suspect concept.… Akyol challenges this mind-set not through provocation, but through reasoned discourse drawn from the Quran, history, and rational inquiry. He does not advocate abandoning Islam for liberty; rather, he argues that liberty is essential to understanding Islam, for faith accepted under coercion is not genuine conviction, but fear.
Indeed, Islamic arguments for liberty are vital for Pakistan, which itself is a vital country in the Muslim world and the global scene. It is also a great nation with a very rich intellectual tradition, including pioneers of Islamic liberalism, such as the Aligarh Movement of the 19th century and the towering scholar Fazlur Rahman Malik of the 20th century, whose works have influenced me deeply.
Unfortunately, in the past several decades, more rigid if not militant interpretations of Islam have become ascendant in Pakistan, with grim consequences for religious minorities and critical voices. But that is precisely why better ideas need to be defended, as I tried to do in Why, As a Muslim, I Defend Liberty. Many thanks to Fida Ur Rahman, Ali Salman and his colleagues at Islam and Liberty Network, and all others who helped get the word out about this book and who remain treasured friends and allies in the struggle for liberty in the Muslim world.
