The first point to emphasize is that, in Islam, the individual is the end, and everything else is a means to that end - including the Qur’an and Islam itself. This applies equally to men and women, without any distinction. In Islam, every human being, whether a man or a woman, whether mentally sound or impaired, must never be treated as a means to an end beyond themselves. Rather, each individual is the end to which all means lead.
This emphasis on individuality is the core of the matter, as it underpins accountability and honor. It is individuals, not groups, who will be judged when the scales of justice are set. Men and women are equal in this regard - a point that must be firmly ingrained in our understanding. Allah says:
“No bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another.”(6:164);
“Whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.”(99:7-8);
“And We inherit him [alone] in what he says, and he will come to Us alone.”(19:80);
“There is no one in the heavens and the earth but that they come to the Most Merciful as a servant. He has enumerated them and counted them a [full] counting. And all of them are coming to Him on the Day of Resurrection alone.” (19:93-95);
“And you have certainly come to Us alone, just as We created you the first time.”(6:94).
The equality between men and women is fundamental in Islam. The distinctions made between them in Islamic law (sharī‘a) arose due to historical and social factors tied to the evolution of human society.
The individual who holds weight in Islam is the one who knows Allah. However, Islam regards every individual as an end in himself, even the mentally retarded, because each individual is a potential knower of Allah, a germ of an individual who is a knower of Allah. This knowledge will manifest, sooner or later: "This is a decree that your Lord has made inevitable.” (19:71)
At the beginning of this book, we stated that Islam has resolved the apparent conflict between the needs of the individual and the needs of the community. It has harmonized these two needs into a unified framework, where the individual's need for absolute personal freedom becomes an extension of the community's need for comprehensive social justice. In other words, Islam has made the organization of the community a means to freedom.
Islam achieved this balance through the principle of (tawḥīd) monotheism, which grounds its laws legislations on two levels: the level of the community and the level of the individual. At the level of the community, the laws legislations are known as the laws legislations of transactions (mu‘āmalāt). At the level of the individual, the laws legislations are known as the laws of worship (‘ibādāt).
The dominant characteristic of the legislation of transactions is that it coordinates the relationship between individuals in society, while the dominant characteristic of the legislation of worship is that it coordinates the relationship between the individual and the Lord. This does not mean that each of these two legislations operates independently of the other, but rather it means that they are two parts of a single law that cannot exist without both together, with a difference in degree, not in kind. Thus, the legislation of transactions is legislation of worship at a coarse level, and the legislation of worship is legislation of transactions at a higher level, because the characteristic of individuality in worship is more apparent than in transactions.
It is established that worship holds no value unless it is reflected in one’s interactions with others - interactions that themselves become worship. The Infallible (the Prophet) encapsulated this principle by saying: “Religion is how you deal with others.” It is as though worship in solitude serves as a foundation for personal preparation and self-discipline, but its true purpose is realized through practical application in one’s behavior within the community and in dealings with its members.
Monotheism (Tawḥīd) establishes that all existence shares a single source, a single path, and a single destiny: It originates from God, and to God it returns, however, it returns individually. “And you have certainly come to Us alone, just as We created you the first time.”(6:94). Returning to Allah is not about traversing physical distances but about aligning attributes. It involves drawing the qualities of the finite closer to those of the Infinite. This return to Allah is facilitated by specific means, including Islam, the Qur’an, and the community.
The community has its own form of freedom, which serves as the base of the pyramid, while the freedom of the individual represents the apex. Alternatively, one could say that the freedom of the community is akin to the tree, and the freedom of the individual is its fruit. From this holistic perspective, Islam finds no contradiction between the individual and the community.
When Islam, thanks to the principle of monotheism, achieved this precise balance between the individual and the community, it legislated all its laws in a way that simultaneously addresses the needs of the individual and the needs of the community. It did not sacrifice the individual for the sake of the community, thus defeating the end by the means. Nor did it sacrifice the community for the sake of the individual, neglecting the most important means of achieving individuality. Rather, its legislation, in all its forms, represents a high level of ability to reconcile the individual's need for absolute personal freedom with the community's need for comprehensive social justice.