1001Philosophers

Sadiq Jalal al-Azm Quotes on Freedom

Sadiq Jalal al-Azm was a Syrian philosopher, professor at the University of Damascus and at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, and one of the most uncompromising secular and rationalist voices of the late twentieth-century Arab intellectual scene. This page collects quotes attributed to Sadiq Jalal al-Azm on the topic of freedom, drawn from across the philosopher's works.

Quotes

  • Attributed to Sadiq Jalal al-Azm:

    “Religious thought, when it refuses critique, becomes the prison of those it claims to liberate.”

  • Attributed to Sadiq Jalal al-Azm:

    “The defense of Salman Rushdie is the defense of every Muslim's right to think for themselves.”

  • Attributed to Sadiq Jalal al-Azm:

    “Reason is not the property of the West; it is the inheritance of every human being.”

  • Attributed to Sadiq Jalal al-Azm:

    “Without secular intellectual courage, the Arab world will continue to suffer the consequences of its own evasions.”