4. LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY

4. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity ~ 168 ~ 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