Can Muslims be engaged in intellectual alliances with followers of other beliefs?
`Abdul-Fattah: Yes, if it is like Hilf Al-Fudul (Alliance of Nobility; an alliance whose purpose was to help the oppressed, and which took place in the pre-Islamic period. The Prophet engaged in that alliance). IOL: Can they agree to the concept of freedom and bypass the issue of religions? `Abdul-Fattah: Why should they bypass the issue of religions? In this context, religions urge respect for followers of other religions; and if religions are as such, then why should they be bypassed? IOL: To make the ceiling of freedom higher than the ceiling permitted by religions. `Abdul-Fattah: There is no freedom without limits. Freedom must have limits to abide by, and it must be responsible. Such limits would not constrain motion, but rather they would serve as a warning to the limits of motion. This is how values act when they turn into behaviors. IOL: How could dictatorship in our Arab and Muslim world kill freedoms? `Abdul-Fattah: This is an issue of utmost importance. I advise whoever is i
