Freedom of thought, belief and religion

Freedom of thought, belief, and religion means that an individual embraces whatever religion or belief he wants, and every person has the right to enjoy freedom of thought, belief, and religion, and to have the freedom to practice the rituals of the religion he has chosen, whether secretly or publicly. To be forced to participate in rituals other than his religion, and not to be forced into a specific thought, and freedom of belief, religion and thought also means that the individual has the freedom to change his religion, but within the limits of public order and morals.

Despite the text of Article (4) of the Basic Law, which formally makes the Islamic religion the dominant religion in Palestine, and all other religions must respect and sanctify it. However, this does not mean that the Palestinian constitution prohibited the right of the individual to practice his religious rites according to his religion, but rather protected this right and we see this in the text of Article (18): (Freedom of worship, belief, and the practice of religious rites is guaranteed, provided that it does not disturb public order or morals) and this text clarifies The Palestinian constitution gave the individual the freedom to embrace whatever religion he wanted, but placed restrictions on him respecting public order and others.

This right, like other rights, is not absolute. Rather, it has restrictions, and it is not absolute. Its limits and restrictions lie in not violating public order and public morals.

In terms of protecting this freedom in international declarations and covenants, the Universal Declaration stipulated in Article (18): (A person has the right to freedom of conscience, thought, and religion, and this right includes: freedom to change belief or religion, and freedom to manifest belief or religion, whether by performing rituals. practices, teaching, or even worship, whether in a group or even if alone, and whether alone or in public). Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states:

That a person has the right to freedom of conscience, thought and religion, and this includes practicing a specific religion, whether by worshiping or practicing its rituals and others, as mentioned above.
Exposing any individual to coercion that would prejudice the freedom of this flee to profess a religion, or even his freedom to embrace the religion or belief that suits him, is not permissible.
Subjecting a person's freedom to manifest his belief or religion is not permissible, except for the sake of restrictions imposed by law and which are necessary in order to protect public order, public safety, morals, public health, or even the basic rights and freedoms of others.
In terms of Islamic law, this right has been preserved through the Qur’anic texts and noble hadiths, so Islam was not imposed on people by force, and Islam guaranteed freedom of belief to all people, and we infer that from the command of God Almighty and His Noble Messenger by saying: (There is no compulsion in religion).

According to what has been explained to us, we see that the human right to freedom of belief and religion in international covenants and declarations has not been subject to any restrictions other than that restriction stipulated in the Basic Law, which is one of the necessary measures in any society in order to achieve public security and protect order or public health and morals, or to protect the freedoms of others.

In this context, the researcher believes that with regard to freedom of religion and belief, since ancient times we hear about tolerance of religion, its principles, and its respect for other religions, so the Muslim individual has formed a conviction to respect others regardless of their religions and regardless of the legal text that brought international declarations and covenants. The existence of a global legal text that protects freedom of religion and belief makes the individual embrace whatever religion he wants and practice the rituals of his religion with comfort and reassurance.