*Written by : Dr. Rabi Aidi
A few days ago, I had the honor to give a lecture on the concept of freedom in Islam, in cooperation with the Moroccan Forum for Thought and Civilization, and I spoke for long time about the wide area in which Islam believes in about the concept of freedom in condition that do not return to the society and public interest with woes and misfortunes, and it is not allowable to be exploited to become an incitement tool to spread hatred in the society.
So, the Sharia sought that the expression supposed to be through the channels of proof and discussion, not through the insult and verbal abuse, and spreading hatred of the other.
The Holy Qur’an has clearly stated that it is forbidden to insult the other because of his religious difference from you, God said:
“And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge. Thus we have made pleasing to every community their deeds. Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them about what they used to do”.
Unfortunately, despite the clarity of the Holy Qur’an in calling for debate in the best way, but some of those who are fed by extremist and racist parties claim that Islam does not accept the other opinion.
Some people have been appeared in the European community, and they do not represent the European community, but they represent those who they belong to them from hidden hands that want to ignite strife and wars in Western societies.
On the first day of Eid al-Adha of this year, a reckless and spiteful person who did not appreciate the meaning of freedom rises to announce his recklessness and hatred to ignite wars of hatred in the Western societies, especially in” Sweden”. He was determined to burn a copy of the Holy Qur’an and he was guarded by Swedish police to do this crime.
Yes, in the name of freedom of expression…..!
I have two notes here, I hope that it will be of interest to the Muslim communities:
First: the burning of the Holy Qur’an does not come under the umbrella of freedom of expression, because freedom of expression is freedom of speech and civilized behavior from which everyone understands your point of view on a specific matter.
That means freedom of expression is a verbal situation, it is not an act,
And if freedom of expression goes beyond and exceed the expression to the act then we should not call it freedom of expression because it is changed from speech to act.
So if it is permissible for us to consider those acts under the umbrella of freedom so we it will be permissible for us to consider the burning of empty mosques and churches and the burning of crosses as freedom of expression, and no one says this….!!
Therefore, the act of this person who burnt the Holy Qur’an is classified under the umbrella of action, not speech, because he moved from speech to action.
Second: It is not permissible for human rights to oppose with each other, otherwise human rights cannot be applied to society because of the opposition between them, for example, when we talk about the human right to life, we cannot at the same time allow the freedom to kill!
Likewise, it is not possible to give a person freedom of belief in safely and stability, and then, in return, open the door to his permissibility to insult him, not only do I talk, but I also authorize the burning of his Holy Book, and this act is completely inconsistent with freedom of belief and the practice of its rituals, in an atmosphere charged with hatred..!
In this context, I believe that Muslim communities must emphasize these two dimensions in order for the human rights process to continue in an integrated and non-conflicting way, and not to subject the issue of human rights to violation or to be exploited by some extremists to become a tool for spreading hatred and hatred in society under the pretext of human rights or freedom of expression.
Things must be called by what they are. Burning the Holy Qur’an is an act, not a speech, so as that we can consider it under the umbrella of freedom of expression.
*Translated by : Hashem Elayat.
English
Español
Deutsch
Français
العربية