Is Free Speech Haram? Options

Mo tries to allow people to speak their beliefs pretty freely, however I began to think, what do most people think about this?

Is it haram to allow a fair place where both sides of a story can speak?

This is specifically talking about speech and talking about ideas, not drawing pictures or making fun of people.

First guy that comes to my mind in this debate is Salman Rushdie.

This post has been edited by Simba: Sep 25 2007, 01:43 AM

very interesting thread

freedom of speech can cause alot of problems...

Are you including hate speech as a part of free speech?

No, im only talking about intellectual speech.

insulting the prophet is punished by death that is what the sahaba-e-karam did to a few of them after that all else is allowed in times of umar & Ali caliphs people were free to express whatever they want AGAINST the caliphs ....but muawiyah put an end to free speech in islam

A Qur'anic Perspective
The Qur'an's perspective on issues raised by the cartoons controversy may be summarized under six points. First, the Qur'an prohibits Muslims from insulting the objects of worship of other religions, as seen in its command to the early Muslims not to insult the idols that the people of Arabia used to worship:

And do not insult those whom they call upon beside Allah, lest they would insult Allah out of ignorance. Thus We have made the deeds of every people look fair to them; then to their Lord shall be their return, so He will inform them of what they did (6.108).

Insulting and mocking someone's beliefs is a highly provocative action that can rarely solicit a rational or positive reaction. Even when instructing the Muslims to try to convert the idolatrous Arabs to Islam, God commands the Muslims to use debates and argue their points in the best possible way:

Call [O Muhammad!] to the way of your Lord with Wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the best manner; surely your Lord best knows those who go astray from His path, and He best knows those who follow the right way (16.125).

Second, if Muslims find their beliefs being insulted, they should turn away from the places and gatherings where this is done, until the offensive attacks against their religion is stopped:

And He has revealed to you [O you who believe!] in the Book that when you hear Allah's verses being disbelieved and ridiculed, do not sit with them (those who do so) until they engage in some other conversation. Otherwise, you would be like them; Allah will gather together the hypocrites and the disbelievers all in hell (4.140). And when you [O Muhammad!] see those who meddle with Our verses, turn away from them until they engage in some other conversation. And if Satan causes you to forget, then do not sit, after you remember, with the wrongdoing people (6.68).

Note that the Muslim is not told to return the insult with insult or violence, but he is commanded to respond in a completely peaceful manner. He should turn away from those who are trying to provoke him and avoid listening to their insults to his religion. This is not a passive reaction to a serious issue, but it is a positive response that protects the Muslim's faith and underlines his veneration for the symbols of his religion, and also preserves peace and avoid conflict. These verses also imply that Muslims should not live in isolation from those who do not share their belief. They should avoid them only if they ridicule and insult Islam, but Muslims should continue to cohabitate with non-Muslims if they stop trying to hurt them. Third, the practice of ridiculing Prophet Muhammad started from the very first days when he started calling people to Islam:

And when the disbelievers see you [O Muhammad!], they treat you only with mockery, [saying]: "Is this he who speaks of your gods?" And they disbelieve the Remembrance (the Qur'an) of ar-Rahman (Allah) (21.36). And when they see you [O Muhammad!] , they treat you only with mockery, [saying]: "Is this he whom Allah has sent as a messenger?" (25.41).

The Prophet was continuously berated, reviled, and denigrated. The Qur'an has documented in several verses the different accusations that were leveled at Prophet Muhammad. Some of these charges, which probably mainly came from the polytheistic Arabs, accused Muhammad of basing the Qur'an on confused dreams; making it up; and being merely a poet, a madman, or a soothsayer:

Nay! They (the disbelievers) say: "[The Qur'an is] Medleys of dreams; nay! he has made it up; nay! he is a poet. So let him bring to us a sign as the former [prophets] were sent with" (21.5). And they (the disbelievers) say: "O you [Muhammad] to whom the Remembrance (the Qur'an) has been revealed! You are a madman" (15.6). Therefore continue [O Muhammad!] to remind; for by the grace of your Lord, you are not a soothsayer or a madman (52.29).

Another charge was that the Qur'an is a collection of ancient stories that was being taught to and written down for Muhammad by some people:

And they [the disbelievers] say: "[The Qur'an is] stories of the ancients that he [Muhammad] has got them written, as they are read out to him morning and evening" (25.5).

Another verse responds to a specific form of this accusation which claims that the Prophet was being taught by a non-Arab teacher, who was probably Jewish or Christian:

Say [O Muhammad!]: "The Spirit of Holiness [Gabriel] has revealed it [the Qur'an] from your Lord with the truth, that it may establish those who believe and as a guidance and good news for the Muslims (16.102). Certainly We know that they say: "It is a man that teaches him". The tongue of the man to whom they attribute the Qur'an is foreign, yet this is clear Arabic tongue (16.103).

This particular accusation is likely to have been leveled at the Prophet by Jews and Christians who did not accept that he could have received revelation in the same way that their prophets had done. There is not a single verse in the Qur'an that told the Prophet or Muslims in general to respond to the accusers with any form of violence. Fourth, the Qur'an commands the Muslims to revere Prophet Muhammad and love him even more than their family members, as the reverence and love for the Prophet is derived from and feeds into the reverence and love for God:

Say [O Muhammad!]: "If your fathers, sons, brothers, mates, clans, properties which you have acquired, trade whose decline you fear, and dwellings which you like, are dearer to you than Allah, His Messenger, and doing jihad in His way, then wait till Allah brings about His command"; and Allah does not guide the backsliders (9.24). Say [O Muhammad!]: "If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins"; and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful (3.31).

While Muslims do not worship the Prophet, and only consider him as a human being who is very close to God, all accept that loving him is an essential part of their practice of Islam. Fifth, the Qur'an states that the Muslim must revere and believe in all other prophets, not only Muhammad. Rejecting the prophethood of any prophet is equivalent to rejecting the prophethood of Muhammad:

Say [O you who believe!]: "We believe in Allah; and in that which has been sent down to us; and in that which was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the children of Jacob; and in that which was given to Moses and Jesus; and in that which was given to the prophets from their Lord. We do not discriminate between any of them, and to Him we are Muslims (we submit)" (2.136). Say [O Muhammad!]: "We believe in that which has been sent down to us; and in that which was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the children of Jacob; and in that which was given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets from their Lord. We do not discriminate between any of them, and to Him we are Muslims (we submit)" (3.84).

This is why Muslims hold prophets such as Moses and Jesus in the highest esteem and would never insult them. It is common practice among Muslims to follow the name of every prophet with the honorific phrase "peace be upon him".

from: http://www.quranicstudies.com/article124.html


This post has been edited by Simba: Sep 25 2007, 10:40 PM

insulting the prophet is punished by death that is what the sahaba-e-karam did to a few of them after that all else is allowed in times of umar & Ali caliphs people were free to express whatever they want AGAINST the caliphs ....but muawiyah put an end to free speech in islam

interesting

I honestly believe right now that the Quran is for free speech.

im not sure of you definition of speech

im not sure of you definition of speech wacko.gif

exchange of intellectual ideas.

under this defintion

Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie): Ok
Danish Cartoons: Not Ok

Freedom of art?

Freedom of art?

Thats a different debate i will address later.

Very interesting topic, I enjoyed reading it.

freedom of speech can cause alot of problems...

Its not whether it causes problems or not. Its whether or not its haram or halal.

For such an important topic, no one is answering.

insulting the prophet is punished by death that is what the sahaba-e-karam did to a few of them after that all else is allowed in times of umar & Ali caliphs people were free to express whatever they want AGAINST the caliphs ....but muawiyah put an end to free speech in islam

interesting

How did muawiyah put an end to free speech? And yes the Caliphs which allowed free speech the most was Abu Bakr (ra) and Umar (ra) and Ali (ra), and probably Uthman (ra).

In fact in his inaugauration (how the hell do u spell it lol) speech Abu Bakr (ra) said that the people should correct him if he went astray from the Sunnah.

im not sure of you definition of speech wacko.gif

exchange of intellectual ideas.

under this defintion

Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie): Ok
Danish Cartoons: Not Ok

Anything that insults the Prophet () is Not OK.

Whether intellectual or satirical.

insulting the prophet is punished by death that is what the sahaba-e-karam did to a few of them after that all else is allowed in times of umar & Ali caliphs people were free to express whatever they want AGAINST the caliphs ....but muawiyah put an end to free speech in islam

interesting

How did muawiyah put an end to free speech? And yes the Caliphs which allowed free speech the most was Abu Bakr (ra) and Umar (ra) and Ali (ra), and probably Uthman (ra).

In fact in his inaugauration (how the hell do u spell it lol) speech Abu Bakr (ra) said that the people should correct him if he went astray from the Sunnah.

uthman and muawiyah both tried to curb freedom of speech...in uthman's time it was beatings in muawiyah's time it was poison and the sword...you are right about the other 3 caliphs

This post has been edited by ibn Budayl: Oct 1 2007, 04:41 PM

im not sure of you definition of speech wacko.gif

exchange of intellectual ideas.

under this defintion

Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie): Ok
Danish Cartoons: Not Ok

Anything that insults the Prophet ( ) is Not OK.

Whether intellectual or satirical.

correct , the ansaris killed such people ...including a infidel women who was nursing her babies ...so there is ZERO tolerence for this

uthman and muawiyah both tried to curb freedom of speech...in uthman's time it was beatings in muawiyah's time it was poison and the sword...you are right about the other 3 caliphs

brother do you respect the Caliphs?
Uthman (ra) was a great man!
akhi are you a shia or sunni?

Wait wait what? Nursing babies is a crime?

pretty tricky there... twisting the words around to make it look like he was condemning nursing babies. LoL!

NO.... it aint no crime in fact its a gesture of kindness, but the real crime was insulting the Holy Prophet b

^ okay I missed that shud have said "EVEN those who were nursing babies "