Islamic Thoughts

• ANALYSES
• 1 Behavior code of Muslims toward non-Muslims
• 2 September 11 (2001) attacks on America not compatible with Islam
• 3 Ways To Defuse Religious Tensions
• 4 The Value Of The Ten Commandments
• 5 Bright Spot Of The Us Constitution: Religious Freedom
• 6 Lessons from the prophet's hudaibiah treaty.
• 7 Rulers' roles in promotion of christianity.
• 8 Exploring a model definition of 'religion'
• 9 Where islam stands as a civilized religion?
• 10 Proving god's existence through experimental science.
• 11 Roles of man as necessary & God as sufficient condition.
• 12 Human kindness is a shadow of god's kindness.
• 13 Why islam is the best choice for the Africans?
• 14 In Old Age, All Roads Lead To Death.
• 15 No Creations Are Without Purposes & Uses.
• 16 Prayer Prevents People From Bad Actions.
• 17 When Haram May Be Excusable: Five-Step Conditions.
• 18 Islamization Of Some Un-Islamic Cultures.
• 19 Greater The Faith, Tougher The Test.
• 20 How Science Can Make A Difference For Muslims?
• 21 The Time Gap Reality Between Sin & Punishment.
• 22 Good & Bad Days Alternate In Cyclic Order.
• 23 Let Moon-Sighting Unite & Not Divide The Muslims.
• 24 Faith Crisis Among Some Intellectuals.
• 25 Islamic Policy Toward Animals.
• 26 Improving The Muslim Performance (Aamal) Standard.
• ARGUMENTS
• 27 How Middle Course Better Than Conservative And Liberal Extremes?
• 28 Why God Is The Best One To Be Worshipped?
• 29 Costs And Benefits Of Belief In The Afterlife
• 30 Bible Is Similar To Hadith But Different From Quran
• 31 Defaming Islam: Freedom Of Speech Or Violation Of Rights?
• 32 How Islam Compares With Democracy?
• 33 Who Is Responsible For '0' Small Pox Since 1980?
• 34 Timeliness Is The Leading Condition For Prayer.
• 35 Ten Arguments For Women's Education.
• 36 Why Physical Fitness Matters For The Muslims?
• 37 Homosexuality Vs Adultery: Which Is Worse And How?
• 38 Countering Abortionist Argument
• 39 Which Is Better: Open Or Secret Prayer?
• 40 Small Or Large Recitation: Which Is Better In Prayer?
• 41 Personal Or Social Suffering: Which Is More Painful & Why?
• 42 Cultural Slavery Vs Cultural Diffusion.
• 43 Why Should America Ban Religious Defamation?
• ASSORTMENTS
• 44 Visible Action Of Invisible God: From Author's Diary.
• 45 Optional Good Deeds Are Like Bodyguards For Compulsory Ones.
• 46 The Gravitation Law Of Performance (Not One Of Newton).
• 47 The Theory Of Relativity (Not That Of Einstein).
• 48 In Good Deeds
• 49 "Rob Peter to pay Paul" is not for islam
• 50 Muslims Cannot Be "Penny Wise And Pound Foolish".
• 51 Islam Endorses Salad Bowl & Not Melting Pot Theory.
• 52 100% Homosexuality Means Prospect Of 'O' World Population.
• 53 Sinning In Teens To 40's & Suffering From 50's To Death.
• 54 Revenge May Be Lower But Not Greater Than Harm.
• 55 Why Karl Marx Is Irrelevant Forever?
• 56 Is God The Same One For All Religions?
• 57 How God Controls Economy And Livelihood?
• 58 How Muslim Repression In Myanmar Violates Buddhist Principles?
• MISCELLANEOUS
• 59 Grim Reality of Death: Unfailing Lesson for Everyone

31 : DEFAMING ISLAM: FREEDOM OF SPEECH OR VIOLATION OF RIGHTS?

There have been occasional incidences of defaming Islam through mockery of the Prophet, burning the Quran and so on. The role of the West has been often, though not always, a defensive one for such actions. They tend to defend such actions, citing the right to freedom of speech for those involved.

(i) The position conflicts with the well-accepted political theory that the rights and duties of the social beings are closely interrelated. Mr. X, for example, is able to enjoy his rights because Mr. Y respects his rights and similarly Mr. X has also a moral duty to honor the rights of Mr. Y. Every individual in the society has a boundary for his own rights and this boundary for one man ends where that of the other begins. When you cross your respective boundary, then the rights of others are squeezed.

(ii) To deal with such a situation, every civilized nation insists on sensible use of freedom of speech so that the human rights of others are not endangered. In America, for example, the Constitutional right to speech freedom is not considered absolute, for it does not allow you to falsely shouting 'Fire' for creating stampede in a crowd. Accordingly, you can inject civility in the role of freedom of speech by encouraging its use in promotion of human rights (such as through criticizing the evils of the society or a despotic ruler) and discouraging its use for violation of rights of 1.6 billion Muslims.

(iii) A man of conscience can easily honor the difference between criticizing a human error and falsifying a holy divine institution. A well-intended criticism of a man-made wrong may hurt only the target person but that may bring goodness (through corrective role) for the wider society. By contrast, an untrue expression against a divine truth cannot help the society. Such an act, on the contrary, is likely to be a lightning rod, robbing peace off peaceful society.

(iv) The above defenders (the majority being non-Muslims) could better sense the harmful effects of defaming Islam through a process of empathy--feeling the impact by putting themselves in the position of offended Muslims. They would never feel good if scandals were spread against their Prophet(s). The righteous Muslims would also feel the same way if anyone falsely blames the prophets like Jesus or Moses who are repeatedly named in the Quran as among the holy prophets of Islam.

The above arguments will hopefully appeal to the good sense of the concerned people and accordingly influence their roles in the event of any blasphemous expression against Islam.