II. Ideas of freedom of speech in Islam

On the contrary, Islam that is based mostly on the principles of the Qur’an and the authentic custom of the prophet and his family adheres to the next principles:

a) Although Islam considers itself the rightful divine religion, it has accepted the diversity and plurality of religions and ideas, no matter fact or false, even blasphemy, polytheism and atheism as a actuality in this world. It has due to this fact left the qualification of their truthiness to be determined on the Day of Judgment.

b) Persons are free to choose their beliefs and their religion and no one might be compelled to accept or deny any faith.

c) Nobody is to be punished on this life for believing in any given religion. A crime is associated with an motion and a not a selected faith or belief.

d) No one is to be punished for changing religions or leaving a faith comparable to Islam. Putting any form of worldly punishments, equivalent to execution, for apostasy is against Islamic principles.

e) Nobody can be compelled to observe Islamic obligations and abstain from the prohibited.

f) Criticising non secular beliefs is inherent inside a free Islam and holds no punishments, neither in the worldly life nor within the afterlife.

g) Insulting, ridiculing and scorning spiritual beliefs, together with Islam, is unrighteous and a violation of the integrity and dignity of its believers. In accordance with the Qur’an, insulting atheistic beliefs can also be prohibited.

III. Insult of religion as a hate speech

In response to Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and political Rights, “any advocacy of nationwide, racial or non secular hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by regulation” and insulting spiritual beliefs is a case of “hate speech” that disparages believers, and should be thought of as a crime. Those that have dedicated such prison offences shall be prosecuted in a civil courtroom of legislation and within the presence of a jury. Undoubtedly, the punishment for these crimes will not be execution.

There is a world consensus that “hate speech” must be prohibited by legislation, and that such prohibitions override or are irrelevant to guarantees of freedom of expression. The US is exclusive among developed countries in that beneath regulation, hate speech regulation is incompatible with free speech. Within the UK, for instance, several statutes defend a number of classes of persons from hate speech. The statutes forbid communication, which is hateful, threatening, abusive, or insulting and which targets a person on account of religion. The penalties for hate speech include fines, imprisonment, or both.

The shortage of boundaries between criticism on one side and the insult, mockery and scorning of spiritual beliefs on the opposite facet on the a part of aggressive atheists has resulted, and can continue to consequence, in radical violent clashes on the part of the conservative believers.

The requirement of a sane world is mutual respect among humans. It isn't doable to insult and mock the beliefs i.e. the holy guide and the prophet, of 1-fourth of the world population with out having to bear the implications of the violent and extremist reactions of some conservative adherents to that faith.

So as to sanitise the rivalry between religion and apostasy, lines should be drawn between criticism and insult. These boundaries depend upon the location and the diploma of cultural maturity. In underdeveloped international locations, many criticisms are seen as insults and in developed international locations many insults are seen as criticisms. Due to this fact the settings of these boundaries demand severe fieldwork and theoretical research. Nonetheless, a dynamic and matured world can only be achieved with respect to each religious beliefs and free speech.

If a conventional believer doesn't have the suitable to impose his religious views on others, then an atheist also does not have the proper to impose his particular beliefs as common norms. Along with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we're additionally in want of a Universal Declaration of Duties and Duties to Non secular Beliefs and Irreligiousness, comparable to convention on the elimination of all types of violence, insult and hate speech.

Just as the execution and punishment of an apostate needs to be annulled, the insult and mockery of faith by atheists and non-believers needs to be formally recognised as a crime.  Believers and atheists should recognise freedom of criticism, which benefits them both. A wholesome competitors based on mutual respect is the only defensible conduct between Muslims and followers of other religions and thoughts.

IV. Three ideas

I imagine that the three ideas below are, on the one hand, the conditions of “respecting the believer and never the idea” and, on the other hand, the stipulations of a belief in both Islam and free speech:

1. The liberty to criticise non secular beliefs.

2. The prohibition of insulting religious and atheistic beliefs as hate speech.

3. The annullment of all punishments for apostasy, significantly execution.