YUSUF Islam » Chinese Whiskers » Does Yusuf Oppose Free Speech?

Chinese Whiskers (FAQs)

Does Yusuf Oppose Free Speech?

I believe the freedoms given by laws such as the First Amendment are incredibly compatible with Islam and its principles, if they’re not abused.

The notion that faith and the issue of freedom of speech are incompatible is something people will continue to argue about. There is perhaps fairly good a reason due to a still rather unresolved paradox. It goes like this:

If, as citizens we are given freedom of speech, then why is freedom of speech considered unlawful or undemocratic when voiced by a [religious] believing citizen, where no crime has been committed? Put another way, if people are free to believe in an unseen God and His Divine message to mankind, providing no laws of state are broken, why should such freedom to express that be denied? Why, for instance, can’t we generously accept and follow the whole of the spirit of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States which states:
‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.’

The historic First Amendment stated above was written because at America’s inception, citizens demanded a guarantee of their basic freedoms. People and generations who had been fleeing religious persecution in Europe, wanted to secure their rights to hold a belief other than whatever the future government of the country decide or hold to be true. Interestingly, it was also Morocco, a Muslim State, which historically became the first country to recognize the sovereignty of the United States in 1777.

The right of citizens to hold a belief in the Bible as well as the Qur’an, to uphold the Ten Commandments and to practice one’s faith in peace without harming others, is a hallmark of a true open, multi-cultural, multi-religious society. Indeed, this is the nature of an Islamic society – and not an exclusively Muslim one!

A cursory study of the golden age of Islam in Spain is example enough of how religious tolerance and co-existence was practiced in the past. In fact, we don’t have to look further than the original model of the Prophet’s city, Madinah, where Christians and Jews lived and played a full part in the society and were encouraged to live according to their own Scriptures and laws.

To safeguard the peace and security of the multi-religious society, Islam wisely prohibits the vilification of what people hold sacred, in order that people do not vilify or mock God the Almighty in return. There are also many examples in history where the Prophet Muhammad, like all of the Prophets did not respond to insults and mockery, but simply carried on calling people to peace and good deeds. That, I believe, is the right response in a country where Freedom of Speech is practiced and valued.

It is really up to Western-born Muslims to help more people understand the incredible tolerance and peaceful message this faith has to offer. This, in fact, is the actual policy I tried to adopt following the controversy about the place of censorship and blasphemy in the modern Western State; I decided to provide a truer and more accurate picture of the Prophet of Islam to balance the awful slurs made against him in books, on TV and the press and media generally.

One of the benefits – if we look at it as such, is the motivation the whole issue gave in inspiring me to go back into the recording studio again and reconnect and communicate directly with no third party or barrier between me and those who are willing to hear what I have to say.
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