Freedom of expression is central to Islam

Freedom of expression is central to Islam

JAKARTA (JP): Freedom of expression, a highly exalted right in Western liberal democracies, has always been central to Islamic teachings, says a Pakistani scholar.

Freedom to speak the truth is central to a Moslem's duty, Riffat Hassan, who teaches at University of Kentucky at Louiseville in the United States, said at a discussion on Islam and the idea of freedom of expression last Saturday.

Moslems have the obligation to use their reason and act or speak out when they see something is wrong, she said. "Moslems do not have the option of being bystanders."

Citing from the Koran, Hassan said Moslems are obliged to act to change a situation when necessary and to condemn a certain act when they cannot make changes or speak out.

Besides the obligation to speak the truth, she said, "There is the duty of society to protect those who speak the truth."

Hassan was guest speaker at the discussion, which was organized by the Institute of Studies on the Flow of Information (ISAI).

Headed by Goenawan Mohamad, former chief editor of the banned Tempo magazine, the institute aims to exchange views on freedom of expression with Third World researchers, journalists and human rights advocates.

Hassan said that a large part of the Koran is concerned with freedom from tradition, authoritarianism, tribalism, caste systems and sexism. "The Koran states that we have the right to seek justice and to do justice."

The Koran, Hassan said, states that when humans die they must account for their actions before their Creator, who will ask if they were passive in the face of wrongdoings.

Some of the rights originally recognized in the Koran, however, waned in importance with the decline of Islam after its initial 300 years of growth, she said.

Most Moslems today, she said, are living under "authoritarian" governments ruled by families in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and her own country, Pakistan, which, she said, "is ruled by 22 families."

Within such "an economic and political stranglehold", and such a concentration of wealth and power, Moslem communities face either destruction, as witnessed in Lebanon, religious conservatism, or a just and social order, she said.

The last option is not possible without freedom of expression, "because this is the only way of making rulers accountable."

Given the current situation under which many Moslems live, she said, society should realize the importance of journalists.

The Koran, she cited, mentions that in every war there must remain a group of people who study and those who disseminate the necessary information.

Before the talks at the Jakarta Legal Aid Office, Hassan visited Salemba prison in Central Jakarta to see four men convicted of spreading hatred against the government: former journalists Ahmad Taufik and Eko Maryadi and activists Tri Agus Siswomihardjo and Danang K. Wardoyo.

"I was deeply moved that they are full of good cheer and are not discouraged," Hassan said.

She was also here to address a three-day workshop on reinterpreting Islam from a perspective of justice between men and women.

The workshop from Thursday to Saturday was held by the Indonesian Forum for Women and Islam, coordinated by sociologist Wardah Hafidz. (anr)