Hate Speech from the Traditional Islamic Perspective

Abstract

Hate speech under the traditional Islamic perspective (Sharia) is ambiguous and that in turn increases hate speech under the justification of protection of freedom of expression. At the same time, the ambiguity in the definition for the concept of hate speech in Islam has been leading many countries to suppress peaceful political opposition under the justification of the fight against hate speech. Therefore, there is a need to study the interaction between the freedoms and restrictions to infer the dividing line between freedom of speech and hate speech. Consequently, it is possible to conclude a precise concept of hate speech from a traditional Islamic perspective. To address this issue, this study begins with reviewing provisions on Freedom of Expression and Hate Speech in the perspective of international and regional instruments, some Islamic national laws and some Islamic organizations. The study, then, move on to discuss the main problem thesis; it addresses that concept of hate speech through the provisions of primary sources of Islamic law, which are the Quran and Sunnah, and secondary sources such as consensus, juristic reasoning, preference, and public interest, in order to define this concept in a precise way. Consecutively, the study will examine five elements: forms, promoters, contents, contexts, and effects of speech in order to develop a holistic and explanatory definition of hate speech from the traditional Islamic law. After providing a definition of hate speech, this study will analyze examples of speeches issued by followers of Sunni and Shiite doctrines; the two terrorist groups, Al-Qaeda and ISIS, who ascribe themselves to Islam; and disputing parties in the Arab Spring States. Moreover, the study discusses the issue of freedom to criticize religions, including Islamophobia, from traditional Islamic law and international law. Lastly, in order to reach the real position of traditional Islamic law toward hate speech issued by Islamophobic individuals or groups, the study analyzes examples of their speech based on the definition of hate speech from a traditional Islamic perspective. The inevitable result of the dissertation revealed that the concept of hate speech can be defined based on the provisions of traditional Islamic law. According to this definition, speech issued by Sunni and Shiite doctrines; the two terrorist groups, Al-Qaeda and ISIS, disputing parties in the Arab Spring States and Islamophobic individuals or groups, they all, as the dissertation reveals, are classified as hate speech under the traditional Islamic perspective. The conclusion of this dissertation argues that the legal efforts, including developing a precise definition of hate speech, are not sufficient. Therefore, the dissertation proposes a holistic approach to limit hate speech through several measures, such as political, educational, social, and measures to regulate the media.