Balancing the Limits of Freedom of Speech in the Qur'an and International Documents Relying on the Analysis of the Tale of Moses Prophet and Pharaoh

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD student in Quran & Hadith Sciences at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

2 Associate professor at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

3 Professor at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Abstract

The freedom of speech right is one of the civil political rights of human beings and one of the most accepted principles of human social life in the teachings of Islam and international treaties. On the one hand, in the present age, the focus of the debate on freedom of speech is its limits, and on the other hand, the relationship between the components of tradition and modernity is one of the serious concerns of researchers and scholars. Therefore, this article intends to explore and delineate the boundaries of freedom of speech in international documents and their balance with the teachings of the Holy Quran as the first source of Muslim legislation, to examine the limits of freedom of speech and in this direction, considering that in the field of freedom of speech and its borders has been one of the oldest challenges of human beings in different periods of history with the structures of power and the ruling system. By focusing on the story of Moses in Pharaoh’s reign, this study discusses the boundaries which set out in international documents. Accordingly, and by considering the increasing number of regional and trans-regional meetings on freedom of expression and the increase volume of micro and macro limitations of freedom of speech in international documents, at first have mentioned the most important trans-regional treaties and then compares them with the Qur'anic teachings of the story of Moses prophet and Pharaoh. The results of this study indicate that among the limits of freedom of speech in these documents, only the limit of “protection of the rights of others” can be invoked, and other limits, despite many efforts in the international arena, are very general and vague limitations which threatens and restricts freedom of expression.

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