The AMI Podcast

Although the United Nations ratified ‘the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ (UDHR) in 1948, but we do not have such a universal deceleration on ‘human duties’ yet. The UDHR and the 1967 ‘International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’ (ICCPR), which recognize freedom of expression, define its domine to “respect of the rights or reputations of others, and the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals.” Muslim countries have repeatedly tried to ban insults to Muslim beliefs by relying on this clause and have never succeeded; This is because the clause deals with violations of the rights of "individuals", and no rights are recognized for "religions" (or followers of religions). That is, insulting an "individual" can be a crime, but insulting the "religious beliefs" of individuals in these documents is not considered a crime in principle! In addition, there is no difference between scholarly critique of religion and non-scholarly or critique for the masses in these documents. In contrast, we should pay attention to three major points in the principle of ‘freedom of speech’ in Islam. First, freedom of expression in Islam in both areas of individuals and religions does not include the freedom to ridicule, insult, and make a mockery of anyone especially Prophets, while critique of religion is allowed. Second, in Islamic thought freedom of expression in the public sphere is different from freedom of expression for the specialized audiences in academic circles. There is absolutely no red line or any restrictions for scholarly critique of Islam or Shi’ism in academic circles, while for the mass audience, there are restrictions that will not shake the faith of people due to weak public information. Third, a distinction must be made between the Qur'an, the practical tradition of the Prophet, and the practical tradition of Imam Ali, on the one hand, and hadiths attributed to the Prophet and the Imams, conventional Islamic sciences, and the lived experiences of Muslims throughout the history, on the other hand. In the former type of sources, apostasy and blasphemy do not have any temporal punishments, while in the latter type, apostasy and blasphemy lead to the execution of the apostate or blasphemer, the annulment of his/her marriage, and liquidation of his/her property. While the first former of Islamic resources supports strongly freedom of expression and critique of religion, serious obstacles for realization of freedom of expression and critique of religion are not easily deniable in the latter type. The possibility or practicability of the first two points in the age of the new media, internet and social network needs critical elaboration. The third point requires a lot of deep scholarly clarifications confronting the traditional Islamic literature and heavy Western scholarship on Islam.

With gender being a central theme of the discussion, Dr. Yacoob began by positioning her presentation in the milieu of gender in Islamic law,  and particularly from the Hanafi School. The presentation explored the idea of intersectional identities to ask the question about how much of what is seen as gender-related law, is actually informed exclusively by gender as the identity marker. Dr. Yacoob argued that it is often other aspects of a female subject’s identity that cause certain laws to apply.   These other identity markers may include the woman’s position in a  family unit, her freedom, her age and other social positions. In her closing arguments, Dr. Yacoob included the idea that viewing Islam and  Islamic law, through the lens of gender, was partly a colonial imposition. The presentation resulted in a vibrant question and answer  session among the virtual seminars attendees

During the second research of the academic term, Dr Haroon Bashir explored race in Islamicate societies and the claim that it was structured around racial hierarchies using blackness as a case study. He posed the question as to why certain stories of anti-blackness have been produced and reproduced so widely in western literature?  Through the exploration of an under-studied genre of ‘Black  Excellence’ literature, he attempted to unmoor these narratives. Haroon presented the thesis that much of the literature exploring the subject is characterised by essentialist narratives about ‘Arab supremacy’ and exclusively considering slaves as black in order to reaffirm the colonial history of the West and their troubled relations with race. In contrast to this, he argued that such rigid notions of race cannot be projected onto Islamicate society, where race was a far more fluid concept, as there are examples of being Arab being associated with the language as opposed to ethnicity. Haroon concluded the presentation by arguing that whilst studying the relationship between different tribes is necessary for understanding race relations in Islamicate societies,  it is imperative to detach this study from the Eurocentric narrative.

Dr Awal Fuseini presented the new slaughter techniques used, like gas stunning for poultry and mechanical and electric stunning for larger animals and highlighted some of the problems they raise for Muslim scholars. He also explained the different methods for bleeding an animal and those that yield the greatest blood loss.  Dr Awal concluded by emphasising the need for jurists to collaborate with mainstream researchers in order to get a better understanding of new slaughter  techniques before issuing informed fatwa and hoped to continue working with Al-Mahdi Institute on the topic.

Ayatullah Saanei, his work & impact on Islamic Law - Conference held at SICM (Mehfil Ali) where Dr Ali-reza Bhojani presented on the future of progressive thinking within the Hawza after the death of Ayatullah Saanei.

Dr. Fanaei spoke about the various approaches, among Shi’i circles,  to the event of Karbala and the martyrdom of Imam Hussein. The presentation opened with a critique of more traditional approaches to the event, which tend to focus on the undeniable tragic and calamitous aspects of it. Dr. Fanaei opened by suggesting that a more wholesome and beneficial appreciation would require an exploration of its positive ramifications of it. The presentation’s main body sought to explain how various explanations for the event of Karbala, fall short in that they do not help in deriving universally applicable principles. In doing so, Dr. Fanaei’s talk problematised mythical, mystical, political and jurisprudential understandings behind the reasons of the event. Some of the mentioned endeavours to explain the event have been purported by prominent names, like Dr. Ali Shariati (political) and  Ayatollah Shaheed Motahheri (jurisprudential). All of them, however,  were either rebutted by the historical contexts or were insufficient explanations due to them not being universally imitable. In conclusion,  Dr. Fanaei suggested that the underlying reasons behind the event of  Karbala could only be explained using the moral lens; in that Imam  Hussein’s uprising was necessary to uphold the moral principles of justice and dignity.

Rabbi Jeff Berger presents the concept of Sin and Human Nature in Judaism.

Shaykh Ali Khaki presents the concept of Sin and Human Nature in Islam.