At five in the afternoon, Cairo time (69).. Islam and Freedom of Opinion and Expression (8)

Ethics of Dialogue

After the previous episodes established several major truths—
that faith in Islam is a free act,
that difference is an intended norm,
and that repression arises not from the logic of the text but from the logic of authority—
we arrive in this episode at the ethical and intellectual climax of the entire series:

If God has granted human beings freedom of belief,
and has accepted plurality and difference,
how is this reflected in the very mode of discourse itself?

The answer comes from the heart of the Qur’anic text:
God engages human beings in dialogue.

This fact alone is sufficient
to fundamentally reconsider
any religious discourse that fears questions
or criminalizes freedom of expression.

The Qur’an… A Text That Dialogues, Not Dictates

The Qur’an does not present itself merely as a proclamation of commands,
nor as a one-way discourse,
but as a living text grounded in dialogue.

It addresses the human being:
in doubt,
in fear,
in hesitation,
and in objection.

It presents arguments,
deconstructs questions,
and leaves the intellect space for reflection and choice.

Here lies the great paradox:
the text long accused of closing the door to thought
is—in its deep structure—
among the most open texts to questioning.

God Allows Objection… Then Responds

The Qur’an does not conceal human questions,
nor erase their objections,
nor embellish moments of intellectual anxiety.

Rather, it conveys them as they are,
places them in context,
then responds with argument, not repression.

Questions of the type:
Why?
How?
Where is justice?
Where is wisdom?

Some of them may even appear—at first glance—
bold,
shocking,
or unsettling to superficial faith.

Yet the question is not condemned,
its expression is not criminalized,
and its author is not accused of deviating from the community.

This signifies something profoundly important:
that the question in itself is not a crime,
and that expressing intellectual anxiety
is not the opposite of faith,
but may in fact be a condition for its depth.

What Do We Learn from the Qur’anic Model?

We learn that truth
does not fear discussion.

That faith,
when confident in itself,
does not need to silence dissent,
but to engage it in dialogue.

We also learn that intellectual repression
is not a sign of strength,
but a sign of fear.

A discourse that forbids questioning
implicitly admits
its own fragility.

From Text to Reality… Where Did the Model Break?

The painful paradox
is that this Qur’anic model of dialogue
was not always translated into historical reality.

In many periods,
religious discourse became intolerant of questions,
difference turned into a threat,
and the doors of debate were closed in the name of:
protecting doctrine,
preserving the community,
or blocking harmful pretexts.

Yet this shift
cannot be attributed to the text itself,
but to interpretations that feared the consequences of dialogue,
and to authority that saw questioning
as a prelude to accountability.

Here the same pattern reappears
that has accompanied every episode of repression in the history of ideas:
fear of reason
when it thinks beyond the prescribed framework.

Freedom of Expression… An Extension of Divine Dialogue

If God,
in His address to humanity,
opened the door to questioning,
how can that door be closed in the name of religion?

If the text itself
presented objections
in order to discuss them,
how can a human being be prevented
from expressing an opinion
under the pretext of protecting doctrine?

Here the great contradiction becomes clear
between the spirit of the text
and the practices of some who speak in its name.

Freedom of expression, in this context,
is not a cultural concession,
nor a foreign idea,
nor an imported modern demand,
but a logical and ethical extension
of the very structure of Qur’anic discourse.

What Does This Mean Today?

It means that criminalizing questions
does not protect religion,
but harms it.

It means that fear of expression
does not preserve faith,
but empties it of meaning.

It means that Islam,
as a discourse addressed to intellect and conscience,
cannot be reduced
to a culture of silence and blind obedience.

With this episode,
the series Islam and Freedom of Opinion and Expression
reaches its textual and intellectual maturity:
from freedom of belief,
to the legitimacy of difference,
to the ethics of dialogue.

In the next episode,
we move beyond the level of text
to the practical prophetic reality,
and ask the decisive question:

How did the Prophet ﷺ deal with criticism, opposition, and disagreement?
Was dialogue an ethical choice… or a daily practice?

To be continued…

Cairo: 5:00 PM, local time of al-Mahrousa