Toward Common Values in Journalistic Ethics : Slander vs. Truthfulness from an Islamic Perspective

Abstract

Instances of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) are perhaps the most dramatic exposures of recent date of the discrepancies between ‘freedom of expression’ and ‘freedom of press’ on the one hand, and ‘journalistic ethics’ on the other.1 Such episodes expose the dilemma in journalistic ethics between a particularly Western understanding of ‘journalistic freedom’ and the more universal right of protection of the public and individual persons alive or dead against slander and misinformation. In what follows, the author shows how such dilemma and ambivalence can be overcome by recourse to the teachings of Islam, with its firm prohibition against slander, as well as the primacy of ethics linked with spirituality seen in the love of Muslims for the Prophet (p.b.u.h), which can then form the basis towards common values and understanding between Islamic and Western civilisations.