The Challenge of Blasphemy for Muslims in Western Societies

Abstract

The notion of blasphemy is faced with a profound challenge for the majority of Muslims in the Western democracy. Consistently, the freedom of speech is embraced, and sometimes blasphemy is included, by Western democracies who glorify the concept. However, this is not the case with the Muslims who prize their Prophets and holy writings, offending them being a big no-no. Addressing this undertone is the focus topic of this writing but not limited to, its strength over the spirit and emotional influence as they are the perceived enemies of Islam are the topics to be discussed. It deals with that, analyzing all legal structure of freedom of speech in Western culture, which ensure open and transparent discussion in society. The paper will deal with the concreteness of the blasphemy-related disputes and the Muslim community’s situation, describing examples of such controversies. Besides that, it suggests one of the approaches to this issue is the role of interfaith dialogue and education in the case of mutually beneficial relationship establishment and development of the mutual understanding. This is the case when dialogue will be ongoing activity of people.

Keywords: blasphemy, Western democracy, freedom of speech, Muslim community, interfaith dialogue