Conflict of Ideas

people would arise, which, on some occasions, turning extreme, would go to the extent of enmity. This reveals the development path that the Creator has designed for human beings. It is through the clash of ideas among individuals that the human mind awakens. Such interaction fosters creativity and leads to new discoveries. The collision of thoughts acts as a catalyst for awakening dormant abilities. Seen from this aspect, freedom of expression is indispensable. This is because if people are not free to express their minds there will be no conflict of ideas, and when there is no clash of views, mental stagnation will set in. Consequently, man will be unable to arrive at new realities, at new truths. For instance, in the early period of Islam, because of disagreements in recitation, people began reciting the Quran in different styles. This led to discussions and debates among the people about which recitation was right and which was not. People began to write down the Quran along with vowels to specify the pronunciations of various words and phrases mentioned in the Book of God. As a result of this, the art of writing progressed. Then it happened that people began differing on the meaning of the Quran. This too set off a debate, which led to the emergence of experts of the Arabic language and to the compilation of Arabic dictionaries that did not exist before. Similarly, people began differing on diverse issues related to the Shariah. It was because of this that in the Islamic tradition, disciplines such as Tafsir (Quranic commentary),