“When there is no freedom, there is no creativity.” – Jordan Writers Association President, Soud Qbeilat, on the jailing of 27-year-old Jordanian poet Islam Samhan, who has been charged with insulting Islam and the Koran as well as violating the Press and Publications Law for incorporating Koranic verses in to his love poems. If found guilty he could face up to three years in jail and pay a maximum fine of 20,000JDs. However, Samhan has bigger problems. A fatwa issued by the Kingdom’s top religious authority has labeled the poet as a Kafir, or infidel. [source]
I just don’t know anymore. Journalists seem to get charged all the time, but it feels so abnormal when a poet faces jail time. It’s like a rare occurrence in the universe of free speech persecutions. It conjures up images of Arthur Miller at a McCarthy hearing. There’s just something utterly wrong about it. In the article, Qbeilat goes on to say that this really tarnishes the image of the country. Well, I doubt this will get picked up by anyone on the outside and there are worse things taking priority when it comes to image tarnishing, but it doesn’t help. It kind of makes us sound like China.
Moreover, this guy is still an up-and-coming poet in Jordan. He’s young and talented and it’s disheartening to his generation to see him face criminal charges for writing poetry, especially so early in his career.
I do hope these idotic charges are dropped. Ibrahim Nasrallah, another Jordanian poet who faced charges not too long ago, said it best:
in a courtyard full of grass
all things sing
and everyone dances
He said: Go ask that filly to dance
I was shy
He said: If poets lose
the world will not gain”
ughhhh.. this is frustrating!! I don’t know if i should just start lamenting Jordan!
“In the article, Qbeilat goes on to say that this really tarnishes the image of the country. Well, I doubt this will get picked up by anyone on the outside and there are worse things taking priority when it comes to image tarnishing, but it doesn’t help.”
It really DOESN’T HELP! YOU HEAR JORDAN….???
*If Jordan and it’s stupids were personified, I’d punch it in the face, halla2!
This has already been reported by major international newspapers in the West.. Ahhh, you just gotta love it when this becomes a new story for the West to latch onto and label an Arab Muslim, supposedly moderate country as extremist!
can anyone give us a text of the poem?
Actually it has been picked up a long long time ago by foreigners so i know that its already making its way into the next report.
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081006/FOREIGN/619470860/1011/ART
and thats in october 6th and it took Our journalist more than two weeks to give it any mention. albeit its in the english publication because it doesn’t wanna offend the “jordanians”
you know what ? FRACK IT
It’s a lead on the BBCs Middle East page too: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7683643.stm
Jailing another poet. Gives me chills.
Arabic poetry is one of those underutilized, unsung exports that could make this part of the country look GOOD.
Ludicrous.
And who gives a ???? about image tarnishing?
This is not about what we look like to the world, it shouldn’t even be relevant to the argument. This is about what we are becoming.
A country were a poet is a threat. Where love lines need to have red lines. Where inspiration is outlawed.
When did we give religious authorities the capacity to define who we are?
WHEN?
“When did we give religious authorities the capacity to define who we are?
WHEN?”
When you live in jordan you don’t give, you don’t take, you just do what you are told and shut up. But I think this is along the lines of enforcing what the society wants relegiously and morally especially in hard economic times..Dude, Awadallah was removed, do you expect them not to cave in on a poet? As I said before, more stuff will hit the fan.
for those who are interested .. this link contains some snippets by the poet ..
http://www.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=28490
now im not sayin he deserves to get jailed .. but i thought his poetry was pretty tasteless and i would hardly call him “talented”
Nas, and everyone else who seems outraged at this –
Did you read the full poem in question? I don’t know, while I am all for freedom of expression, creativity and definitely against censorship (for the most part), I find it premature to defend something that wasn’t fully read or examined first hand …
and where do you draw the line with freedom of expression when it comes to religion and holy scriptures …or do you?
I’d like to have a full copy of the poem to get a better more clear idea… Thanks mo for posting a link, but it doesn’t include the full text…
bambam: i’ve never seen anyone on this blogosphere use battlestar galactica profanity. it gives me hope for the future.
iman: judging by your comment it feels like you’re already assuming he’s guilty of something based purely on the religious principle of it. i don’t know, but i always thought it was better to find someone innocent first. i’m more outraged with the principle of jailing poets in the 21st century. but that being said, i too would like to see a full text of the poetry in question and i might venture in to the balad in search of a copy. but even more so, i would really like to attend the court proceedings and watch the defense and prosecution hold a poetry interpretation seminar.
Could anybody explain to me the role of the PPD? It seems that any publication should be forwarded to PPD before publication, but to what purpose? I think it is normal that a national institution receive any publication published – for the record like the Library of Congress, but I am just wondering why the publication should be rendered before public release.
After publication any author of course has to be able to defend his work – if necessary in court, which apparently will be the case for this author.
Not at all … I just don’t find myself qualified to defend something I have not seen.
Actually, I condemn (and I stress that->) jailing anyone for expressing themselves in speech or writing, and believe it or not, even if it’s blasphemous… But let’s take your blog for example … people have the right to express themselves by leaving comments – however by going outside the guidelines you’ve set forth for your readers, their comments have the fate of getting edited to fit your blog’s commenting policy … so, really, with freedom of expression comes responsibility…whether be it social, cultural or ‘religious.’
Thomas: Officially, it’s to implement the laws and regulations set forth by judicial system regarding press and publications. Unofficially, when you send a book in to be published it either comes back with a seal of approval or various black bars across the words that make it look like the CIA file on the Kennedy assassination.
Iman: My guidelines are designed to keep discussions clean without descending into unwarrented profanity, insults and slanders, which are standardized and typically acceptable lines of free speech. I don’t censor people for their IDEAS nor do I have the power to throw them in jail for several years under the label that they’ve committed a crime.
Exactly … and so the point is freedom of expression comes with responsibility. period.
Iman,
Lets look at it this way: Why there should be an entity to tell me what to read or not? And the idea that some words should be “trade marked” just doesn’t make sense. Words are words, the intended meaning should not be subject to guidlines, it is something personal.
and i agree with that. what i’m saying there’s usually a little more to it than that. for instance, if you read the sentence i wrote, which surprisingly follows the one that you quoted, you’ll see there is a contrast between acceptable lines of free speech and the persecution of ideas.
historically, the latter part has proven more trickier when you’re talking about poetry.
“you’ll see there is a contrast between acceptable lines of free speech and the persecution of ideas.”
I think the trickiest part is not what you referred to, I think it is who decides what is “acceptable” whether it is poetry or even a dress code. Can an entity decide what I should view as acceptable?
“I think the trickiest part is …who decides what is “acceptable†whether it is poetry or even a dress code. Can an entity decide what I should view as acceptable?”
Exactly!!! well put…
also, poetry is an art form Iman… asking it to succumb to earthly understandigs of what is right and what is not seems, to me, a defeat of the very purpose of art. I love the stanza Nas posted… “if poets lose, the world will not gain”. That doesn’t mean that all art is good, indeed there is art that is bad and distasteful. But even bad art serves a purpose, because all art helps us think critically… and that to me, is badly required divine intervention.
One of the more popular American blogs has picked up on it.
http://perezhilton.com/2008-10-21-god-bless-the-usa-2
– We don’t live in a world of our own … let’s look at it away from poetry (which in itself does have certain guidelines if one wants to get really technical about it. If you ever taught creative writing, or poetry writing, you’ll know what I mean), you’re a grad student Mohanned, right? your first day of the semester, your instructor hands out a syllabus highlighting schedule, expectations, class rules, grading scale … Why should an instructor do that?
– If you’re part of the corporate world, you’re going to get handed that corporation’s set of guidelines for work hours, dress code, expenses, etc. Why should corporations bother doing that?
– Even if you are self employed, you’ll have certain rules and guidelines of your own as well …
– Being a parent, you’ll probably have your own set of rules and guidelines when it comes to your kids. Why would you do that? or would you not?
even in rebellion and defiance, there are some type of rules …
relatively agree…
I was asking where does one draw the line with freedom of expression when it comes to religion and holy scriptures …or do we? for example, how do we – as part of society – handle a published poem that explicitly details having sex with God ? How about one that ambiguously details God’s physical features?
Iman,
The answer is simple: Once you start thinking about drawing lines, you are no longer talking about freedom of expression.It is something else.
The issue at hand is simple: Is it right for someone to decide what I should and shouldn’t read?
I shouldn’t have said simple, I should have said straighforward.
it depends on how you define ‘right’ … and whether you and I are in agreement with its meaning …
But tell me, how would you react to your child reading those two poems I mention in my previous comment?
wissam,
Your comment could be the title for a “creative poem” in the making… how about that for an idea! but why did you choose to censor your word?
Child? Am I a child? Are adults children? Your question doesn’t make sense. There is something called age-appropriate, but once one reach adulthood, no one should decide for him/her what to read.
Age – appropriate? who decides that? and why should someone have authority to decide what is ‘age-appropriate’ and what is not? so you give yourself the right to dictate to your children what they can or cannot see or read ( which most probably will lead to them growing up to see the world through your eyes) but feel that as an ‘adult’ (and as far as adults being children, will sometimes it could be proven true. ) you shouldn’t have anyone dictate to you anything? that makes sense!
This is going no where, right?
This is the behavior of cultural paupers. With every ludicrous incident that gags the basic need of humanity to explore intellectually and express artistically, this country gives hitting rock bottom a whole new bottom.
I won’t even allow myself to get into the right or wrong or how or who or why….
While those possessed by fear behave like self appointed snipers silencing one body after the other, they can never silence the words, nor the images, nor the sounds.
The entire poem and everything Samhan/the Samhans of this place every scribbled will make their way online soon enough.
So dear stupids, go ahead, start packing for that dark, dead end cave. Take lots of cigarettes. Knock yourselves out! Nobody cares about you. You have become faithless since the religion you cowardly preach thru expelled you – because it is really you who are the infidels. And now you have no choice but to resort to savage, ignorant behavior. You are miserable human beings because your faith gave up on you, and you feed on the dregs festering on that new bottom.
This story makes me sick.
the problem is in islam itself,
just admitted people, 90% of the world’s problems today are caused by a islam,
an if this post gets deleted then you’re just gonna prove my point.
Areej, little do you know Naseem of this black-iris to even suggest that he deletes comments of any content.. even such as your own, which poorly holds content anyways. Now honestly, tell me how embarrassingly red did your face flush once your comment popped on the screen, right before your eyes the moment you clicked “submit?”
anyway, I totally disagree with you about Islam causing 90% of the WORLD’S PROBLEMS. are you serious, especially being so precise in mentioning a percentage? So you leave out problems caused by natural hazards, famines, wars over wealth and OIL, imperialism, colonization, ideology/tribal conflicts, evil people with numerous motivations; such as greed, wickedness, desire to control, being psychic,..etc
Since you called for it, can you be specific and mention how you reached such a seemingly precise (90% ??) conclusion?
Areej: i have no problem with people being critical of any religion as everyone is entitled to their opinion, but insulting the religion outright in the very manner that someone earlier did is uncalled for and has the objective of being offensive rather than constructive, which is not in line with the policy here.
ok but why are ppl defending someones right to degrade quranic verses in the way that the poet did .. but not a word is heard when a journalist is jailed for criticizing the king or a college professor is charged with refusing to hang his picture in her office ..
ino ur either with freedom of expression or against it .. but picking ur battles this way kinda makes u look like a hypocrite (the u in this sentence is not addressed to anyone in specific) ..
the thing is i get the feeling most ppl dont give a crap and this is just a way for them to look enlightened and make them feel good about themselves .. even though they have no clue about anything .. like when some time ago hamas banned a book and everyone was like oh boohoo and in the end it turned out all what happened is they pulled it from school libraries because they felt it was age-inappropriate which many ppl including ppl who hate hamas thought it was ..
ino oh waaa3 we are jailing poets we are living in the middle ages bla bla bla .. guess what .. we are jailing an entire population in gaza .. but it doesnt make us seem enlightened and cool to whine about those ppl .. no no its the silly poets who write crap about sex and alcohol and degrade the quran .. il mushkile if he was jailed for writing a meaningful poem like something political or whatever i would get it .. but this guy is “safil w mun7at” imho and yet hes getting all this attention ..
and yes i realize that this may not be a very popular opinion that i have just expressed but anyway ..
again .. im not sayin he deserves to get jailed .. im just sayin ..
This discussion reminds me of the Books@cafe debate…. Religion is always a sensitive topic, especially when religion transcends into tradition or the lines between religion and ideologies blur.
Who is to decide what’s wrong or what’s right? Whether it is ok to drink in the holy month, or if its ok to paraphrase and relate poetry to Qur’an. Religion could metaphorically be taken as someone’s sister, if someone insults the sister, the brother would immediately fire up at the insulter. The brother has to protect the sister, and beat up the insulter. And in our society, the brother rules.
Free Speech is “The right of expression in any manner without reprimand or censorship.” Does ‘any matter’ include offending others? If i saw someone on the street verbally bashing another person or offending them I would probably interfere and would like to censor or reprimand the culprit, but what counts as offensive to one person is not offensive to another. I could be offended by something, while others could be completely tolerant if not accepting of what is being said, but who gets to choose what the dominating rule is?
It is assumed that religion dictates what is right or wrong(that is the purpose of religion, for the most part). Sometimes I personally can’t decide what in reality is acceptable and what isn’t, because discussing Religion in the opposite direction is considered taboo, and in my head, I sometimes fear that discussion; but who do I fear, people, or God? I think I fear the latter, yet in Amman, I learnt that many fear the former.
As for poetry, since the days of Socrates (and before), the power of rhetoric is feared. Words, if arranged, picked and wrapped properly are as powerful to the human mind as flowers are to the heartbroken lover. Rhetoric can make or break, and if I was in power, I surely would watch out for it…
“Well, I doubt this will get picked up by anyone on the outside and there are worse things taking priority when it comes to image tarnishing, but it doesn’t help.”
What the hell? Why should our problems receive any international interference? If we cannot stand up to solve our problems on our own, then we are not worthy of change!
“It kind of makes us sound like China.”
LOL. I laughed when I read that. Where in Jordan do you live? We are just as awful as China when it comes to choking civil liberties and social freedoms as well as censorship! We ban books for God’s sake! We’re like the Catholic Church in the dark ages, thanks to the Wahhabi influence in this country, thanks to the Ministry of Education, the Awqaf, the Ekhwan, the Moukhabarat and decades of corrupt governments, as well as our allegiance to America!
while you are certainly entitled to your opinion, i do feel this is a bit of an exaggeration. and i would usually not address this but you seem to saracastically be suggesting i am oblivious to our realities because i live on the other side of town (?).
while there are many negative elements when it comes to civil liberties in Jordan, many of which have been discussed on this blog time and time again, compared to China’s track-record (as well as that of the Dark Ages), we’re doing a bit better.
again, we are no where near where we should be, or where both you and I would like to see it…but we’re definitely not China…or the Catholic Church in the Dark ages for that matter.
thanks
Well, mo … I clearly see your point … and I relatively agree with it …but darling, didn’t you know? when it comes to the King and the Monarchy, you better bow with your mouth shut if what you’re going to utter is anything other than seed seedi!
From what I heard, that part where he allegedly insulted Qura’an was taken out of context. But regardless, I’m not with the government or the judicial system interfering in anyway that would restrict the freedom of expression. Even if someone Intentionally insulted any religion, I think it should be up to people to defend it. If someone is offended they should sue, otherwise it’s such a shame to see this kind of things happen.
Many of the points are valid. But, keep in mind that when you defend someone’s right to write, you are defending your right to read. I never read poetry and probably won’t. But I am selfish when it comes to my right to read, I want to know that I will be able to read anything, and what some fail to understand is that reading something doesn’t mean you endorse the writer or believe what is written.
i know .. although i dont like it when ppl degrade islam or the quran but i will play devils advocate and defend the poet .. but i dont like ppl who have a bone to pick with religion and pretend to stand for freedom of speech only when its convenient for them
that was addressed to iman btw .. probably shouldve mentioned that hehe