Freedom of Speech in Islam: a different reading from enjoining good and forbidding evil

Although nowadays the necessity of freedom of speech for safeguarding the health of a political system is not normally denied, still, there is no overwhelming consensus over the necessity of safeguarding the freedom of speech in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Perhaps the most important reason behind this shortcoming is that those thinkers who have been promoting freedom of speech used imported arguments. Whereas it is quite possible to base our argument for freedom of speech on the Islamic obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil. This obligation which is known as a public responsibility in the Constitution has a very important political dimension that entails safeguarding freedom of speech for citizens. Basing freedom of speech on this obligation would guarantee an expansion of freedom of speech and reduction of its limits and would remove the obstacles in the way of political criticism, and would allow the elites outside the government to promote their thoughts and opinions which will be useful for society. In addition, it can be shown that this obligation outlaws any censorship of political writings. However, basing freedom of speech on the arguments that originated and formed in the Western civilization such as individualism has not been successful.