DOHA: Leading Islamic scholars and media experts explored the possibility of developing of an Islamic code of media ethics during closed-door discussions held by the Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE) earlier this week.
The “media and ethics” debate was the fourth private seminar held on the sidelines of the ongoing CILE public lecture series at Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS). Previous seminars have included discussions on “bioethics”, “art and ethics” and “ethics and politics”.
The seminar hosted leading scholars and media experts including, Dr Abouzaid El Idrissi, a prominent theologian and member of the Moroccan Parliament, Dr Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah, Professor of Comparative Fiqh and a member of the European Council of Fatwa and Research, Khadija Benguenna, presenter at Al Jazeera and Dr Tariq Ramadan, CILE executive director.
The speakers sought practical solutions to two questions: ‘What role should the media play in the reform of contemporary reality?’ And How can we practice ethical media principles in an industry dominated by money and politics?’
Central to the discussions were issues regarding the limits and values of the media profession, the possible development of a theoretical media ethics framework and the proposal of establishing an Islamic code of media ethics.
The Peninsula
