Art in its essence is a culture maker. All kinds of artistic formats, although they have intensity and weakness in their impact, are common to each other in that they create culture in their essence. The impact of artworks on society’s culture depends on their ability to model. Ideas in every society are the guarantor of the survival of values. To lead a society in a certain direction, the best way is to change their mindsets. Conceptualization, as it can guarantee the survival of values, can also be the cause of destroying values and replacing anti-values.
Husayn Adabi at the Center for Methodological Studies of Religious Sciences and Technologies, researcher and prof. at Khurasan Seminary.
Imagination is the border between illusion and reality. Ingareh has been defined as follows: “an imaginary form of an object that takes the place of a specific mental process such as a noun and becomes the source of influence and power towards it.” An image is a mental stereotype about an object, and this object can be a concept, a class or a person. In the process of image formation, first an imaginary image of an object is imprinted in the mind, and then in the second stage, between this image and another imaginary image, association and closeness takes place to the extent that by highlighting the second image or fattening it, the first image in it melts.
For instance, let’s assume that in society, there is an imaginary image of a concept such as enjoining good and forbidding evil. This image is placed next to another image such as the concept of hurting others that is received from the society, and commanding good and forbidding evil in this combination is likened to something annoying in the mind. Then, in the process of highlighting, persecution in public opinion, it finds an example called enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, or with the fattening of the persecution in this conjunction, with the presence of the image of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil in the mind, nothing but Harassment is not understood. Conceptualization is the basis of cultural construction and its influence as a powerful factor in changing values is undeniable.
What is raised as a problem in this article is the jurisprudential examination of positive and negative conceptualization in society in the form of artwork. A movie, a piece of music or a poem by a poet can create a lasting image in society. Of course, it must be noted that works of art gain such power with the help of dissemination tools, i.e. the media, that they create an image for a society; but in any case, since the producer of the original work is the artist, his activity can be examined by jurisprudence. Considering that culture is a social and non-individual matter, therefore, in order to obtain the jurisprudential ruling of conceptualizing works of art, it is necessary to delve into the context of government jurisprudence.
Thus, the main issue can be raised in the form of smaller issues; is it obligatory for the Islamic government to produce works of art that create positive ideas and develop the society? Is it possible for the citizens of the Islamic government to have such a right to demand from the government in this regard, and in case of omission or failure of the relevant official or officials, it is necessary for the judiciary to consider a punishment for them in the structure of criminal jurisprudence? In case of destruction of positive ideas in the Islamic government by a work of art, is this act criminalized and a punishment is considered for the producer of the work? If there is a punishment, is this punishment proportionate to the crime committed by the person?
It is obvious that a work of art that has caused a negative and false image in the minds of the general public cannot be compensated with a fine, prison or limited punishment. When a musical work is produced, due to the impossibility of controlling its distribution and also the impossibility of destroying it, its impact on the society will continue for a long time and many people will have access to it in different ways. It is possible that the producer of the work, after producing and publishing it, expresses regret for committing his act, or according to the current law, he may be accused and sentenced to punishment for the crime of disturbing the public mind, spreading prostitution, publishing falsehoods, or similar titles; but according to the jurisprudence of the government, can this punishment be considered proportional to the scope of the spatial and temporal distribution that this effect will have? Can the mere punishment of ta’zir and a personal view of the crime prevent others from committing the act or does it encourage them to commit such crimes? Because they consider their punishment to be light and insignificant?
Some jurisprudential rules such as “the sanctity of repudiation of religion”, “the sanctity of donating to others”, “the sanctity of insulting respectable persons”, “the harmless rule”, “the sanctity of system disruption” and… can be a document of the sanctity of producing works of art that create an image becomes negative in society; but in order to determine the appropriate punishment for these crimes, it is necessary to refer to the generality of Ta’zir. Considering the possibility of defining new punishments and taking into account the role of the artwork in creating a negative image and replacing it with positive images, the punishment is proportional to cultural destruction by the artwork, eliminating the negative image and creating a positive image by the creator. This punishment is closer to justice in this context than reducing the crime to a personal act and ignoring its role in destroying the cultural foundations of a society.
It is obvious that choosing the right way to eliminate the negative image requires the examination of experts in culture, society and the relevant art form, so that by accurately defining the appropriate work, measuring the impact of the work of art on the community level and determining the circle of development and publication of the work, the person production and publication of artworks in that area are required.
Director of the Methodological Studies Center for Religious Sciences and Technologies, researcher and professor at Khorasan Seminary.
This note is a part of the electronic magazine “Mabadi’ Fiqh Hunar” which was produced in collaboration with the School of Fiqh Hunar and the Ijtihad Network website.