Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 167
Moral purpose is not immunity
Tabligh makes communication answerable to moral responsibility while pluralism determines whether that responsibility remains legitimate
Premise
Hamid Mowlana’s Islamic communication theory rejects the idea that communication is a value-neutral technique for moving messages or producing compliance. In his modern formulation, tabligh—committed propagation or making a message reach others—connects communicator, message, ethical obligation, and community. Communication is judged by the truthfulness, responsibility, and social relationship it produces, not only by reach or persuasive success.
Mowlana developed this normative paradigm from 1979 through the 1990s, with a mature account in Global Communication in Transition. Islamic concepts supply its intellectual resources, but the framework is Mowlana’s contemporary construction, not a timeless theory shared by all Muslims. That attribution protects the core insight while leaving sectarian, political, gender, ethnic, national, and interpretive differences visible.
What the model is: Islamic Communication Theory and Tabligh in Knowledge →
Continue in the series
- The essential model
- Why this matters
- Risks and limits
- Executive takeaway
- Key questions
- Selected sources
The full brief is in its volume, with the other works of the series.
Need the full brief now? Request it under NDA →
New works are announced in The Debrief. Subscribe →
- FamilyModel
- CategoryDoctrines, Principles & Normative Frameworks
- DomainVoice, Silence & Power
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.
Editorial orientation · Category
Doctrines, Principles & Normative Frameworks
Sets out principles or criteria for what should be pursued, considered legitimate or done. Its contribution is evaluative or prescriptive: it gives reasons for judging conduct and arrangements, rather than merely describing their frequency.