Human Rights in Islam

[Muslims Are Good Folks]

Human Rights in Islam

Since God is the absolute and the sole master of men and the universe,
He is the sovereign Lord, the sustainer and Nourisher, the Merciful,
Whose mercy enshrines all beings; and since He has given each man
human dignity and honour, and breathed into him of His own spirit, it
follows that, united in Him and through Him, and apart from their
other human attributes, men are substantially the same and no tangible
and actual distinction can be made among them, on account of their
accidental differences such as nationality, colour or race.

Every human-being is thereby related to all others and all become one
community of brotherhood in their honourable and pleasant servitude to
the most compassionate Lord of the Universe. In such a heavenly
atmosphere the Islamic confession of the oneness of God stands
dominant and central, and necessarily entails the concept of the
oneness of humanity and the brotherhood of mankind.

Although an Islamic state may be set up in any part of the earth,
Islam does not seek to restrict human rights or privileges to the
geographical limits of its own state. Islam has laid down some
universal fundamental rights for humanity as a whole, which are to be
observed and respected under all circumstances whether such a person
is resident within the territory of the Islamic state or outside it,
whether he is at peace with the state or at war.

The Qur'an very clearly states: { O ye who believe! Stand out firmly
for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not there be hatred
of others to make you swerve to wrong and depart from Justice. Be
just: that is next to Piety: and Fear Allah. For Allah is well -
aquainted with all that you do } (Quran 5:80)

Human blood is sacred in any case and cannot be spilled without
justification. And if anyone violates this sanctity of human blood by
killing a soul without justification, the Qur'an equates it to the
killing of entire mankind: { ..... Whoso slays a soul not to retaliate
for a soul slain, nor for corruption done in the land, should be as if
he had slain mankind altogether }

It is not permissible to oppress women, children, old people, the sick
or the wounded. Women's honour and chastity are to be respected under
all circumstances. The hungry person must be fed, the naked clothed
and the wounded or diseased treated medically irrespective of whether
they belong to the Islamic community or are from amongst its enemies.

When we speak of human rights in Islam we really mean that these
rights have been granted by God; they have not been granted by any
king or by any legislative assembly. The rights granted by the kings
or the legislative assemblies, can also be withdrawn in the same
manner in which they are conferred. The same is the case with the
rights accepted and recognised by the dictators. They can confer them
when they please and withdraw them when they wish; and they can openly
violate them when they like. But since in Islam human rights have
been conferred by God, no legislative assembly in the world or any
government on earth has the right or authority to make any amendment
or change in the rights conferred by God. No one has the right to
abrogate them or withdraw them. Nor are they basic human rights which
are conferred on paper for the sake of show and exhibition and denied
in actual life when the show is over. Nor are they like philosophical
concepts which have no sanctions behind them.

The charter and the proclamations and the resolutions of the United
Nations cannot be compared with the rights sanctioned by God; because
the former is not applicable on anybody while the latter is applicable
on every believer. They are a part and parcel of the Islamic Faith.
Every Muslim or administrator who claim themselves to be Muslims, will
have to accept, recognise and enforce them. If they fail to enforce
them, and start denying the rights that have been guaranteed by God or
make amendments and changes in them, or practically violate them while
paying lip service to them, the verdict of the Holy Qur'an for such
government is clear and unequivocal: { Those who do not judge by what
God has sent down are the disbelievers } (5:44).

Human Rights in an Islamic State :

1. The Security of Life and Property: In the address which the
Prophet delivered on the occasion of the Farewell Hajj, he said:
"Your lives and properties are forbidden to one another till you meet
your Lord on the Day of Resurrection". The Prophet has also said
about the dhimmis (the non-Muslim citizens of the Muslim state): "One
who kills a man under covenant (i.e., Dhimmi) will not even smell the
fragrance of Paradise".

2. The Protection of Honour: The Holy Qur'an lays down-
1) {You who believe, do not let one (set of) people make fun of
another set}
2) {Do not defame one another}
3) {Do not insult by using nickname}
4) {Do not backbite or speak ill of one another}

3. Sanctity and Security of Private Life: The Qur'an has laid down
the injunction-
1) {Do not spy on one another}
2) {Do not enter any houses unless you are sure of their
occupant's consent}

4. The Security of Personal Freedom: Islam has laid down the
principle that no citizen can be imprisoned unless his guilt has been
proved in an open court. To arrest a man only on the basis of
suspicion and to throw him into a prison without proper court
proceedings and without providing him a reasonable opportunity to
produce his defence is not permissible in Islam.

5. The Right to Protest Against Tyranny: Amongst the rights that
Islam has conferred on human beings is the right to protest against
government's tyranny. Referring to it the Qur'an says. "God does not
love evil talk in public unless it is by some one who has been injured
thereby". In Islam, as has been argued earlier, all power and
authority belongs to God, and with man there is only delegated power
which becomes a trust; everyone who becomes a recipient or a donee of
such a power has to stand in awful reverence before his people towards
whom and for whose sake he will be called upon to use these powers.
This was acknowledged by Abu Bakr who said in his very first address:
"Cooperate with me when I am right but correct me when I commit error;
obey me so long as I follow the commandments of Allah and His prophet;
but turn away from me when I deviate".

6. Freedom of Expression: Islam gives the right of freedom of thought
and expression to all citizens of the Islamic state on the condition
that it should be used for the propagation of virtue and truth and not
for spreading evil and wickedness.
The Islamic concept of freedom of expression is much superior to the
concept prevalent in the West. Under no circumstances would Islam
allow evil and wickedness to be propagated. It also does not give
anybody the right to use abusive or offensive language in the name of
criticism. It was the practice of the Muslims to enquire from the
Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) whether on a certain matter a divine
injunction had been revealed to him. If he said that he had received
no divine injunction, the Muslims freely expressed their opinion on
the matter.

7. Freedom of Association: Islam has also given people the right to
freedom of association and formation of parties or organisations.
This right is also subject to certain general rules.

8. Freedom of Conscience and Conviction: Islam has laid down the
injunction: There should be no coercion in the matter of faith. On the
contrary totalitarian societies totally deprive the individuals of
their freedom. Indeed this undue exaltation of the state authority
curiously enough postulates a sort of servitude, of slavishness on the
part of man. At one time slavery meant total control of man over man
- now that type of slavery has been legally abolished but in its place
totalitarian societies impose a similar sort of control over
individuals.

9. Protection of Religious Sentiments: Along with freedom of
conviction and freedom of conscience Islam has given the right to the
individual that his religious sentiments will be given due respect and
nothing will be said or done which may encroach upon his right.

10. Protection from Arbitrary Imprisonment: Islam also recognises the
right of the individual that he will not be arrested or imprisoned for
the offences of others. The Holy Qur'an has laid down this principle
clearly: {No bearer of burdens shall be made to bear the burden of
another}

11. The Right to Basic Necessities of Life: Islam has recognised the
right of the needy people that help and assistance will be provided to
them: And in their wealth there is acknowledged right for the needy
and the destitute.

12. Equality Before Law: Islam gives its citizens the right to
absolute and complete equality in the eyes of the law.

13. Rulers Not Above the Law: A woman belonging to a high and noble
family was arrested in connection with theft. The case was brought to
the Prophet, and it was recommended that she might be spared the
punishment of theft. The Prophet replied, "The nations that lived
before you were destroyed by God because they punished the common-man
for their offences and let their dignitaries go unpunished for their
crimes; I swear by Him Who holds my life in His hand that even if
Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, had committed this crime, I would
have amputated her hand".

14. The Right to Participate in the Affairs of State: {And their
business is (conducted) through consultation among themselves}
(42:38).

The shura or the legislative assembly has no other meaning except
that: The executive head of the government and the members of the
assembly should be elected by free and independent choice of the
people.

Lastly, it is to be made clear that Islam tries to achieve the above-
mentioned human rights and many others not only by providing certain
legal safeguards but mainly by inviting mankind to transcend the lower
level of animal life to be able to go beyond the mere ties fostered by
the kinship of blood, racial superiority, linguistic arrogance, and
economic privileges. It invites mankind to move on to a plane of
existence where, by reason of his inner excellence, man can realise
the ideal of the Brotherhood of man.


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