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Islam & Human Rights
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Compares the Islamic conception of human rights with the Western conception. Finds the Western model to be racist & evil, the Islamic warm & open.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Compares the Islamic conception of human rights with the Western conception. Finds the Western model to be racist & evil, the Islamic warm & open.
Paper Introduction:
Islam and Human Rights
Introduction
In the United States, the concept of human rights tends to be equated with the political and civil rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed to citizens through the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. These rights include freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, freedom from unreasonable search and inhumane punishment, and other rights. They focus on providing individuals with the freedom to pursue their own individual courses, free from government interference unless they violate the laws. Even then, the rights of the accused in a criminal proceeding are protected.
Many scholars, politicians, and ordinary citizens in the United States, and in most of the West too, believe that this
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Law in Islam is both universal and egalitarian. The earliestteachers were found in the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus was the major teacherof the Christian Scriptures, and Muhammad himself provided the finalrevelation in his transcription of the words of the angel and itscompilation into the Quran. While the citizenry of Saudi Arabia does have itsbasic needs met, through subsidies when necessary, the royal family isclearly orders of magnitude better off than ordinary citizens. Essence, 26(7), 1 6-112. Thus, tolerance is extended to those who haveacknowledge scriptures and believe in the one God, as to Muslims who havevarying beliefs. However, outside the West, there are those who claim that thereare other kinds of concepts of human rights. On the other hand, their experiences of Islam was of areligion which was not racist and which accorded them the identical role inthe community of believers as the Arabs who first adopted Islam. Haley, A. NY: OxfordUniversity Press. What are some specificaspects of the concept of human rights in Islam?The Basis for Human Rights The development of the concept of human rights in the West has a longhistory, with the foundation for those rights derived from natural law. However, there are limitations on this equality, particularly inrelationship to women. All are subject to the law of God. Both Western societies and Islamicsocieties are still attempting to create societies that fulfill their humanrights ideals. NY: Bantam Books. Theorists base their contention onthe Quran, tradition, and on the concept of consensus in Islamic society.According to them, with education and with strict adherence to Islamicphilosophy, the community of believers would ultimately develop a system inwhich economic equity and equal distribution of goods and services wouldpredominate. According to thestory a woman belonging to a noble family was arrested for theft andbrought before Muhammad with a recommendation of clemency. voices to emphasize the way in whichIslam contributed to human rights was Malcolm X (Haley, 1968). For Islam,human rights are more associated with the individual's rights to communitysupport and belonging to community, rather than with political rights. That continues to be the experience of many African-Americans, alongwith many peoples of Asia and Africa. Udovitch (Eds.) The economicdimensions of Middle Eastern history. Thus, human rights in Islam are seen as emerging from an intimaterelationship with God, in which the human being is seen as having inherentdignity, because he or she is able to choose surrender to the will of God.Thus, human rights are designed to support the dignity of that status andcontribute to the development of the community of believers.The Five Pillars of the Faith It is apparent from the previous section that the way in whichbelievers view human rights in Islam is different from the way in whichAmerican citizens view human rights under the Constitution. He experienced the practiceof brotherhood during the pilgrimage and came to a deeper faith in Islam,and a more compassionate expression of that religion, through his encounterwith traditional Islam in the Middle East. Islam and Human RightsIntroduction In the United States, the concept of human rights tends to be equatedwith the political and civil rights expressed in the Declaration ofIndependence and guaranteed to citizens through the Bill of Rights in theConstitution. In the Islamic system of justice,wealth and power do not buy the individual better attorneys or easierrelease. However, there is the basis for religious freedom, which is built into the Quran in several places, including "There should be no coercion inthe matter of faith" (2:256), but that is understood to have limitations.Like other religions, Islam has a history of sometimes supporting its ownvalues and sometimes falling far short of perfection in following the pathlaid down in the Quran. Princeton, NJ: The Darwin Press,Inc. Many scholars, politicians, and ordinary citizens in the UnitedStates, and in most of the West too, believe that this concept of humanrights is the only true concept and that those countries which do notguarantee the same rights to their citizens are backwards in terms of humanrights. The Saudi development plans have emphasized equitabledevelopment throughout the country and among the various peoples, anddistribution of the wealth from oil to all the people. Inaddition, modern-day Islam is not associated with colonialism, even thoughmany of the African countries, at least, adopted Islam originally throughconquest by Arab countries. At the sametime, Islam does not forbid material gain, or wealth, as long as thewealthy individual participates in almsgiving and ensures that everyone inthe community has the basic necessities of life.Freedom of Conscience and Religion Islam actually also has a long history of association with the conceptof freedom of religion, although that freedom does not extend to allreligions. Thus, one element of the Islamic understanding of human rights is carefor those members of the community who are without money, food, clothes,and housing. Muhammad considered that allof these religions were related to each other, since each represented onephase in the understanding of God's plan for humanity. They were allrequired to fulfill the basic tenets of the faith and to avoid thebehaviors that were forbidden to them. NY: Scribner. In M.C. African-Americans and previously colonialized people represent much ofthe growth of Islam during contemporary times. Bassiouni, M.C. In the West, there is no consensusunderstanding that all people have the right to the basic necessities oflife, and there is still considerable racism and lack of community. The Islamic criminal justice system. Islam - Frequently Asked Questions: Life afterdeath, moral system, and human rights in Islam. On theother hand, in Islam, there is discrimination against women which is notQuranic and problems of states misapplying Islamic law to deny theircitizens freedom of association, religion, and participation in the affairsof the state. In Islam,however, the individual is inextricable from the community and thecommunity of believers comprises the true Islamic state. God is the ultimate legislator andthe entire community is seen as involved in creating the consensus aboutreligious law. This is not an optional aspect of Islam. References Barboza, S. Sources of Islamic law and the protection ofhuman rights in the Islamic criminal justice system. In hisautobiography, Malcolm talked about how he first became aware of the commonhumanity he shared with all others when he went on pilgrimage to Mecca.There, in his experience of traditional Islamic practice, rather than thepractice of the Nation of Islam, he found a religion that was anti-racist,and supported the brotherhood of all humanity. Human beings derivetheir rights from their anthropology; they are created by God, and as suchare deserving of particular rights to dignity, equality, and justicebecause they are the prize creation of Allah. Barboza (1995) noted thatAfrican-American men continue to move toward Islam - not the Nation ofIslam, but traditional Islam - specifically because it embraces people ofall colors and does not have philosophical or doctrinal teachings aboutracial superiority. Lewis, B. This is a universaland egalitarian law which provides for the basis of a just and harmonioushuman community. The Middle East. It is thecommunity of believers that ultimately shapes the religious law, orShariah. Civil and human rights inWestern society are often understood to provide individual citizens withprotections from the state itself, which is seen as threatening. Instead, Islam emphasizes the community of allbelievers throughout the world and provides a common path for all believersto follow to live the good life and please God. A story is told from the Prophet about this issue. All believers were considered as subservient to God, the trueMaster, and as equal to each other in religious terms. It establishes a concept of economic justice andcriminal justice that differs from that in the West because it is groundedin Quran and tradition, rather than in Roman law or civil legislation. Mughal, A. There is no human representative onearth who partakes of greater sovereignty, in an ultimate sense, than anyother in Islam. The concept of human rights inIslam is grounded in theology, rather than politics. For example, Islamic scholarscontend that Islam provides a more appropriate understanding of humanrights in a communal context. One of those requirements is thatthe individual care for those within the community who are less fortunateand ensure that they are provided for. In the Quran, women do not have equal rights toinheritance as do men, nor do they have equal credibility as witness in acourt of law. London: Oceana Publications,Inc. InIslam, the derivation of human rights is religious. Islam, from the ProphetMuhammad to the capture of Constantinope, 2 Vols. Esfandiari and A.L. (1968). 91995). Their experience of whiteWesterners, and of white Christianity, was of a culture and religion thatwas enslaving and that treated people of different races as inferior,almost inhuman. However, theProphet replies: The nations that lived before you were destroyed by God because they punished the common man for their offenses 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 (Mughal, 1 , 1995).Thus, both the Quran and tradition (the hadith, or saying of Muhammad)support an understanding of Islamic community as a community of equalsbefore Gods' religious laws. In manyinstances, this still does not exist because the wealthy are often able toescape from the consequences of their behavior much more readily than thepoor. It also provides some basic support forreligious freedom. Theoretically, Saudi Arabia and other countries are already attemptingto accomplish this. The concept of human rights within Islam is limited, as is the conceptof human rights in the West. According to Bernard Lewis (1995), both this tolerance and intoleranceare built into Islam. Even then, the rights of theaccused in a criminal proceeding are protected. (1991). Equality Before the LawIn the West, there was a long fight before political rightswere instituted that ensured equal rights before the law. In H. Muhammad himself supported religious freedomin the region he was associated with, although there are instances in whichthose of other religions were massacred or forcibly converted to the faith(Lewis, 1974). While authority may be vested in administrators and various typesof rulers, these are not legislators. (1974). There are fivebasic requirements of the believer, including recitation of the Shahadah,pilgrimage to mecca, and daily prayer. NY: Scribner. Kuran, T. It requires thebeliever to participate in the brotherhood of all believers, to engage inalmsgiving and community caregiving, and to avoid discrimination on thebasis of race and nationality. (199 ). Islam: The straight path. Instead, all believers are treated equally under Sharia (Islamiclaw) and each is subject to the same court treatment and criminologicalprocedures. In Islam, equality before the law was built in to the system from thebeginning. Culture has further impinged upon equality by keeping womenignorant of their legal rights. A second basis for human rights within Islam is the understanding ofthe community as a whole and the individual's relationship to it.According to Bassiouni, the individual does not exist in an adversarialrelationship to the state as in Western society. Thus, although women do have the right tocontract their own marriages and divorces and to inherit property andtestify in courts, they are often kept ignorant of those Quranic rights bypatriarchal teachers and families (Esposito, 1991).ConclusionThere is quite a bit of difference between the early Western understandingof the divine right of kings and the Islamic understanding of absoluteKingship of Allah over his creatures. For example, one of the pillars of the Islamic faith is therequirement that all Islamic believers contribute to almsgiving on anannual basis. Instead, the original understanding set forth by Muhammad wasthat all of the people of the book (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) were tobe allowed to practice their religion freely. In other words, the problem is not that Islam fails to provide asupport for human rights, but that Islamic states, like their counterpartsin the West, fail to embody the values and principles of their human rightsphilosophies on all occasions. Facing Mecca. Bassiouni(Ed.). Given this understanding of the nature of Islamic community, andstate, in contrast to Western society, it is clear that the nature of theconception of human rights might differ. There is no tolerance, however, for atheists orpolytheists, who must either convert or die when taken over by Islamicauthorities, or for those who renounce their Islamic faith and becomeapostates. Islam defines fundamental human rights as including access tothe means for existence, which is not the traditional understanding ofhuman rights in the West.Economic Justice This basic emphasis on economic justice and communal care has led to aspecifically Islamic concept of economic justice in the modern world.According to Kuran (199 ), theorists believe that an Islamic economicjustice system would differ both from capitalism and socialism. There are sayings in both the Quran and in the tradition of Islam thatsupport an orientation of care for other within the community, including:"And render to the relatives their due rights, as to those in need, and tothe traveler; and do not squander your wealth in the manner of aspendthrift" (17:26); "And in their wealth there is acknowledged right forthe needy and the destitute" (51:19); "The Prophet (PBUH) has said: he isnot a believer who eats his fill, when his neighbor beside him is hungry"(Mughal, 1995). These rights include freedom of speech, freedom of religion,the right to bear arms, freedom from unreasonable search and inhumanepunishment, and other rights. In addition, there have been numerous times in which Islamicauthorities have ignored scripture and tradition to attempt to forciblyconvert others, including members of different sects within Islam itself. (1995). On the notion of economic justice in contemporaryIslamic thought. In actuality,however, the Saudi royal family has become much more wealthy than otherpeople in the country. (198 ). It wouldprovide for more freedom than socialism, and affirmation of trade and thecreation of wealth, at the same time that it would avoid the exploitativeand consumerist nature of capitalism. According to Bassiouni (19),the foundation of human rights within Islam is that human beings are notonly the creatures of God, but the only creatures who are capable of makingthe free choice of Islam, or surrender to the will of God. (1995). It is the contention of this paper thatIslam does support a concept of human rights, even though that concept isnot identical to the Western concept.The Islamic Concept One of the first strong U.S. They focus on providing individuals with thefreedom to pursue their own individual courses, free from governmentinterference unless they violate the laws. As Esposito(1991) noted, the Sharia is believed to be God's law for all of humanity,although only the Islamic community is presently following that law. The autobiography of Malcolm X. Lewis, B., Editor and translator. As such, theymust be supported in the inherent dignity of that human nature. Esposito, J.L.
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