Human Rights: An Islamic Perspective
Anis Ahmed
9-06-2017
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Very briefly, the basic universal human rights given by the Qur’an and the Sunnah include the following:
1. Equality of all humans: “And of His signs is this: He created you of dust and you are now human beings dispersed everywhere…” (ar-Rum 30:20); “O mankind Be careful of your duty to your Lord (Rabb) Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them both has spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Be careful of your duty (taqwa) toward Allah in whom you claim (your rights) of one another…” (An-Nisa 4:1).
2. Right to Life: “And that you slay not the life which Allah has made sacred, save in the course of justice. Thus He has commanded of you in order that you may discern…” (al-An’am 6:151). “…Whosoever kills a human being for another than manslaughter or corruption (fasad) in the earth it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saves life of one it shall be if he had saved the life of all mankind…” (al-Ma’idah 5:32). According to a hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him): “The greatest sins are to associate someone with Allah and to kill human beings.”
3. Right to “Religious” freedom: “There is no compulsion in religion…” (al-Baqarah 2:256); “Revile not (wala tasubbu) those unto whom they call (pray) beside Allah…” (al-An’am 6:109). Also: “For you your religion, for me my way of life…” (al-Kafirun 109:6).
4. Right to Basic needs: “And in their wealth the seeker and the deprived has due share…” (al-Dhriyat 51:19); “Give the Kinsman his due, and the needy and the wayfarer, and do not dissipate your wealth extravagantly…” (Bani Israil 17:26).
5. Right to chastity, dignity and lineage: “And come not near unto adultery. Lo it is an abomination an evil way…” (Bani Israil 17:32).
6. Right to sanity and intellectual freedom: “O you who believe, liquor and gambling and idols and divining arrows are only infamy of satan’s handwork, so keep away from them in order that you may succeed…” (al-Ma’idah 5:90).
7. Right to justice: “And if you judge between mankind, that you judge justly…” (an-Nisa 4:58).
8. Right to property: “And eat not up your property among yourselves in vanity…” (al-Baqarah 2:188).
9. Right to protection of reputation: “O you who believe, shun much suspicion, for some guesswork is a sin, and spy not, neither backbite one another…” (al-Hujrat 49:12).
10. Right to privacy: “O you who believe enter not houses other than you own without first announcing your presence and invoking peace (salam) upon the folk thereof. That is better for you that you may be heedful…” (an-Nisa 24:27).
11. Right to enjoin virtue and eradicate evil: “Those who if we give them power in the land establish worship (religious freedom) and pay their due (Zakah) and enjoin good (ma’ruf) and forbid indecency (munkar)…” (al-Hajj 22:41).
12. Right to protest: “Allah likes not the utterance of harsh speech save by one who has been wronged, Allah is ever Hearer, Knower…” (an-Nisa 4:148).
13. Right to peace making: “And if two parties of believers fall to fighting then make peace between them and if one party of them does wrong to the other, fight you that which does wrong till it returns unto the ordinance of Allah; then, if it return, make peace between them justly, and act equitably for Allah loves the equitable…” (al-Hujrat 49:9).
14. Right to conscientious abstention: “It is not permissible to disobey Allah in obedience to the order of any human being…” (Prophet’s Hadith, Musnadof Imam Ahmad).
15. Right to participate in public affairs: “Allah has promised such of you as believe and do good deeds that He will surely make them succeed (liyastakwlifannakum) in the earth even as He caused those who were before them to succeed over others …” (an-Nisa 24:55).
16. Right to social and legal equality: “There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and far a non-Arab over an Arab, nor for a white over a black nor for a black over the white, except in piety. All mankind is the progeny of Adam, and Adam was fashioned out of clay…” (The last Sermon of the Prophet, peace be upon him).
17. Right to association: “And there may spring from you a community who invite to goodness (al-khayr) and enjoin right conduct (ma’ruf) and forbid indecency (munkar). Such are they who are successful…” (Al-i-Imran 3:104).
18. Right to struggle for just social order: “And the believers, men and women, are protecting friends one of another, they enjoin the right and forbid wrong…” (Al-Tawbah 9:71)
19. Right to personal responsibility: “He who finds the right path does so for himself; and he who goes astray does so to his own loss; and no one who carries a burden bears another’s load…” (Bani Israil 17:15).
20. Right to life for the unborn child: “And that you slay not your children because of penury. We provide for you and for them…” (Al-An’am 6:151);
“Slay not your children, due to fear of poverty! We shall provide for them and for you, killing them is certainly a great wrong…” (Bani Israil 30 – 31).
21. Right to identity for child: “The child belongs to the marriage-bed and the violator of the wedlock shall be stoned. And reckoning of their deeds rests with Allah…
He, who attributes his ancestry to other than his father or claims his clientship to other than his master, the curse of Allah is upon him …” (The Last Sermon of the Prophet, peace be upon him).
22. Right to rejection of racism and ethnic discrimination: “Allah says: ‘O people! We created you from one male and female and made you into tribes and nations, that you are known to one another. Verily in the sight of Allah, the most honored amongst you is the one who is the most God-conscious.’ ” (The Last Sermon of the Prophet, peace be upon him).
23. Right to political power: “Allah has promised such of you as believe and do good works that He will surely make them succeed (over the present rulers) in the earth even as He caused those who were before them to succeed (over others); and that He will surely establish for them their din which He hath approved for them, and will give them in exchange safety after their fear. They serve Me, and do not associate anyone with Me. Those who disbelieve henceforth, they are the miscreants…” (Al-Nur 24:55).
24. Right to inheritance for both women and men: “Unto the men (of a family) belongs a share of that which parents and near kindred leave, and unto the women a share of that which parents and near kindred leave, whether it be little or much – a legal share. And when kinsfolk and orphans and the needy are present at the division (of the property), bestow on them therefrom and speak kindly unto them…” (an-Nisa 4:7-8).
25. Right to brotherly treatment: “The believers are but a single brotherhood: So make peace and reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers; And fear Allah, that you may receive mercy…” (Al-Hujurat 49:10).
26. Right to protection of trusts: “Beware that you go not astray after me and strike one another’s necks. He who (amongst you) has any trust with him, he must return it to its owner…” (The Last Sermon of the Prophet, peace be upon him).
27. Right to refuse obedience to oppressive rulers: “But fear Allah and obey me; Do not follow those who are extravagant; Who make mischief in the land, and mend not (their way)…” (Al-Shu’ara 26:150-153).
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