Human Rights in Islam
Human Rights in Islam And Common Misconceptions
The word for "right" in the Arabic language is the same as the word for "trtJth": Haqq.One of the perfect and blessed names of Allah is al-Haqq: the absolute Truth, the absolute Right. Allah's Truth and justice will be supreme, and He the Most Exalted tests man to see how he will perform. It is not only obligatory but also better for man that he acts truthfully and with justice in this life because, as the authentic tradition of the Prophet (ffi) says:
"The rights (huquq) shall be returned to the proper individuals on the Day of Resurrection, even to the detail of the just retribution of the broken horned sheep from the two horned sheep who had hit it."
Islam is the divine religion of all the Prophets of Allah: they were all Muslims; those who submit to Allah willingly with sincere worship and with respect to His laws. Islam divides the rights into three that mankind must respect sacredly: the rights of Allah, the Beneficent Creator to be worshiped without idolatry; the rights of the self to be protected from waste; and the rights of the others, which include other humans, all creatures, and the environment in general, to deal justly with them all. All three have due rights which, when protected, make for a harmonious and prosperous life, and
lead to salvation. When these rights are violated the individual and the society descend down the path of conflict, misery and destruction.
Some have claimed that Islamic faith and law is essentially incompatible with modern concepts of human rights. The reply to this accusation is to note, initially, that it is based upon traditional western prejudices, jealousies, and fears about the vitality and appeal of Islam. Western colonial, imperial and corporate powers have repeatedly sensed the threat that Islam poses to their dominance during periods of
Muslim ascendancy and strength. A definite relationship exists between the modern concepts of human rights and the atrocities of European wars, especially in their formalization after the horrors experienced during WWI and WWII. As such, these concepts have necessary culfural and historical roots associated with the dominant "western" American and European powers vis-A-vis their own peoples. When this
concern for human rights moves out to other civihzattons, it is often used with double standards, and as a political tool to coerce submission to particular agendas and maintain systems of privileges. This situation has led some of the East to counter with the propagation of what they call Asian values.
More importantly, Islam as a complete way of life and total religious system is distinct in its worldview and moral code from the atheistic and secular systems upon which these concepts are based, with their humanistic relativity to all ultimate truths about God, the world, and man's place in history.
Click here to read the whole book.
The word for "right" in the Arabic language is the same as the word for "trtJth": Haqq.One of the perfect and blessed names of Allah is al-Haqq: the absolute Truth, the absolute Right. Allah's Truth and justice will be supreme, and He the Most Exalted tests man to see how he will perform. It is not only obligatory but also better for man that he acts truthfully and with justice in this life because, as the authentic tradition of the Prophet (ffi) says:
"The rights (huquq) shall be returned to the proper individuals on the Day of Resurrection, even to the detail of the just retribution of the broken horned sheep from the two horned sheep who had hit it."
Islam is the divine religion of all the Prophets of Allah: they were all Muslims; those who submit to Allah willingly with sincere worship and with respect to His laws. Islam divides the rights into three that mankind must respect sacredly: the rights of Allah, the Beneficent Creator to be worshiped without idolatry; the rights of the self to be protected from waste; and the rights of the others, which include other humans, all creatures, and the environment in general, to deal justly with them all. All three have due rights which, when protected, make for a harmonious and prosperous life, and
lead to salvation. When these rights are violated the individual and the society descend down the path of conflict, misery and destruction.
Some have claimed that Islamic faith and law is essentially incompatible with modern concepts of human rights. The reply to this accusation is to note, initially, that it is based upon traditional western prejudices, jealousies, and fears about the vitality and appeal of Islam. Western colonial, imperial and corporate powers have repeatedly sensed the threat that Islam poses to their dominance during periods of
Muslim ascendancy and strength. A definite relationship exists between the modern concepts of human rights and the atrocities of European wars, especially in their formalization after the horrors experienced during WWI and WWII. As such, these concepts have necessary culfural and historical roots associated with the dominant "western" American and European powers vis-A-vis their own peoples. When this
concern for human rights moves out to other civihzattons, it is often used with double standards, and as a political tool to coerce submission to particular agendas and maintain systems of privileges. This situation has led some of the East to counter with the propagation of what they call Asian values.
More importantly, Islam as a complete way of life and total religious system is distinct in its worldview and moral code from the atheistic and secular systems upon which these concepts are based, with their humanistic relativity to all ultimate truths about God, the world, and man's place in history.
Click here to read the whole book.
