Human Rights in Islam

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.

Doing Quran recitation is the religious duty of every Muslim.  In saheed Sunnah, it is encouraged to do the recitation of Quran in a melodious voice by the holy Quran reciter by making the voice more melodious and interesting. Reading quran and Making it melodious does not mean that it should be made more in singing tone but once should at least recite and read quranic Arabic in a good tone so that he/she himself feels good while listening to it and others also feel good while listening to it.