Journal

By Riffat Hassan, Ph.D. Though the Universal declaration of Human Rights is called “Universal”, it “was articulated along the lines of historical trends of the Western world during the last three centuries, and a certain philosophical anthropology of individualistic humanism which helped justify them” [1]. The basic assumptions underlying the Declaration were a) of a universal human nature common to all the peoples, b) of the dignity of the individual, and c) of a democratic social order [2]. In the decades since the Declaration, the term “human rights” has become an integral part of both political and popular discourse, particularly amongst Western, and Western-educated, persons. Until very recently most of this discourse has been in largely secular terms. In fact, it is frequently assumed, as well as stated, by many advocates of human rights, in both Western and non- Western (including many Muslim) countries, that human rights can exist only within a secular context and not within the framework of religion. Underlying the stance that the concept of human rights is fundamentally secular, and, therefore, outside of, and even antithetical to, the worldview of religion, is – of course – a certain view of religion in general, or of particular religions. In Muslim countries such as Pakistan, for instance, it is often remarked by secular-minded proponents of human rights that it is not meaningful to talk about human rights in Islam because as a religious tradition, Islam has supported values and structures which are incompatible with the assumptions which underlie […]

by Sus Eko Ernada This paper describes the plurality of Muslim responses to the modern conce­p­tion of human rights, drawing in particular on Muslim interpretations of key human rights issues in the dis­cour­se of human rights and Islam -women’s rights, reli­gious free­dom and minority rights, and corporal punishment- in Egypt and Indonesia. The case stu­dies of Egypt and Indonesia point to wide range of responses among Muslims to these issues, but also suggest that Islam is not incompatible with the modern conception of human rights. This paper argues that on the issues of human rights, Muslims do not share a single, monolithic stance. Instead, there is a variety of arguments based on various Islamic schools of thought and Islamic reli­gious groups. As a result, the issues of human rights and their implementation have elicited a wide range of responses among Muslims. … read more

by Najma Moosa Introduction: Conflicts between human rights and religion do exist. Is this true of Islam? The answer is not as simple as ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Although an examination of human rights in an Islamic context will reveal its theocentric rather than secular and judicial basis, this paper asserts that, notwithstanding (later) Islamic law interpretations to the contrary, (original) Islam is compatible with the modern notion of human rights. The fact that some Muslim countries have opted for Western constitutional models because of uncertainty as to what constitutes Islamic constitutional law clearly supports this assertion. On the other hand, because of the Western origin of modern constitutions, countries like Saudi Arabia have no formal written constitution. … read more