Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Foundations of Human Rights in Islam

Author(s):Abbass Khajeh Piri

(Faculty member and attorney-at-law)

Islam and Human Rights Series (1)

Publisher:Asare Sabz Publication

Year of Publishing: 2013/First Edition

www.alhassanain.org/english

Table of Contents

Author's Preface 3

Introduction 4

The Foundations of Human Rights in Islam 6

Conditions during the Time of the Advent of Islam 6

Notes 8

The Foundations of Human Rights in Islam 9

1-The Principle of Monotheism 9

2- The Principle of Equality and Cancellation of Relative supremacy 9

3-The Principle of Virtue based on Belief and Piety 11

4. Unity is the Ultimate Goal 12

5 – The Principle of Adjustment of Wealth and Means in the Community 13

6 – The Principle of the Respecting Human Life 17

7 – Granting Political Liberties 17

8– The Principle of Absolute Right of Divine Domination 18

9 – The Principle of Public Participation 19

10 – Abolition of Slavery 22

Participation 22

Correspondence 22

Prudence 22

Leaving an Impact 22

11 – Granting Rights to Women 23

12 – The Principle of Social Rights for People 25

The Right of Choosing a Place to Live and Immigrate 25

Respecting Private and Personal Life 25

The Right of Forming Family and Choosing a Wife 26

The Right of Choosing a Profession and Rights Derived from Working 26

Notes 27

References 29

Author's Preface

In the Name of God,The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

When invited by the esteemed IRI's cultural attaché in Moscow, in November of last year, I had the honor to travel to Russia accompanied by the esteemed officials ofBesat Foundation, to closely examine the grounds of expansion of cultural strategies and activities in that territory, so that we could compile an executive plan, based on the existing potentials and facilities. We met different top echelon religious and cultural individuals there.

During this visit, we attended a session where officials of religious and cultural affairs of Russia andTatarstan countries were present, in which they expressed their great interest in Islamic books, texts and even textbooks in Islamic ethics and education.

There is a population of nearly 20 million Muslims in the Russian Federation and particularly in north Caucasia and lands on the Volga riverbank, as well as Muslim and non-Muslims in other countries as addressees in the former Soviet Union who speak Russian fluently. These people have a habit of reading and studying while traveling by the public transportation system.

Translation Movement Institute started its operation nearly a year ago by translating and electronically publishing texts related to Islamic Education. Such facts caused this institute to address the Russian community and to focus the organization of its activities on them.

Having studied the human rights in Islam for a decade I decided to write a simplified, fluent and eloquent short book. I made up my mind to translate it into Russian before publishing it. In this text I intended to introduce and clarify the advanced principles of human rights in Islam to them.

As suggested by the esteemed managing director ofBesat Foundation, it was decided that the Persian text be published simultaneously with the Russian translated text. I am thankful to the Almighty and pray that I will have the pleasure to continue my endeavors in this regard.

Abbass Khajeh Piri , Ph. D

Introduction

« يأ ا َيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى‏ وَجَعَلْنَكُمْ شُعُوباً وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُواْ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ» سوره حجرات آیه 13

O mankind, indeed we have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted. (Quran, 49:13)

The issue of human rights, for being an inherent one, has a history as old as human age on the earth. The subject was born when mankind came into existence on the Earth. The bigger the human society and the population grew the vaster the human rights issue was expanded. It has always been the source of freedom-seeking and freedom-fighting movements and it remained the eternal and perpetual ideal of mankind.

The historians have unearthed documents in their studies and researches that indicative of the fact that mankind stressed its natural rights and basic freedom and liberty 2000 years before BC.

The emergence of Islam in 610 A.D. not only was the milestone but was a golden and most eternal in the human history. Because of the contents of its teachings, particularly in the human rights, it was welcomed and accepted by the oppressed people in a vast part of the globe and found many followers.

According to a well-known researcher, thinker and scholar,Abul A'la Maududi , the people in the West have the habit of attributing every good thing to themselves and try to prove that it is because of them that the world enjoys this and that blessing, while claiming that "they originated in the West".

They also have a habit of pretending that all the bestowments and privileges are rooted in the West, whereas the very first historical document on the human rights, MagnaCarta of Britain) The Great Charter of the Liberties of Britain (was issued by John (England's king at the time) in 1215.Though the MagnaCarta itself came into existence six hundred years after the advent of Islam.

This and the subsequent documents, as valid and firm evidence, prove that the West is lagging behind Islam on the issue of the human rights. Its failure to pay attention to human dignity and its delay in its fight against oppression and tyranny which mankind has suffered during centuries is evident here.

When you study the concepts of the human rights in the Islamic teachings you realize that it clearly is indicative of the fact that the human rights system in the Islamic law and the teachings of the Prophet (S) are much more comprehensive and more perfect than what is claimed in the West.

The reason is the fundamental difference between the two legal systems of West and Islam, in viewing mankind and his material and spiritual characteristics. In the Islamic law criteria of human's erudition and wisdom, humanity and spirituality has been paid specific attention to. On the contrary, West's attitude toward mankind is not based on spiritual and ethical factors.

On the other hand, as ethics and religion can play the role of the strongest support backing the materialization of human rights, strengthening ethical and religious values in every society will cause expansion of support for the human rights. On the contrary, ethical downfall or ignoring religious values, because of having a negative impact, leads to violation of the human rights.

Thus, if laws and regulations in force are left unsupported by the great spiritual and ideological support of the individuals in a society, the ultimate attained consequences will not be favorable. In today's world, failure of the UN's human rights organizations and the international documents (declarations) to address religion and religious beliefs has caused it to fail to develop support of the human rights.

The pathetic conditions stemming from violation of the Human Rights that we witness day-to-day around the globe is the result of the above fact.

In the series of essays which follow, we intend to briefly introduce some of the teachings of pure true and real Islam. We try to show the legitimacy of the Islamic laws, while comparing it with the West's flamboyant, showy and loud but empty baseless claims, so that everyone will know how much human being owes to Islamic teachings and to law of the Holy prophet.

And of God to success

The Foundations of Human Rights in Islam

It is impossible to understand and identify the foundations of human rights in Islam except by carefully studying the history of Islam during the age when Islam appeared. As a consequence we will briefly examine the conditions during the time of the advent of Islam.

Conditions during the Time of the Advent of Islam

Islam dawned in land which was the driest and warmest in the world, and despite the fact that it was surrounded by seas from east and west since these seas were relatively narrow they cannot change the climate of the Saudi Peninsula1 .

The people in Saudi Peninsula who were Bedouin desert settlers did not obey any discipline and did not submit or obey any power and lived in a tribal hierarchy and treated others in the same way that radical nationalists and racists do with other tribes and nations. They thought it was lawful to plunder, steal, commit rape, lye to others and behave treacherously.2

Barbarian Arabs did not obey any specific government and their basis of nationality was the tribal life, and mentioning the glories achieved by their tribes and describing the divisions and clans of the tribe and exaggerating the number of their population even by adding the tombs of the dead to the living was one of the most important features of their tribal life.3

Tribal system and tribal zeal and warlike spirit along with fanatic zeal for barbarian tendency and nationalism were the special characteristics of the Bedouin Arabs, and war and plunder was their official means of earning bread. Thus they were always ready to fight with others and plunder the neighboring tribes4 , and in their idylls of barbaric Arabs slaughter and looting were considered as a proof of their glory.

The custom of killing daughters and burying them dead was an aristocratic custom, and not only the aristocrats but sometimes the common people even buried alive such daughters who could not fight and plunder and were considered as a burden in the family budget.

During the age of ignorance the social position of a woman was inferior to man and animals and a mixture of these two. To such people the reason and wisdom of creation for woman was to perpetuate the tribe and serve the men, and the birth of a girl by a woman was considered as ill luck and misfortune. As a consequence it was a popular practice among them to bury girls alive, and such acts were considered to be the lawful rights of the parents of the daughter5 .

This subject has been described in the Quran in the following terms:

وَإِذَا بُشِّرَ أَحَدُهُمْ بِالأُنثَى ظَلَّ وَجْهُهُ مُسْوَدًّا وَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ

يَتَوَارَى مِنَ الْقَوْمِ مِن سُوءِ مَا بُشِّرَ بِهِ أَيُمْسِكُهُ عَلَى هُونٍ أَمْ يَدُسُّهُ فِي التُّرَابِ أَلاَ سَاء مَا يَحْكُمُونَ

When good news of the birth of a female is given to any of them, his face grows dark and inwardly he chokes. Because of the evil of the good news he hides himself from people; (pondering) whether he will keep her and be humiliated, or trample her into the dust.( 16:58-59)

Ignorant Arabs were eating dead creatures and stole and enjoyed much to drink wine and commit incest and lead a lawless life.6

Resorting to idols and worshipping different sorts of idols and pictures and building idol temples was one of the characteristics of the Arabs in Hejaz and there were so many idol temples that is said that when the Prophet of Islam (S) conquered Mecca there were 370 idols existing in theKa’ba and were destroyed by the army of Islam7 .

Idol worship had progressed to the extent that they fabricated and worshipped idols in the form of animals, plants and man, Jinni, angles and stars8 .

The best description of conditions in Saudi Arabia during the birth of Islam is that which Imam Ali ibexTalib (S) has mentioned in his sermon addressed to the Arabs: “Almighty God incited Muhammad (S) to frighten the people of Allah’s wrath and he was zealous and true to enforce whatever descended upon him (from Heaven).

You O Arabs, you followed the worse of religions (idol worship) at that time and lived in the worse land (i.e. Arabian Peninsula). You used to live in craggy lands full of rocks and deaf poisonous snakes. What you drank was stark and stagnant water and your food was beastly and rough. You used to shed each other’s blood. You violated the bonds of relationships with your relatives and idol worship was popular among you and you added to sins and transgressions9 .

That which we mentioned above is examples of corruption of ethics and the culture of ignorance when Islam was born, but besides idol-worshipping Arabs, the Christians in Saudi Peninsula and other countries had become corrupt, superstitious and had the ugliest and the cruelest mentality and lived in a very regrettable condition.

In addition in other countries too moral corruption and excessive class difference and mistaken zeal was rampant10 . In Iran and Rome, which were the biggest governments of the time, class privileges and religious conflicts and monopoly of rule of aristocrats and lords and chaos, was quite notable11 .

Islam blossomed under such sensitive circumstances and conditions when mankind suffered from mistaken customs, racial discrimination and class difference and by pointing to the fundamental human rights helped humanity to leave behind ignorance, superstition and slavery and march towards humanitarian values and perfection.

The Prophet of Islam (S) said, “O people! With the birth of Islam Almighty God has eliminated the lassitude of the age ignorance, and the feeling of pride and glory for being related to such and such fathers and families. O people, truly you are born from men and Adam was created out of the soil. You must know that the best of you to God is the most respectable and the pious one”.

He also said, “You have all been born from Adam and Adam was made out of soil. Arabs are not superiors compared to non-Arabs and those who are red do not differ with those who are white except in the extent of their piety.12

By chanting the slogan of peace and brotherhood among different tribes the Prophet made brotherhood popular forever and he encouraged people to resort to peace and brotherhood as far as he was able.

The Holy Quran says:

إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُون

The believers are but brethren, therefore make peace between your brethren and be careful of (your duty to) Allah that mercy may be had onyou( 49:10)

Interesting enough Islam taught Muslims to do what they like to like for others and avoid doing things which they don’t like against others.13

Also what is the more interesting is that Islam does not limit equality and brotherhood among Muslims only and exhorts brotherhood and equality among all people in the world to lay the foundation for peace and calm in the society.

Furthermore in other countries and regions too moral corruption, deep class differences, bland fanaticism, mistaken customs and lawlessness was rampant.14

For this reason in his historical decree toMalik Ashtar after appointing him as governor of Egypt, Ali binTalib (AS), the Prophet’s successor, says:

امّا اخ لك في الدين و امّا نظير لك في الخلق

The people are your religious brother or are the same as you in creation.

Notes

1. History of Arabs, p. 8

2. Political History of Islam, p.13

3. Holy Quran,Takasor Chapter, verses .3 and 2

4.Al’Asr-ul-Jaheli , p. 61

5. History of Islam and Arab Civilization, pp. 513-514

6. The History of Islam,p.43

7. Al-Asr - eJaheli , p. 61

8.Melal va Nehal ,Sharestani , vol. 3, p271

9.Nahj ul-Balaghah ,Feiz -ul -Islam, Sermon No. 26

10. The Reciprocal Services between Islam and Iran, vol. 1, p99

11. Muhammad (S), Blessing upon Mankind, p40

12. Human Rights,Assadollah Mobashsheri , p13

13. Al-Imam UL-Ali, The Voice of Justice among the People, p105

14.Nahj ul-Balaqa ,Feiz ul -Islam, p984