Nowadays there is talk of human rights everywhere. This has become a burning topic of the day. People are becoming more and more conscious about it. We are witnessing national and international commissions monitoring human rights, and trying to contain its violation.
There is a strong urge to include human rights education in the curriculum at the various levels of learning. Islam claims to be a system of life and the Qur’ān says it is “a guide to mankind, also claims to have clear signs for guidance and judgment,”must possess guidance in this regard also. When we study Islamic literature from this angle, Islamic outlook towards human rights comes as under:
HUMAN RIGHTS IN ISLAM
The Qur’ān is not the book dealing only with guidance and instructions about man and his Creator i.e. God. At the same time it deals extensively with the rights and duties of man among themselves. It instructs its believers in clear terms on human rights and warns them against the consequences if these rights are violated.
The Qur’ān and Sunnah deal with the worship such as Salat (Prayer), Saum, (fast,) charity, Hajj (Pilgrimage to Makkah), etc. and makes them obligatory for the believers. At the same time, we find the Qur’ān and Hadith stressing honouring fundamental rights such as protection of life and property, human dignity, freedom of speech, and belief, etc.
One such verse is:
Serve Allah and join not any partners with Him; and do good – to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbours who are of kin, neighbours strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (ye meet), and what your right hand possesses: for Allah loveth not the arrogant, the vain glorious.
Commenting on this verse, A Yusuf Ali wrote, “The essence of Islam is to serve Allah and do good to your fellow creatures. This is wider and more comprehensive than “Love God and love your neighbour.” For it includes duties to animals as our fellow creatures, and emphasises practical service rather than sentiments.
The Qur’ān, in very clear terms, mentions the rights and duties of possible relations of human beings with each other. Due to space constraint they are not dealt, but a glimpse of it is an under:
Right of parents are dealt in 2: 83; 2:215;4:36; 6:15;17:23-24.
Duties regarding orphans are mentioned in 2:83; 2:215; 4:36; 2:177.
Relatives (near and dear ones) 2:83; 2:215; 17:26.
Poor and needy peoples (have-not) 2:83; 2:215; 4:36; 17:26; 2:177; 9:60.
Wayfarers (Musafir) 2:215; 17:26; 2:177.
Neighbours’ 2:36.
Children 6:151.
Freeing slaves 2:177
The Qur’ān recognises the right of the poor, needy and have-nots to receive financial help from those who can help them.
The Qur’ān ordains to maintain good human relations and says it is close to piety or righteousness.
Islam gives a very wide concept about collective and social obligations engulfing all human relations as mentioned above.
The Qur’ān encourages the believers to pay due attention to discharging human rights, at the same time it expects from believers that they should remind themselves about these duties. The Qur’ān severely condemns those who neither care for the needy, poor and orphans of the society nor encourage others to help them.
Islam gives glad tidings of heaven to those who honour human rights. The Qur’ān says that the salvation of man is conditioned to his faith and his behaviour with his fellow beings.
This becomes an acid test for faith and virtue. Sincerity of faith will be judged by a man’s behaviour with others.
By referring to above verses of the Qur’ān, we conclude that God guided man right from his birth on matters of human rights. To strengthen them He sent messengers from time to time. The Qur’ān clearly implies that the consciousness about human rights is innate, embedded in his nature as instinct.
God has given innate faculties of sight, hearing, thinking, grasping and consciousness, etc. by which he is expected to arrive at conclusions regarding vice and virtue, know his Creator and try to know the right way of dealing with fellow beings.
God has preferred human rights to His rights. Because one not accomplishing Godly rights harms himself only. But the one who is not doing justice to human rights actually harms the person concerned, and any kind of cruelty or oppression on living beings, particularly on human beings, is a deadly sin in the eyes of God for which He punishes severely. Prophets were sent to establish justice. The Qur’ān declares that God sent down prophets, for two clear objectives. One to remind people about duties and rights of God and the other, to make them know and firmly establish rights and duties of man among themselves. To achieve the other objective he made the task of firmly establishing justice (adl) as obligatory duty on the part of prophets. In the following verse of the Qur’ān, it becomes obvious that this objective is reached by three angles: first, the (Kitab) Book, which is Revelation, mentioning good and forbidding evil; secondly, the balance which means Justice (adl) which gives everyone his due; and thirdly, the ‘iron’ meaning thereby the strong arm of the law, which is helpful in maintaining sanctions for evil doers.
We sent aforetime our apostles with Clear Signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance (of Right and Wrong) that men may stand forth in justice; and We sent down Iron in which is (material for) mighty war as well as many benefits for mankind that Allah may test who it is that will help unseen Him and His apostles; for Allah is Full of Strength exalted in Might (and able to enforce His will).
Thus we see that the concept of human rights in Islam is as old as man, on this earth, because the first man, on earth, Adam was a messenger of God and he and his children had clear concept about it.
Thus we see that Islam gives importance to human rights to such an extent that there are various concessions to persons not able to perform any of the obligatory Ibdah (Prayers).
We also see that, in its social, economic and moral teachings, the commandments of the Qur’ān all lead to fulfilling one or the other human rights, and the needy are guaranteed due concessions.
The second part of the Qur’ānic commands which bar man from certain things, are also, helpful in upholding human rights or checking their exploitation e.g. prohibition of beer, gambling, lottery, backbiting, faultfinding, etc. This guarantees the sanctity of human dignity and protects his private life. So is the case with the prevention of murder, theft, dacoity, fraud, scandals, etc. while guaranteeing the protection of life and property.
[DR. BADARUL ISLAM is principal of H M Iqra Urdu Boys’ High School, Aurangabad]