HUMAN RIGHTS, THE WEST AND ISLAM

Before I discuss the human rights in Islam I would like to explain
a few points about two major approaches to the question of
human rights: the Western and Islamic. This will enable us to
study the issue in its proper perspective and avoid some of the confu-
sion which normally befogs such a discussion.    

The Western Approach:

    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 got this blessing, otherwise the world was steeped in ignorance
and completely unaware of all these benefits. Now let us look at the
question of human rights. It is very loudly and vociferously claimed
that the world got the concept of basic human rights from the Magna
Carta of Britain; though the Magna Carta itself came into existence six
hundred years after the advent of Islam. But the truth of the matter is
that until the seventeenth century no one even knew that the Magna
Carta contained the principles of Trial by Jury; Habeas Corpus, and
the Control of Parliament on the Right of Taxation. If the people who
had drafted the Magna Carta were living today they would have been
greatly surprised if they were told that their document also contained
all these ideals and principles. They had no such intention, nor were
they conscious of all these concepts which are now being attributed to
them.
    As far as my knowledge goes the Westerners had no concept of
human rights and civic rights before the seventeenth century. Even
after the seventeenth century the philosophers and the thinkers on
jurisprudence though presented these ideas, the practical proof and
demonstration of these concepts can only be found at the end of the
eighteenth century in the proclamations and constitutions of America
and France. After this there appeared a reference to the basic human
rights in the constitutions of different countries. But more often the
rights which were given on paper were not actually given to the people
in real life.
    In the middle of the present century, the United Nations,
which can now be more aptly and truly described as the Divided
Nations, made a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and passed a
resolution against genocide and framed regulations to check it. But as
you all know there is not a single resolution or regulation of the
United Nations which can be enforced. They are just an expression of
a pious hope. They have no sanctions behind them, no force, physical
or moral to enforce them. Despite all the high-sounding ambitious
resolutions of the United Nations, human rights have been violated
and trampled upon at different places, and the United Nations has
been a helpless spectator. She is not in a position to exercise an
effective check on the violation of human rights. Even the heinous
crime of genocide is being perpetrated despite all proclamations of the
United Nations. Right in the neighbouring country of Pakistan,
genocide of the Muslims has been taking place for the last twenty-
eight years, but the United Nations does not have the power and
strength to take any steps against India. No action has even been taken
against any country guilty of this most serious and revolting crime.
The first thing that we find in Islam in this connection is that it
lays down some rights for man as a human being. In other words it
means that every man whether he belongs to this country or that,
whether he is a believer or unbeliever, whether he lives in some forest
or is found in some desert, whatever be the case, he has some basic
human rights simply because he is a human being, which should be
recognized by every Muslim. In fact it will be his duty to fulfil these
obligations.
 

1. The Right to Life

The first and the foremost basic right is the right to live and
respect human life. The Holy Quran lays down:
  Whosoever kills a human being without (any reason like) man
  slaughter, or corruption on earth, it is as though he had killed
  all mankind ... (5:32)
As far as the question of taking life in retaliation for murder or the
question of punishment for spreading corruption on this earth is con-
cerned, it can be decided only by a proper and competent court of
law. If there is any war with any nation or country, it can be decided
only by a properly established government. In any case, no human
being has any right by himself to take human life in retaliation or for
causing mischief on this earth. Therefore it is incumbent on every
human being that under no circumstances should he be guilty of
taking a human life. If anyone has murdered a human being, it is as if
he has slain the entire human race. These instructions have been
repeated in the Holy Quran in another place saying:
  Do not kill a soul which Allah has made sacred except through the due
  process of law ... (6:151)
Here also homicide has been distinguished from destruction of
life carried out in pursuit of justice. Only a proper and competent
court will be able to decide whether or not an individual has forfeited
his right to life by disregarding the right to life and peace of other
human beings. The Prophet, may God's blessings be on him, has
declared homicide as the greatest sin only next to polytheism. The
Tradition of the Prophet reads: "The greatest sins are to associate
something with God and to kill human beings." In all these verses of
the Quran and the Traditions of the Prophet the word 'soul' (nafs) has
been used in general terms without any distinction or particularization
which might have lent itself to the elucidation that the persons belong-
ing to one's nation, the citizens of one's country, the people of a
particular race or religion should not be killed. The injunction applies
to all human beings and the destruction of human life in itself has
been prohibited.
'The Right to Life' has been given to man only by Islam. You
will observe that the people who talk about human rights if they have
ever mentioned them in their Constitutions or Declarations, then it is
clearly implied in them that these rights are applicable only to their
citizens or they have been framed for the white race alone. This can
clearly be gleaned by the fact that human beings were hunted down
like animals in Australia and the land was cleared of the aborigines for
the white man. Similarly the aboriginal population of America was
systematically destroyed and the Red Indians who somehow survived
this genocide were confined to specified areas called Reservations.
They also penetrated into Africa and hunted down human beings like
wild animals. All these instances go to prove that they have no respect
for human life as such and if they have, it is only on the basis of their
nationality, colour or race. Contrary to this, Islam recognizes this right
for all human beings. If a man belongs to a primitive or savage tribe,
even then Islam regards him as a human being.

2. The Right to the Safety of Life

Immediately after the verse of the Holy Quran which has been
mentioned in connection with the right to life, God has said: "And
whoever saves a life it is as though he had saved the lives of all
mankind" (5:32). There can be several forms of saving man from
death. A man may be ill or wounded, irrespective of his nationality,
race or colour. If you know that he is in need of your help, then it
is your duty that you should arrange for his treatment for disease or
wound. If he is dying of starvation, then it is your duty to feed him so
that he can ward off death. If he is drowning or his life is at stake,
then it is your duty to save him. You will be surprised to hear that the
Talmud, the religious book of the Jews, contains a verse of similar
nature, but records it in altogether different form. It says: "Whoever
destroyed a life of the Israelite, in the eyes of the Scripture, it is as
if
he destroyed the whole world. And whoever protected and saved one
life of the Israelite, in the light of the Scripture, it is as if he saved
the
whole world." Talmud also contains the view that if a non-Israelite is
drowning and you tried to save him then you are a sinner. Can it be
given a name other than racialism? We regard it as our duty to save
every human life, because it is thus that we have been enjoined in the
Holy Quran. On the other hand, if they regard it necessary to save
the life of a human being at all, it should be the life of an Israelite. As
far as other people are concerned, according to this view, they do not
seem to be human enough to deserve protection of their persons. In
their literature the concept of 'Goyim' for which the English word
'Gentile' and the Arabic word ummi (illiterate) is used, is that they
enjoy no human rights; human rights are reserved only for the children
of Israel. The Quran has mentioned this belief of the Israelites and
quotes the Jews saying: "There is no blame on us (for anything we
may do) with regard to the unlettered folk (i.e. the ummi)" (3:75).
 

3. Respect for the Chastity of Women

The third important thing that we find in the Charter of Human
Rights granted by Islam is that a woman's chastity has to be respected
and protected under all circumstances, whether she belongs to our
own nation or to the nation of an enemy, whether we find her in the
wild forest or in a conquered city; whether she is our co-religionist or
belongs to some other religion or has no religion at all. A Muslim
cannot outrage her under any circumstances. All promiscuous relation-
ship has been forbidden to him, irrespective of the status or position
of the woman, whether the woman is a willing or an unwilling partner
to the act. The words of the Holy Quran in this respect are: "Do not
approach (the bounds of) adultery" (17:32). Heavy punishment has
been prescribed for this crime, and the order has not been qualified by
any conditions. Since the violation of chastity of a woman is
forbidden in Islam, a Muslim who perpetrates this crime cannot escape
punishment whether he receives it in this world or in the Hereafter.
This concept of sanctity of chastity and protection of women can be
found nowhere else except in Islam. The armies of the Western powers
need the daughters of their nation to satisfy their carnal appetites even
in their own countries, and if they happen to occupy another country,
the fate of its women folk can better be imagined than described. But
the history of the Muslims, apart from a few lapses of the individuals
here or there, has been free from this crime against womanhood. It has
never happened that after the conquest of a foreign country the
Muslim army has gone about raping the women of the conquered
people, or in their own country, the government has arranged to
provide prostitutes1for them. This is also a great blessing which the
human race has received through Islam.2
 

4. The Right to a Basic Standard of Life

Speaking about the economic rights the Holy Quran enjoins upon
its followers:
  And in their wealth there is acknowledged right for the needy and
  destitute. (51:19)
The words of this injunction show that it is a categorical and un-
qualified order. Furthermore this injunction was given in Makkah
where there was no Muslim society in existence and where generally
the Muslims had to come in contact with the population of the
disbelievers. Therefore the clear meaning of this verse is that anyone
who asks for help and anyone who is suffering from deprivation has a
right in the property and wealth of the Muslims; irrespective of the
fact whether he belongs to this nation or to that nation, to this
country or to that country, to this race or to that race. If you are in
a position to help and a needy person asks you for help or if you come
to know that he is in need, then it is your duty to help him. God has
established his right over you, which you have to honour as a Muslim.
 

5. Individual's Right to Freedom

Islam has clearly and categorically forbidden the primitive
practice of capturing a free man, to make him a slave or to sell him
into slavery. On this point the clear and unequivocal words of the
Prophet (S) are as follows: "There are three categories of people
against whom I shall myself be a plaintiff on the Day of Judgement.
Of these three, one is he who enslaves a free man, then sells him and
eats this money" (al-Bukhari and Ibn Majjah). The words of this
Tradition of the Prophet are also general, they have not been qualified
or made applicable to a particular nation, race, country or followers
of a particular religion. The Europeans take great pride in claiming
that they abolished slavery from the world, though they had the
decency to do so only in the middle of the last century. Before this,
these Western powers had been raiding Africa on a very large scale,
capturing their free men, putting them in bondage and transporting
them to their new colonies. The treatment which they have meted
out to these unfortunate people has been worse than the treatment
given to animals. The books written by the Western people themselves
bear testimony to this fact.

The Slave Trade of Western Nations:

After the occupation of America and the West Indies, for three
hundred and fifty years, traffic in slave trade continued. The African
coasts where the black-skinned captured Africans were brought from
the interior of Africa and put on the ships sailing out from those
ports, came to be known as the Slave Coast. During only one century
(from 1680 to 1786) the total number of free people who were
captured and enslaved only for British Colonies amounts, according to
the estimate of British authors, to 20 million human beings. Over the
period of only one year (1790) we are told that 75,000 human beings
were captured and sent for slave labour in the Colonies. The ships
which were used for transporting the slaves were small and dirty.
These unfortunate Africans were thrust into the holds of these ships
like cattle right up to the top and many of them were chained to the
wooden shelves on which they could hardly move because these were
only eighteen inches apart, kept one on top of the other. They were
not provided with suitable food, and if they fell ill or were injured, no
attempt was made to provide them with medical treatment. The
Western writers themselves state that at least 20% of the total number
of people who were captured for slavery and forced labour perished
during their transportation from the African coast to America. It has
also been estimated that the total number of people who were
captured for slavery by the various European nations during the
heyday of the slave trade comes to at least one hundred million. This
is the record of the people who denounce Muslims day and night for
recognizing the institution of slavery. It is as if a criminal is holding
his finger of blame towards an innocent man.
 

The Position of Slavery in Islam:

Briefly I would like to tell you about the position and nature
of slavery in Islam. Islam tried to solve the problem of the slaves that
were in Arabia by encouraging the people in different ways to set
their slaves free. The Muslims were ordered that in expiation of some
of their sins they should set their slaves free. Freeing a slave by one's
own free will was declared to be an act of great merit, so much so that
it was said that every limb of the man who manumits a slave will be
protected from hell-fire in lieu of the limb of the slave freed by him.
The result of this policy was that by the time the period of the
Rightly-Guided Caliphs was reached, all the old slaves of Arabia were
liberated. The Prophet alone liberated as many as 63 slaves. The
number of slaves freed by 'Aishah was 67, 'Abbas liberated 70, 'Abd
Allah ibn 'Umar liberated one thousand, and 'Abd al-Rahman
purchased thirty thousand and set them free. Similarly other
Companions of the Prophet liberated a large number of slaves, the
details of which are given in the Traditions and books of history of
that period.
Thus the problem of the slaves of Arabia was solved in a short
period of thirty or forty years. After this the only form of slavery
which was left in Islamic society was the prisoners of war, who were
captured on the battlefield. These prisoners of war were retained by
the Muslim Government until their government agreed to receive
them back in exchange for Muslim soldiers captured by them, or
arranged the payment of ransom on their behalf. If the soldiers they
captured were not exchanged with Muslim prisoners of war, or their
people did not pay their ransom money to purchase their liberty, then
the Muslim Government used to distribute them among the soldiers of
the army which had captured them. This was a more humane and
proper way of disposing of them than retaining them like cattle in
concentration camps and taking forced labour from them and, if their
women folk were also captured, setting them aside for prostitution.
In place of such a cruel and outrageous way of disposing of the
prisoners of war, Islam preferred to spread them in the population and
thus brought them in contact with individual human beings. Over and
above, their guardians were ordered to treat them well. The result of
this humane policy was that most of the men who were captured on
foreign battlefields and brought to the Muslim countries as slaves
embraced Islam and their descendants produced great scholars, imams,
jurists, commentators, statesmen and generals of the army. So much
so that later on they became the rulers of the Muslim world. The
solution of this problem which has been proposed in the present age is
that after the cessation of hostilities the prisoners of war of the
combatant countries should be exchanged. Whereas Muslims have been
practising it from the very beginning and whenever the adversary
accepted the exchange of prisoners of war from both sides, it was
implemented without the least hesitation or delay. In modern warfare
we also find that if one government is completely routed leaving her in
no position of bargaining for the prisoners of war and the winning
party gets its prisoners easily, then experience has shown that the
prisoners of war of the vanquished army are kept in conditions which
are much worse than the conditions of slaves. Can anyone tell us what
has been the fate of the thousands of prisoners of war captured by
Russia from the defeated armies of Germany and Japan in the Second
World War? No one has given their account so far. No one knows how
many thousands of them are still alive and how many thousands of
them have perished due to the hardship of the Russian concentration
and labour camps. The forced labour which has been taken from them
is much worse than the service one can exact from slaves. Even perhaps
in the times of ancient Pharaohs of Egypt such harsh labour might not
have been exacted from the slaves in building the pyramids of Egypt, as
has been exacted from the prisoners of war in Russia in developing
Siberia and other backward areas of Russia, or working in coal and
other mines in below zero temperatures, ill-clad, ill-fed and brutally
treated by their supervisors.
 

6. The Right to Justice

This is a very important and valuable right which Islam has given
to man as a human being. The Holy Quran has laid down: "Do not let
your hatred of a people incite you to aggression" (5:2). "And do not
let ill-will towards any folk incite you so that you swerve from dealing
justly. Be just; that is nearest to heedfulness" (5:8). Stressing this
point
the Quran again says: "You who believe stand steadfast before God as
witness for (truth and) fairplay" (4:135). This makes the point clear
that Muslims have to be just not only with ordinary human beings but
even with their enemies. In other words, the justice to which Islam
invites her followers is not limited only to the citizens of their own
country, or the people of their own tribe, nation or race, or the
Muslim community as a whole, but it is meant for all the human beings
of the world. Muslims therefore, cannot be unjust to anyone. Their
permanent habit and character should be such that no man should ever
fear injustice at their hands, and they should treat every human being
everywhere with justice and fairness.
 

7. Equality of Human Beings

Islam not only recognizes absolute equality between men
irrespective of any distinction of colour, race or nationality, but makes
it an important and significant principle, a reality. The Almighty God
has laid down in the Holy Quran: "O mankind, we have created you
from a male and female." In other words all human beings are brothers
to one another. They all are the descendants from one father and one
mother. "And we set you up as nations and tribes so that you may be
able to recognize each other" (49:13). This means that the division of
human beings into nations, races, groups and tribes is for the sake of
distinction, so that people of one race or tribe may meet and be
acquainted with the people belonging to another race or tribe and
cooperate with one another. This division of the human race is neither
meant for one nation to take pride in its superiority over others nor is it
meant for one nation to treat another with contempt or disgrace, or
regard them as a mean and degraded race and usurp their rights.
"Indeed, the noblest among you before God are the most heedful of
you" (49:13). In other words the superiority of one man over another
is only on the basis of God-consciousness, purity of character and high
morals, and not on the basis of colour, race, language or nationality,
and even this superiority based on piety and pure conduct does not
justify that such people should play lord or assume airs of superiority
over other human beings. Assuming airs of superiority is in itself a
reprehensible vice which no God-fearing and pious man can ever dream
of perpetrating. Nor does the righteous have more privileged rights over
others, because this runs counter to human equality, which has been
laid down in the beginning of this verse as a general principle. From the
moral point of view, goodness and virtue is in all cases better than vice
and evil.
This has been exemplified by the Prophet in one of his sayings thus:
"No Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab
have any superiority over an Arab. Nor does a white man have any
superiority over a black man, or the black man any superiority over the
white man. You are all the children of Adam, and Adam was created
from clay" (al-Bayhaqi and al-Bazzaz). In this manner Islam established
equality for the entire human race and struck at the very root of all
distinctions based on colour, race, language or nationality. According to
Islam,God has given man this right of equality as a birthright. Therefore
no man should be discriminated against on the ground of the colour of
his skin, his place of birth, the race or the nation in which he was born.
Malcolm X, the famous leader of African Negroes in America, who had
launched a bitter struggle against the white people of America in order
to win civil rights for his black compatriots, when he went to perform
the pilgrimage, and saw how the Muslims of Asia, Africa, Europe,
America and those of different races, languages and colours of skin,
were wearing one dress and were hurrying towards God's House-the
Ka'bah and offering prayers standing in one row and there was no
distinction of any kind between them, then he realized that this was the
solution to the problem of colour and race, and not what he had been
trying to seek or achieve in America so far. Today, a number of non-
Muslim thinkers, who are free from blind prejudice, openly admit that
no other religion or way of life has solved this problem with the same
degree of success with which Islam has done so.
 

8. The Right to Co-operate and Not to Co-operate

Islam has prescribed a general principle of paramount importance
and universal application saying: "Co-operate with one another for
virtue and heedfulness and do not co-operate with one another for the
purpose of vice and aggression" (5:2). This means that the man who
undertakes a noble and righteous work, irrespective of the fact whether
he is living at the North Pole or the South Pole, has the right to expect
support and active co-operation from the Muslims. On the contrary he
who perpetrates deeds of vice and aggression, even if he is our closest
relation or neighbour, does not have the right to win our support and
help in the name of race, country, language or nationality, nor should
he have the expectation that Muslims will co-operate with him or
support him. Nor is it permissible for Muslims to co-operate with him.
The wicked and vicious person may be our own brother, but he is not
of us, and he can have no help or support from us as long as he does not
repent and reform his ways. On the other hand the man who is doing
deeds of virtue and righteousness may have no kinship with Muslims,
but Muslims will be his companions and supporters or at least his well-
wishers.

Reference: 
HUMAN RIGHTS IN ISLAM (CHAPTER TWO)

BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS : by  'Allamah Abu al-'A'la Mawdudi