The Definition of “Islamic Human Rights”
Now that some general Islamic concepts have been presented, one can now move to the question of whether Islam accepts “human rights.” As demonstrated in the previous chapter, the very conception or definition of “human rights” is itself disputable and not agreed upon.

There is a definitely a concept in Islam of other people having rights upon an individual, both at an individual level and at a more general level. For example, in a passage of the Quran, Allah describes characteristics of the believers. These characteristics include the fact that they recognize that those in need and the poor have a right to some of their wealth.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told one of his Companions, who used to fast everyday and pray all night, not to do that. Then he told him, “Verily, your body has a right over you, your eye has a right over you, your wife has a right over you and your visitor has a right over you.”

In another hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) emphasized that the “rights of the street/path” are to be respected. When he was asked what they were, he replied, “Lowering one’s gaze, refraining from committing harm, responding to greetings, ordering good and eradicating evil.”  This once again demonstrates the understanding that people have rights over one another. These rights are both positive and negative: One should neither bring harm to others and one must also positively work on others’ behalf (which is part of the understanding of ordering good and eradicating evil).

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told some of his Companions that after his death, some rulers would give preference to others over them and would perform acts that they would disapprove of. They asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) what they should do under those circumstances. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) replied, “You should fulfill their rights and ask Allah for your rights.”  Here the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was clearly speaking about the rights of rulers and the ruled. This means that in Islamic Law, by God’s command and not via years of persecution and revolts, it is a must that both the rulers and the ruled have explicit and clear rights.  However, it is an established fact of humankind that sometimes the rulers, in particular, do not fulfill the rights of the ruled. This does not mean that one should revolt immediately as that will not produce good—nor should the ruler immediately imprison or kill his subjects when his rights are not always fulfilled. Instead, there are other means of change. The important point for the discussion here though is the recognition of the concept of rights for both.

ِFurthermore, by understanding Islamic Law as a whole, Islamic scholars recognized and discussed in some detail the “rights of Allah” and the “rights of humans.” The “rights of humans” are individual rights with respect to people’s property, honor and so forth. Since they are meant for individual interests of person, they individually have some discretion with respect to forgiveness, implementation and so on. The “rights of Allah” deal both with ritual acts of worship as well as laws that are required for the benefit of society or “public interest” (maslahah) as a whole. These laws cannot be overlooked or forbidden via human discretion. Instead, they are Allah’s rights so they must be fulfilled.  (There is also a third category, which is an act that includes an aspect of it being a right of Allah as well as a right of humans.)

In the history of human rights in the West, rights-talk was originally the result of defending the individual from the oppression of the state. That historical reality is actually a very narrow sighted vision of rights. The Quran,the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and Muslim jurists have used the word “right” in a much more general framework. There was no need for the conflict between the classes in order for Islam to recognize these specific rights. Instead, it was a command via revelation that established eternally, from an Islamic perspective, the rights of human beings.

At the same time, though, if one’s conception of human rights is the “fact” that humans are somehow “sacred” in and of themselves and therefore deserving of specific general rights simply because they have been born as “humans,” then one could argue that there is no such “human rights” in Islam. Actually, one could argue that such rights actually do not exist at all except in the minds of some theorists. Otherwise, rights actually have to be recognized and accepted by someone, as they cannot exist in a vacuum. (As shall be discussed later, from the Islamic perspective, humans are given rights by God.)

Similarly, if what one means by human rights is the idea that humans have a right to basically do what they please simply because they are humans, no society has ever accepted any concept of this nature. Perhaps only the most extreme of the human rights advocates would even propose or claim something of this nature. Otherwise, every society realizes that limitations must be put on the behavior of humans. Until now no society has accepted the “fact” that humans, for example, should be allowed to marry or procreate in any fashion that they wish—although there is no question that some human rights advocates are calling exactly for things of that nature.

However, if what is meant by human rights is the recognition that due to some authority, humans have rights upon each other which are inviolable, then Islam definitely supports and promotes this concept. It is this idea—that Islam gave humans numerous rights—that Islamic scholars have pointed to and can continue to point to that cannot be denied. This though does not mean that all rights are the same for every human simply because he or she is a human. That concept is foreign to Islam. Actually, that concept is foreign to most modern societies as well. Most societies, for example, distinguish between humans who are citizens and humans who are not citizens. They definitely do not give them all the same rights. Within a society, certain sectors of society are sometimes given less rights (such as those under a certain age limit) and others lose rights due to their own choices (criminals who have lost the right to vote, for example).

The conclusion is that “human rights” within an Islamic framework are rights given by Allah to humans. Since, in Islamic theology, Allah has all the authority, He is the only One who has the authority to grant humans rights, limit those rights, expand those rights or remove those rights from individuals.

Seen in this sense, and not in the extreme, secular sense of the modern human rights movement, Islam does indeed for something that could be called “human rights.” However, it could be argued that all societies stood for something of this nature. It is simply a question and issue of how far one wants to go in claiming such rights for humans.