Introduction
Islamic concept of law and Justice is enshrined and has been taken from the Quran and Hadith. They follow the law of the Quran because they believe that the words of the Quran are the orders of God. In Islam there is no distinction between law and religion, for Muslims it’s the Allah who speaks and the humans must obey. This is because muslims believe that religion is not separate from political and ordinary life.
After the second world war the UN General Assembly created UN human right commission and
10th December 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. There are many Islamic laws that contradict with the UDHR.
IS THE ISLAMIC LAW COMPATIBLE WITH THE HUMAN RIGHTS ?
The UDHR was not signed by Saudi Arabia and some other Islamic states as they thought UDHR as a western imposition on the state and is not compatible with the Islamic concept of justice. So upheld the concept of Islamic human right which is different from the judeo-christian human rights on which UDHR is based, the Islamic states under the OIC ( Organization of Islamic Conference ) made and adopted another set of Human right called the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights ( CDHRI ) and it upholds sharia as a main source of Human Rights. According to Islamic human rights, women’s rights are different from those found in UDHR.
Muslims have different points of view and are divided on these issues, one side are those who want to identify with the UDHR and another side are those who do not want to. An Islamic scholar Muhammad Khan in his book Islamic and human rights ( 1988 ) said that Sharia not only compatible but also upholds human rights.
Islamic law and human rights are compatible only to the extent where human rights do not conflict with Islamic law. It would be wrong that if we say that Islam totally conflict with the human rights, there is difference at the point where the rights in UDHR conflict with the teaching given in the Kuran. It is said that human rights came into existence from the Magna Carta but in Islam human rights are present from many years back. As the World is evolving the human rights also evolved and the UDHR presented those human rights in a more structured manner.
On the other side there are also some myth in Islam that contradict with Human Rights like:
- That amputation is a typical punishment for theft in Muslim countries.
- That veiling is mandatory under sharia law.
- That suicide bombing is permissable under sharia law.
- Stoning is mentioned in the Qur’an.
- Capital punishment for apostasy is mentioned by the Qur’an.
Conclusion
Muslim policymakers in the East have used Islam to legitimize harsh cultural decisions thus far. Islam, on the other hand, does not belong to any one region. It is a global religion dedicated to tolerance and diversity. The Islamic Countries must try to modernize there human rights and aware people about the myth and teach them the real rights that God has given to them, then it will be beneficial for mankind.