HUMAN RIGHTS IN ISLAM

Author(s): ROBERT TRAER

Source: Islamic Studies , Summer 1989, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Summer 1989), pp. 117-129
Published by: Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad

Stable URL: [Link]

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HUMAN RIGHTS IN ISLAM
ROBERT TRAER

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was approved on

the 10th of December in 1948 by the UN General Assembly without
dissenting vote. The government of Saudia Arabia abstained, on the
grounds that the Declaration did not acknowledge rights to be the
gift of God and violated the Qur'?n by asserting the right to
change one's religion. However, the foreign minister of Pakistan, Sir
Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, defended his country's support for the
Declaration on the grounds that the Qur'an permitted one to
bejieve or disbelieve.1

Today Muslim countries throughout the world have ratified

international human rights covenants, and Muslim lawyers and
scholars are quick to assert that Islam has always supported human
rights. In this essay 1 shall summarize arguments given by Muslims
in support of human rights.

MUSLIM LAWYERS

In 1980 a Seminar on Human Rights in Islam was organized

by the International Commission of Jurists, together with the
University of Kuwait and the Union of Arab Lawyers. One purpose
of the Seminar was succinctly set forth in a single sentence in the
Seminar's report: nThe time has come to refute the idea that the
initiation and continued development of the concept of human
rights must be attributed exclusively to Western culture."2

The 65 participants in the Seminar agreed upon several

conclusions. They affirmed that:

Islam was the first to recognize basic human rights and

alnjost 14 centuries ago it set up guarantees and safe
guards that have only recently been incorporated in
universal declarations of human rights.1

They acknowledged that contemporary Islamic practice in many

respects does not conform to the true principles of Islam. However,
they noted that: "Islam was the first to safeguard personal rights
and freedoms for religious minorities."* Moreover, they asserted
that because "human rights and freedoms are not attributed to
Nature but are considered to be gifts of God in accordance with
the Islamic faith:"

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 118 Islamic Studies, 28:2 (1989)

This confers on them an added measure of veneration,

prestige and sanctity to protect them from inroads by the
ruling authorities, lends them the qualities of completeness
and universality, and renders them inalienable and
irrevocable,5

And they affirmed that Islam's codification of human rights:

"constitute a solid foundation for an effective exercise of human
rights and freedoms and protection against any infringement of
them."*
The Seminar made recommendations about economic, social
and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights. Islamic
states were called upon to implement standards in international law
consistent with Islamic law and to reform their economic systems
"to achieve social justice and guarantee human dignity."7 And in
conclusion:

The Seminar finally addressed itself to Almighty God in a

fervent prayer that all Muslims be brought together in
justice and goodness, and that this humanitarian effort be
pursued until the dignity of man is assured, the foundations
of his rights and his life firmly established and
consolidated, and the roots of arbitrariness and injustice
eradicated from the world.8

Thus, in Islam, God-given human rights are seen as the means of

assuring human dignity in the life of this world.

This theme was set forth clearly in the Inaugural Address of

"His Highness The Sovereign Emir" of Kuwait. He noted that it was
15 centuries since the Prophet and his followers "took refuge in
Madihah and set up a community where the exercise of human
rights, previously a mere aspiration and hope, became a reality."9
This became possible "because of Islam's primary belief in human
dignity, as emphasized by God, the Almighty, in the Qur'?n where
He says: 'and We have edified the progeny of Adam\Mie The Emir
thus affirmed that:

To preserve the dignity of man, it is necessary that society

guarantees him food, drink, lodging, clothing, education and
employment as well as his right to express his opinion,
participate in the political life of his country and to be
assured of his own security and that of his kin.11

The community has a duty to acquire the competence to ensure

such rights. "Duties, in this way, are seen as another aspect of
rights, as though rights and duties form the twin wings which
enable society to soar to the horizons of its aspired future."11

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Isl&idc Studies, 28:2 (1989) 119

In an address to the Seminar Zouheir Al-Midani, Secretary

General of the Arab Lawyers' Union, noted that appeals to human
rights are being made in the Third World as a part of the
ideological struggle between capitalism and socialism. He asked the
participants in the Seminar:

Would it be possible for us, as Muslims, to find our refuge in

the spiritual values of Islam and escape being pulled right
or left by embracing its concepts on human rights, basic
freedoms, justice and equity, while upholding them as themes
for our age, and by adhering to those fundamental doctrines
of Islam which Muslims have constantly upheld?13

Thus he called for a return to the basic principles of Islamic faith

as derived from the Qur'?n and the Sunnah.
BASIC DOCTRINES

Pakistani scholar Rashid Ahmad Jullundhri writes that "Islam

wants to create a society based on a deep sense of moral
responsibility and justice in order to preserve human dignity
accorded to man by God," and he argues that "without the
practical recognition of the basic rights of man all talk of human
dignity will remain empty verbiage." 1% The task of the state then
is to protect the rights of its citizens.

This is a religious duty as well. Jullundhri notes that the

Arabic word huq?q is used for human rights. HuqvLq is the plural of
haqq. tfaqq is also a divine name meaning the real. In S?f? usage
Haqq means the Absolute.15 This word is also used in the traditions
of the Prophet, for the Prophet is quoted as saying: "0, God, you
are the Truth."1* Therefore, Jullundhri asserts:

The *Ulam? [Judges] regarded human rights as an integral

part of faith. A man cannot be considered religious in the
true sense of the Vord if he does not grant the rights of
his fellowmen. The measure of judging a man's religiosity is
how he deals with people, not how much he prays.17

As practice is the measure of all piety: "Faith in human rights

alone cannot make man free of fear and spiritual anxiety."le The
truth must be lived as well as believed.

Abdul Aziz Said begins his well known essay, "Human Rights
in Islamic Perspectives," with a challenging paragraph:

Human rights are concerned with the dignity of the

individual?the level of self-esteem that secures personal
identity and promotes human community. While the pursuit of
human dignity is universal, its forms are designed by the
cultures of people. Politics is a cultural activity reflecting

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 120 Islamic Studies, 28:2 (1989)

tradition and environment. The debate on human rights

assumes that in spite of the differences that characterize
the spectrum of world cultures, political conduct can be
conceptualized by certain common norms and attitudes. In
the modern global system Westerners have concentrated on
discovering common denominators rooted in Judeo-Christian
traditions and from which a calculus of human rights would
emerge. This emphasis on Western common denominators
projects a parochial view of human rights that excludes the
cultural realities and present existential conditions of Third
World societies.19

Politics is cultural, and human rights are political: "The character

and nature of human rights are determined in the crucible of a
specific socio-political culture."19
In an Islamic culture the state has the responsibility of
enforcing the principles of the Shari'ah:

the laws derived from the Qur'an, the Sunnah?the Had?th

and decisions of Muhammad, Ijma* ?the consensus of opinion
of the 'Ulama (Judges) and Ijtih?d?the counsel of judges on
a particular case.11

As sovereignty belongs to God, the state exists not merely to

protect its citizens but also to achieve social justice. Thus "it is
the state's duty to enhance human dignity and alleviate conditions
that hinder individuals in their efforts to achieve happiness."1*

Said argues that the liberal emphasis on freedom from

restraint is alien to Islam. Freedom in Islam is not the ability to
act, but the ability to become:

The jurists see human freedom in terms of personal surrender

to the Divine Will. Freedom is not an inherent right . . . The
goal of freedom is human creativity. Freedom is defined as
belonging to the community, and participating with the
people in cultural creation.13

Basharat Ahmad proclaims: "It was the Holy Qur'an which for the
first time preached the gospel of human freedom with such zeal
and emphasis that the whole world woke up, as it were, from deep
sleep."1% However, this human freedom must be understood, as
Seyyed Hossein Nasr clearly states in "The Concept and Reality of
Freedom in Islam and Islamic Civilization," as the freedom to do
what is right. For as pure freedom belongs to God alone, "the more
we are, the more we are free."15

According to the Shari'ah human rights are "a consequence

of human obligations and not their antecedent:"

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Islamic Studies, 28:2 (1989) 121

We possess certain obligations toward God, nature, and other

humans .... As a result of fulfilling these obligations, we
gain certain rights and freedoms that are again outlined by
the Divine Law.16

Thus democracy is understood differently in Islamic culture than in

the West. As all members of a society are responsible to God, all
share equally in delegating authority to the state. In the words of
Pakistani Abu'l Afl? Mawd?di: "In Western democracy, the people
are sovereign; in Islam sovereignty is vested in God and the people
are His caliphs or representatives."27

Human rights then are justified because they are the gift of
God and the responsibility of those who rule this world on behalf
of God. This gives them ultimate authority:

When we speak of human rights in Islam we mean those

rights granted by God. Rights granted by kings or legislative
assemblies can be withdrawn as easily as they are conferred;
but no individual and no institution has the authority to
withdraw the rights conferred by God.2*

Mawd?di argues that the resolutions of the United Nations cannot

be compared with the rights sanctioned by God for "the former are
not obligatory on anybody, while the latter are an integral part of
the Islamic .faith."29

In the conclusions of the 1980 Seminar in Kuwait it was

affirmed that the Islamic state has an obligation to guarantee the
rights of non-Muslims including their right:

... to practise their religious beliefs, conduct their

ceremonies, pursue their professions, vocations and other
activities and benefit like everyone else from public
revenues such as state assistance and aid.**

However, Muslim scholar Abdullahi Ahmed an-Na'im argues that

"discrimination on grounds of religion or belief is fundamental to
traditional Shar?'?h law."*1 Legal capacity is determined by one's
religion, and only Muslims are full citizens of the state.

Traditionally Christians and Jews, as believers in Scripture

which Muslims recognize to be Divine, enjoyed a limited degree of
independence, as Dhimm?s. Others are without rights as citizens. "A
Muslim who abandons Islam, whether or not he or she subsequently
embraces another faith, is guilty of the crime of apostasy, which is
punishable by death under Shari'ah law."12 The treatment of non
Muslims in Muslim countries has varied greatly from country to
country and era to era. However, he concludes that: "even the
best dhimmah system in conception and implementation would still
discriminate against Christians and Jews and violate their religious
freedom."**

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 122 Isl&nic Studies, 28:2 (1989)

He suggests that this Islamic tradition can be reformed,

along the lines advocated by the late Sudanese scholar Ustadh
Mahmoud Mohmed Taha, who "did not propose to discard any part of
the Qur'an or undermine its divine nature" but suggested: "that
Muslims should undertake modern legislation to enact those verses
of the Qur'an which were previously deemed to be abrogated in the
sense that they were not made the source of legally binding rules
[dy?t at-ahk?m)."*H In relation to religious liberty he argued:

. . . that the verses emphasizing freedom of choice and

individual responsibility for such choice before God should be
the bases of modern Islamic law. To do that, Muslims need to
abrogate the verses of compulsion and discrimination against
non-Muslims, in the sense of denying them legal efficacy in
modern Islamic law. Such verses shall remain part of the
holy Qur'an for all purposes except the purpose of legally
binding rules. In other words, in the same way that early
Muslim jurists employed the technique of abrogation [naskhi
to rationalize and develop a body of law for their time,
modern Muslim society should undertake a similar process in
order to develop a body of law for modern society.35

Without changes in the Shari'ah such as these, an-Na'im argues, it

will hardly be an instrument of religious freedom. And the
"immediate and total implementation of Shari'ah demanded by Muslim
fundamentalists would make a difficult situation completely
intolerable."36

EQUALITY
Khalid Duran notes that M. Taha had great support among
educated Sudanese, even for his position that the Qur'?n supports
equal rights for women.37 Muslims have long held that historically
the position of women in society was improved wherever Islam was
practised. For example, an Iranian report written in 1968 affirms:
"Islam, a religion based on equality, regarded women as equal to
men in the political, economic, and social spheres."38 However, the
report goes on to acknowledge that in Islamic society other
ideologies have often resulted in unequal treatment of women.

Muslim Scholar Riffat Hassan also takes the position that,

while Islamic society continues to treat women as unequal to men,
the proper reading of the Qur'an leads to a very different
conclusion:

Having spent seven years in study of the Qur'?nic passages

relating to women, I am convinced that the Qur'an is not
biased against women and does not discriminate against them.
On the contrary, because of its protective attitude toward
all downtrodden and oppressed classes, it appears to be
weighted in many ways in favour of women.39

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Isl&idc Studies, 28:2 (1989) 123

However, she acknowledges that human rights are disappearing

today "under the pressure of mounting fanaticism and traditionalism
in many areas of the Muslim world:"

1 am particularly concerned about serious violations of

human rights pertaining to the rights of women, the rights
of minorities, the right of the accused to due process of
law, and the right of the Muslim masses to be free of
dictatorships. In the end we have what seems to be an
irreconcilable gulf between Qur'?nic ideals and the realities
of Muslim living.*0

Nonetheless, she affirms that while "others may or may not

recognize our human rights ... as human beings who have a
covenantal relationship with God, we must strive under all circum
stances to secure and to guard those rights which we believe have
been given to us by God and which, therefore, no one else has the
right to take away."*1

If equality of men and women in Islam has often seemed to

be a mere ideal, the Islamic affirmation of equality regardless of
colour or race has more often been put into practice. Mawd?di
quotes the Prophet as saying:

No Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a

non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; nor has a white
man 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.*1
Malcolm X was so impressed during his pilgrimage to Makkah by the
spirit of brotherhood among Muslims of different races and colours
that it changed him from a black nationalist to a black human
rights advocate. He wrote:
America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one
religion that erases from its society the race problem.
Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met,
talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would
have been considered "white"?but the "white" attitude was
removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have
never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practised by
all colours together, irrespective of their colour.*3

And thus, in a time when other black leaders in America spoke of

civil rights, Malcolm X asserted that "the salvation of America's
very soul . . . can only be salvaged if human rights and dignity, in
full, are extended to black men."**

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 124 Islamic Studies, 28:2 (1989)
A SUFI COMMENTARY

To mark the twentieth anniversay of the Universal Declara

tion of Human Rights, Sultanhussein Tabandeh of Gunabad, Iran,
leader of the NeSematullahi Sultanalishahi $?f? Order which was
founded about 1400, wrote A Mu?&m Commentary on the Universal
Oec?arat n oi Human Rights and had it delivered to every Islamic
representative who attended the 1968 Tehran International
Conference on Human Rights.

Sultanhussein Tabandeh describes the Universal Declaration as

"a masterpiece" of the United Nations, but suggests "most of its
provisions were already inherent in Islam."*5 Denying any involve
ment in politics and confessing ignorance as to the political
implications of the Declaration, he asserts his concern is "only the
religious angle, and in particular the relation to the sacred
theology of Islam and of Sh?*ah belief."116 He suggests this is
particularly appropriate, as the "Declaration was greeted by private
individuals of all races as a gospel proclaimed for their protection
by the jurists and the liberals of the world."*7

After reviewing the "genesis" of the Universal Declaration,

Sultanhussein Tabandeh suggests:

The UN became the Ka'b?h of peaceloving hopes. It has

performed great services, one of which was its publication
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Like any
human institution, this Declaration has its defects, as indeed
at its very inception was pointed out by the representative
of Syria in the first debate in-titie General Assembly. It does
not guarantee all. the longings of mankind: nonetheless it is
a great step forward in the right direction towards the
foundation of the human society of peace, freedom and
equality which men of vision have aimed at through the
millennia.* 8
He then proceeds to discuss each article in detail "in order to
show that what all good people hold in common, Islam possesses in
itself; and offers to humanity for the benefit of all."*9

Sultanhussein Tabandeh acknowledges that occasionally the

Declaration is at variance with Islamic law. He notes that Islam
forbids the marriage of a Muslim to a polytheist, an idolater or an
infidel, and that a Muslim woman has no right to marry any
non-Muslim man. Moreover, Islamic law limits the right of divorce
to the husband, and in other ways does not recognize the equal
rights of men and women who are naturally "adapted to different
natural functions, and capable of different duties in life."58 He
defends the different rights and duties assigned to husband and
wife by Islamic law as necessary for the protection of the family,
which, as the Universal Declaration affirms, is "the natural and
fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by

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Islamic Studies, 28:2 (1989) 125

society and the State."51 And he is extremely critical of Muslim

representatives to the UN who agreed to the provisions of Article
16 of the Universal Declaration which affirm equal rights in
marriage.
Freedom of thought, conscience and belief are acceptable
within Islamic law, he notes, but only to the extent consistent with
Islamic teachings: "No one's freedom gives him the right to
blaspheme or to curse God, His Prophets or His Saints."52 Thus
religious minorities "who follow the one true God and the
revelation given to a prophet of His," such as Jews, Christians and
Zoroastrians, can pursue their religious practices freely:

But followers of a religion of which the basis is contrary to

Islam, like those who demand Islam's extirpation, have no
official rights to freedom of religion in Islamic countries or
under an Islamic government, nor can they claim respect for
their religion, any more than in certain countries definite
political parties which are contrary to the ideology of the
regime can claim freedom since they are declared to be
inimical to the welfare of that land and people.53

In addition to stressing that the common good limits religious

liberty, Sultanhussein Tabandeh argues?much as Augustine did in
the fourth century?that freedom of religion should not be inter
preted as allowing people to reject the truth, for no one would
knowingly endanger his or her salvation. Thus conversion is
restricted to giving up "some other religion than Islam in order to
accept Islam's sound faith."5*
The rest of the Declaration is found to conform to Islamic
teaching. Sultanhussein Tabandeh concludes:

. . . the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has not

promulgated anything that was new nor inaugurated innova
tions. Every clause of it, indeed every valuable regulation
needed |or the welfare of human society ever enacted by
the lawgivers, already existed in a better and more perfect
form in Islam.55

For in faith he affirms that: "Islam is the summit and nothing

excels it!"5*
RECENT DECLARATIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

In the Islamic perspective, human rights are seen as "rights

which all human beings ought to have" because: "These rights are
so deeply rooted in our humanness that their denial or violation is
tantamount to a negation or degradation of that which makes us
human."57 These rights are right, because they are from God. They
are to be respected as a matter of religious obligation, that is, as
a matter of one's faith in God.

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 126 Islmic Studies, 28:2 (1989)

It is to be expected that the practice of these rights falls

short of the ideal, for that is true of all life in this world.
Nonetheless, human rights are to be proclaimed, because they are
true. Richard Antoun notes that this approach may be reflected in
the declaratory judgments in Islamic courts where certain
deviations are allowed out of respect for local customs:

Indeed, deviations from the ideal standard are always

expected. What is important is to proclaim that standard and
repeat that proclamation in its most elevated form in order
to provide a constant guide for the community of believers58

As in most religious traditions, words as well as deeds are believed

to shape the nature of reality.
Perhaps this declaratory approach explains two recent
proclamations of human rights by Muslim intellectuals. The first, the
"Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights," is published by the
Islamic Foundation located in London.59 It provides a sufficiently
authoritative list of human rights in the Islamic tradition to be
cited in a Shar?'ah court decision in Pakistan.6 0

The second recent declaration is the "Draft Charter on

Human and People's Rights in the Arab World" developed by a group
of Arab experts in December of 1986. This draft received the
unanimous support of the 1500 members of the Arab Union of
Lawyers (which claims a membership of 100,000) who were present
at its annual meeting in 1987.61 Its supporters reaffirm "their
faith in the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United
Nations and the International Bill of Human Rights," but also affirm
an Islamic interpretation of human rights that they feel is best
suited to the particular needs of the modern Arab world.6 2

Clearly then in the Muslim world there is support for what

Said calls "a global conception of human rights."63 However, this
conception needs to account for major cultural differences.
Therefore, Said asserts that this "concept of human rights must
incorporate Islamic and other Third World traditions or it will
continue to provoke irreconcilable quarrels.6* Rights must include
duties; individual interests must be reconciled with collective
welfare. In the Islamic view human rights are universally true, and
yet their implementation may require various forms: "As law
reflects the achievement of society so too the 'rightness* of human
rights is determined by time, place, and experience."6 5

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Islamic Studies, 28:2 (1989) 127

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. See A. David Gurewitsch, Etnanor Roosevelt: Her Day (New York:

Interchange Foundation, 1973), 25.
2. Human Rights in isi?m (Geneva: International Commission of Jurists,
1982), 3.
3. ibid., 9.
4. ibid., 11.
5. Ibid., 9.
6. Ibid., 11.
7. Ibid., 13.
8. Itot?., 21.
9. Ita/., 25.
10. ibid.
11. Ib?L
12. Ibid.
13. I6?*., 33.
14. Rashid Ahmad Jullundhri, "Human Rights and Islam," in Understanding
Human Rigkt?: An interdisciplinary and internatiti Study, ed. Alan D.
Falconer (Dublin: Irish School of Ecumenics, 1980), 34.
15. Muhammad al-Th?naw?, Kashsh?i istil?h?t al-Tun?n, (Calcutta: 1864);
Sarskhs?, Usui (Cairo: 1954) 2, 332-40; quoted in Jullundhri, "Human
Rights and'islam," 35.
16. In fact, these words were spoken by Salman to his companion. Later
he informed the Prophet who endorsed Salman's saying. See Bukh?r?,
Al-J?mi" al-Sakih, ed. Ludolph Krehl (Leiden: 1862), I, 490; quoted
in Jullundhri, "Human Rights and Islam," 35.
17. Jullundhri, "Human Rights and Islam," 35.
18. Ibid., 42.
19. Abdul Aziz Said, "Human Rights in Islamic Perspectives," in Human
Rights: Catturai and ideological Perspectives, eds. Adamantia Pollis
and Peter Schwab (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1979), 86.
20. ibid.
21. Ibid., 87.
22. Ibid.
23. Abdul Aziz Said and Jamil Nasser, "The Use and Abuse of Democracy
in Islam," in international Human Rights: Contemporary issues, eds.
Jack L. Nelson and Vera M. Green (Stanfordville, New York: Human
Rights Publishing Group, Earl M. Coleman, 1980), 76-77.
24. Basharat Ahmad, "Qur'?nic View of Human Freedom," The Tramici
Review, 5, nos. 1, 2, and 3 {October, November, December 1984): 9.
25. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, "The Concept and Reality of Freedom in Islam
and Islamic Civilization," in The Philosophy oi Human Right?, ed.
Alan S. Rosenbaum (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1980),
96.
26. ibid., 97.
27. Abu'l A'l? Mawd?di, Human Rights in isi?m (Leicester, United
Kingdom: Islamic Foundation, 2nd ed. 1980), 10.
28. ibid., 15. Chaudri Nazir Ahmad Khan asserts that: "a fundamental
drawback in the whole concept of human rights was the idea that
these rights were being granted by man to man, as if they were a
gift. We must realize that every child wherever born and of
whatever colour, caste or creed, brings into the world all these
rights at the time of his birth, as a direct blessing from Allah?the

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 128 Isl&nic Studies, 28:2 (1989)

Creator. They are sacred and inviolable." Khan, "Address," in The

international Observance: World law Day?Human Rights: 19 68
(Geneva: World Peace Through Law Center, 1968), 8.
29. Ibid., 16. See Ihsen Hamid Al-Mafregy, "Islam and Human Rights," in
Human Rights Teaching 2, no. 1 (1981), 11-14.
30. Human Rights in Islam, 7-8.
31. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, "Religious Freedom in Egypt: Under the
Shadow of the Islamic Dhimma System," in Religious Liberty and
Human Rights in Nations and in Religions, ed. Leonard Swidler
(Philadelphia: Ecumenical Press, Temple University, 1986), 55. See
also his article "Religious Minorities Under Islamic Law and the
Limits of Cultural Relativism," Human Rights Quarterly 9, no. 1
(February 1987): 1-18.
32. ibid.
33. Ibid., 56. See James Dudley, "Human Rights Practices in the Arab
States: The Modern Impact of Shar?ah Values," Georgia Journal o?
international and Comparative Law 12 (1982): 55-93.
34. ibid., 59. Ustadh Mahmoud was executed by the then President
Numeiri of Sudan on January 18, 1985, because he opposed the
immediate total implementation of Islamic Shar?'ah law without
undertaking the reform process he advocated. Numeiri was over
thrown three months later.
35. ibid., 59. Muhammad Asad similarly argues for a reformed state
ment of Islam in his study, The Principies o? State and Government
in islam (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,
1961). See also M. Talbi, "Religious Liberty: A Muslim Perspective,"
is?am o Christiana 2 (1985): 99-113.
36. ibid. '
37. Khalid Duran, "Religious Liberty and Human Rights in the Sudan," in
ReJUglous Liberty, 14.
38. inan and Human Rights: A Brie? Account o? the Achievements o? the
Last Pew Vear? (Iran: Compiled Under the Auspices of the Iranian
Coordinating Committee for the International Year for Human Rights,
1968), 95.
39. Riffat Hassan, "On Human Rights and the Qur'anic Perspective," in
Human Rights in Re&gious Traditions, ed. Arlene Swidler (New York:
The Pilgrim Press, 1982), 63.
40. ibid., 65.
41. ibid., 55.
42. Quoted in Mawd?d?, Human Rights in islam, 22.
43. Quoted in Alex Haley, The Autobiography oi Malcolm X (New York:
Ballantine Books, 1965), 340.
44. ibid., 377.
45. Sultanhussein Tabandeh, A Muslim Commentary on the Universal
Declaration o? Human Rights, trans. F.J. Goulding (London: F.T.
Goulding & Company, English edition, 1970), 1.
46. ibid.
47. ibid., 3.
48. ibid., 9.
49. ibid., 14.
50. ibid., 37-40. He notes that "Jesus Christ, too... decried the
lovelessness which is the sin that leads to the inauguration of legal
separation of a married couple."
51. Article 16, 3rd clause, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Human
Rights in international Law: Basic Texts (Strasbourg, France:
Directorate of Human Rights, 1985), 10

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Islsmic Studies, 28:2 (1989) 129

52. Ibid., 70.

53. ibid., 70.
54. Ibid., 72. Abdullahi Ahmed El Na'im notes the same distinction, but
argues for a radical reform of the Shari'ah. "A Modern Approach to
Human Rights in Islam: Foundations and Implications for Africa," in
Human Rights and Development in Antica, eds. Claude E. Welch, Jr,
and Ronald I. Meitzer (Albany: State University of New York, 1984),
75-89.
55. ibid., 85.
56. ibid.
57. Raff at Hassan, "On Human Rights and the Qur'?mc Perspective." 54.
58. Richard T. Antoun, "The Islamic Court, The Islamic Judge, and the
Declaration of Traditions: A Jordanian Case Study," international
Journal o? Middle. East Studizs 12 (1980): 455-467.
59. Universal islamic Declaration o? Human Rights (London: Islamic
Foundation, 1981), Riad Daoudi, Professor of Law at the University
of Damascus, notes that this Declaration is an important point of
reference in teaching human rights in countries like Saudi Arabia
where Muslim law is the only source of national legislation. See
Daoudi, "Teaching of Human Rights in Arab Countries," in frontiers
o? Human Rights Education, eds. Asbjorn Eide and Marek Thee (New
York: Columbia University Press, 1983), 69-71.
60. Ansar Burney v. Federation of Pakistan (Aftab Hussain, CJ), Feb.
1983, vol. 35, no. 2., The Ml Pakistan Legal Decisions, Federal
Shariat Court, 73-93, Shariat Petition No. K-4 of 1982, decided on
10 August 1982, 93.
61. Comments by Munzer Anabtawi, Professor at the University of Jordan,
at the International Institute of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France,
21 July 1987; notes by author.
62. Unpublished; copy received at the International Institute of Human
Rights, Strasbourg, France, July 1987.
63. Said, "Human Rights in Islamic Perspectives," 96.
64. ibid.
65. ibid., 97.

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