Allah SWT has given each man human dignity as well as honor. Therefore, men are substantially the same and no tangible and actual distinction can be made among them.
Since God is the absolute and the sole Master of me
n and the universe, He is the sovereign Lord, the Sustainer and Nourisher. He has given each man human dignity as well as honor. Therefore, men are substantially the same and no tangible and actual distinction can be made among them, on account of their accidental differences such as nationality, color or race. Every being is related to all others and all become one community of brotherhood in their honorable servitude to the most compassionate Lord of the Universe.In such a heavenly atmosphere, the Islamic confession of the oneness of God stands dominant and central, and necessarily entails the concept of the oneness of humanity and the brotherhood of mankind.
Although an Islamic state may be set up in any part of the earth, Islam does not seek to restrict human rights or privileges to the geographical limits of its own state. Islam has laid down some universal fundamental rights for humanity as a whole, which are to be observed and respected under all circumstances whether such a person is resident within the territory of the Islamic state or outside it, whether he is at peace with the state or at war. The Noble Qur''an clearly states,
"O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not there be hatred of others to make you swerve to wrong and depart from Justice. Be just: that is next to Piety: and Fear Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do." [Al-Maa''idah: 8]
Human blood is sacred in any case and cannot be spilled without justification. If anyone violates this sanctity of human blood by killing a soul without justification, the Noble Qur''an equates it to the killing of entire mankind,
"If anyone slays a soul not to retaliate for a soul slain, nor for corruption done in the land, should be as if he had slain mankind altogether." [Al-Maa''idah: 32]
It is also not permissible to oppress women, children, old people, the sick or the wounded. Women''s honor and chastity are to be respected under all circumstances. Wherelse, the hungry person must be fed, the naked clothed and the wounded or diseased treated medically irrespective of whether they belong to the Islamic community or are from amongst its enemies.
When we speak of human rights in Islam, we really mean that these rights have been granted by God. They have not been granted by any king or by any legislative assembly. The rights granted by the kings or the legislative assemblies, can also be withdrawn in the same manner in which they are conferred. The same is the case with the rights accepted and recognized by the dictators. They can confer them when they please and withdraw them when they wish and they can openly violate them when they like.
However, since human rights in Islam have been conferred by God, no legislative assembly in the world or any government on earth has the right or authority to make any amendment or change in them. No one has the right to abrogate them or withdraw them. Nor are they basic human rights which are conferred on paper for the sake of show and exhibition and denied in actual life when the show is over. Nor are they like philosophical concepts which have no sanctions behind them.
The charter and the proclamations and the resolutions of the United Nations cannot be compared with the rights sanctioned by God because the former is not applicable on anybody while the latter is applicable on every believer. They are a part and parcel of the Islamic faith.
Every Muslim or administrator who claim themselves to be Muslims, will have to accept, recognize and enforce them. If they fail to enforce them, and start denying the rights that have been guaranteed by God or make amendments and changes in them, or practically violate them while paying lip service to them, the verdict of the Noble Qur''an for such government is clear and unequivocal:
"Those who do not judge by what God has sent down are the disbelievers." [Al-Maa''idah: 44]
Islam tries to achieve the objective of human rights and many others not only by providing certain legal safeguards but mainly by inviting mankind to transcend the lower level of animal life to be able to go beyond the mere ties fostered by the kinship of blood, racial superiority, linguistic arrogance, and economic privileges. It invites mankind to move on to a plane of existence where, by reason of his inner excellence, man can realize the ideal of brotherhood of man.
