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1. The Security of Life and Property: In the address which the Prophet delivered on the occasion of the Farewell Hajj, he said: "Your lives and properties are forbidden to one another till you meet your Lord on the Day of Resurrection". The Prophet has also said about the dhimmis (the non-Muslim citizens of the Muslim state): "One who kills a man under covenant (i.e., Dhimmi) will not even smell the fragrance of Paradise".
2. The Protection of Honour: The Holy Qur'an lays down-
1) {You who believe, do not let one (set of) people make fun of another set}
2) {Do not defame one another}
3) {Do not insult by using nickname}
4) {Do not backbite or speak ill of one another}
3. Sanctity and Security of Private Life: The Qur'an has laid down the injunction-
1) {Do not spy on one another}
2) {Do not enter any houses unless you are sure of their occupant's consent}
4. The Security of Personal Freedom: Islam has laid down the principle that no citizen can be imprisoned unless his guilt has been proved in an open court. To arrest a man only on the basis of suspicion and to throw him into a prison without proper court proceedings and without providing him a reasonable opportunity to produce his defence is not permissible in Islam.
5. The Right to Protest Against Tyranny: Amongst the rights that Islam has conferred on human beings is the right to protest against government's tyranny. Referring to it the Qur'an says. "God does not love evil talk in public unless it is by some one who has been injured thereby". In Islam, as has been argued earlier, all power and authority belongs to God, and with man there is only delegated power which becomes a trust; everyone who becomes a recipient or a donee of such a power has to stand in awful reverence before his people towards whom and for whose sake he will be called upon to use these powers. This was acknowledged by Abu Bakr who said in his very first address: "Cooperate with me when I am right but correct me when I commit error; obey me so long as I follow the commandments of Allah and His prophet; but turn away from me when I deviate".
6. Freedom of Expression: Islam gives the right of freedom of thought and expression to all citizens of the Islamic state on the condition that it should be used for the propagation of virtue and truth and not for spreading evil and wickedness.
The Islamic concept of freedom of expression is much superior to the concept prevalent in the West. Under no circumstances would Islam allow evil and wickedness to be propagated. It also does not give anybody the right to use abusive or offensive language in the name of criticism. It was the practice of the Muslims to enquire from the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) whether on a certain matter a divine injunction had been revealed to him. If he said that he had received no divine injunction, the Muslims freely expressed their opinion on the matter.
7. Freedom of Association: Islam has also given people the right to freedom of association and formation of parties or organisations. This right is also subject to certain general rules.
8. Freedom of Conscience and Conviction: Islam has laid down the injunction: There should be no coercion in the matter of faith.
On the contrary totalitarian societies totally deprive the individuals of their freedom. Indeed this undue exaltation of the state authority curiously enough postulates a sort of servitude, of slavishness on the part of man. At one time slavery meant total control of man over man - now that type of slavery has been legally abolished but in its place totalitarian societies impose a similar sort of control over individuals.
9. Protection of Religious Sentiments: Along with freedom of conviction and freedom of conscience Islam has given the right to the individual that his religious sentiments will be given due respect and nothing will be said or done which may encroach upon his right.
10. Protection from Arbitrary Imprisonment: Islam also recognises the right of the individual that he will not be arrested or imprisoned for the offences of others. The Holy Qur'an has laid down this principle clearly: {No bearer of burdens shall be made to bear the burden of another}
11. The Right to Basic Necessities of Life: Islam has recognised the right of the needy people that help and assistance will be provided to them: And in their wealth there is acknowledged right for the needy and the destitute.
12. Equality Before Law: Islam gives its citizens the right to absolute and complete equality in the eyes of the law.
13. Rulers Not Above the Law: A woman belonging to a high and noble family was arrested in connection with theft. The case was brought to the Prophet, and it was recommended that she might be spared the punishment of theft. The Prophet replied, "The nations that lived before you were destroyed by God because they punished the common-man for their offences and let their dignitaries go unpunished
for their crimes; I swear by Him Who holds my life in His hand that even if Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, had committed this crime, I would have amputated her hand".
14. The Right to Participate in the Affairs of State: {And their business is (conducted) through consultation among themselves} (42:38).
The shura or the legislative assembly has no other meaning except that: The executive head of the government and the members of the assembly should be elected by free and independent choice of the people.
shatou, The human rights issue varies significantly between many Muslim nations and it looks like you've laid out the basic laws according to Islam as opposed to describing what conditions are really like in various places. I don't think a citizen of Egypt would feel that they have the right to express themselves if that expression was contrary to the interests of the leaders in power. I noticed that there doesn't seem to be anything mentioned about the rights of women. What do you think of the fact that women in Saudi Arabia aren't even allowed to drive and can't even go to a shopping mall without a male escort and even then she has to walk behind him. I imagine that you're probably a Muslim by the way you presented this information. I don't mean to insult this religion but I'm not very impressed with any Islamic state in the world. Most of these laws are broken everyday in many nations. The right to protest tyranny and freedom of association and expression could land someone in prison. The Asian Islamic nations like Malaysia seem to function better than any of the regimes in the Middle East but overall most of them have a very bad track record.
4. The Security of Personal Freedom: Islam has laid down the principle that no citizen can be imprisoned unless his guilt has been proved in an open court. To arrest a man only on the basis of suspicion and to throw him into a prison without proper court proceedings and without providing him a reasonable opportunity to produce his defence is not permissible in Islam.
I am going to choose just one of your points to ask about. Does this apply only to men, or to women also? I have also heard that a man's word carries more weight in court than a woman's. Is this true, or not?
Are there any time limits to the above items? For example, in the US people can be imprisoned on suspicion, so long as they are charged with a crime within a certain time period (lets not get sidetracked by Guantanamo bay, which I consider a legal travesty). What if a man is suspected of committing a serious crime (say murder) and it is also suspected that he might flee. Is it permissible to imprison him to make sure that he stays around for the trial? How soon will it be before the trial takes place?
I don't know what is up either. The person posting seems to have registered this month and only made two posts, both of which started threads.
I am curious though, as what he/she posted does seem to contradict what we read about on a daily basis. I thought I would limit it to only one point though, as anything more than that would quickly become unmanageable.
I am curious though, as what he/she posted does seem to contradict what we read about on a daily basis.
Might that perhaps be because 99.999% of what we hear about Muslims on a daily basis comes from non-Muslim sources?
I've certainly seen a huge amount of misinformation regarding the Catholic faith on this forum and in the media in general.
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