A. On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, consisting of 30 clauses with a Preamble which stated:

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

"Whereas the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people.

"Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women.

"Now, therefore, the General Assembly proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all people and all nations."

B. No doubt, all these rights so declared simply aim at assuring freedom and dignity of the individual, and achieving justice and equality between all people. Yet the Shari'a of Islam and its wisdom preceded the United Nations not only in proclaiming and insisting on these human rights by fourteen long centuries, but it revealed and asserted the divine origin of these rights in wider and deeper dimensions which laid down the foundation pillars of freedom, justice and equality and honored all human beings with no distinction or discrimination. This can be made clear from the following facts:

First: The object of the Shari'a of Islam is the liberation of man through unshaken belief in pure and uncompromising monotheism, thus honoring man and raising him (above all creatures) and providing him with the factors of dignity, self-esteem and honor all of which is implied in the Quranic words:

"Verily we have honored the children of Adam. We carry them on the land and the sea, and have made provision of good things for them, and have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment."  Chapter XVII, Verse 70.

"Surely We created man of the best stature." Chapter XCV, Verse 4.

So God has honored man and blown into him of his spirit. He also caused the angels to prostrate to him in respect. In this connection, the Quran reads:"And remember when your Lord said unto the angels:Lo ! I am creating a mortal out of potter's clay of dark mud altered. So, when I have made him and have breathed unto him of my spirit, do fall down prostrating yourselves unto him. So the angels fell prostrate, all of them together,Save Iblis. He refused to be among the prostraters" XV, 28-31.

God honored man and made him His trustee in the earth, to populate it and to make good use of all the bounties God has provided in it in order that man may benefit from these bounties and enjoy prosperity and comfort on earth. God has made all that is in the heavens and all that in the earth subservient to man and bestowed on him all favors clear and concealed. In this connection, God says in the Quran :

"Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and spend of that whereof He has made you trustees ; and such of you as believe and spend (aright), theirs will be a great reward." LVII, 7. And says:

"He is Who has created for you, all that is in the earth." II, 29.

And said: "See you not how Allah has made subservient (or sub-serviceable) to you whatsoever in the sky and what soever in the earth and has loaded you with His favors both without and within?" XXXI, 20.

And said: "And if you should seek to count the favors of Allah, you cannot reckon them." XVI, 18.

God sums up the objective of the Islamic mission in achieving mercy for all peoples. The Quran, addressing the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, reads:"We did not send you save as a mercy for the people." XXI, 107.

This divine mercy so stated in the Shari'a of Islam can only flow forth through the positive response to its teachings and the endeavor to achieve its goals, in a spirit emanating from a true inner feeling derived from man's consciousness of the human brotherhood and awareness of the common ancestral origin-no matter what racial or color or religious or linguistic differences might exist. It is a feeling that makes these human rights a natural reality (rather than merely a legal demand) and a common factor between all the members of the human family based on the unity of origin, the unity of fatherhood (Adam) and the unity of motherhood (Eve) and therefore, their offspring should be regarded equal in all rights and privileges at all times and through all generations. The Holy Quran refers to this fact and draws the hearts and attention to it in frequently addressing mankind by the phrase. "0 You children of Adam, (e.g. VII, 26 and 31)" The Quran further explains this universal brotherhood as follows: "0 mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul , and from it He created its mate and from them twain He has spread (abroad) a multitude of men and women." IV, 1.