Justice and Equality

Justice, equality and equal opportunity are among the basic rights due to each individual in order to ensure social justice. This will be made very clear from the following explanation.

a) All people, as human beings, are emphatically stated to be equal. Descent, family connections, color and wealth make no difference. Only noble deeds and honorable achievements count. The Almighty God says: "Verily, the best of you in the sight of Allah is the best in conduct.", XLIX, 13.

And the Prophet said:

"0 you people! Your Lord is One. Your (original) father is one. All of you are offsprings of Adam, and Adam's origin was dust. The noblest among you is the most God-fearing person.An Arab does not have a right to claim superiority over a non-Arab, nor has a non-Arab a right to claim superiority over an Arab, except through righteous deeds. 0 Lord ! Please witness that I have conveyed (the message). And (you listeners), let those who are now present convey to those who are absent".

In this powerful style, the Prophet, peace be on him, has destroyed all racial and other discriminatory grounds artificially claimed by selfish and conceited forces. Therefore, a murderer deserves to suffer capital punishment, having encroached upon the life of a human being, no matter how powerful or influential or connected the murderer might be, and whether his victim is male or female, of sound or unsound mind, learned or illiterate, Muslim or non-Muslim. This is so on the basis of the principle of human equality established by the Almighty God Who says:"And We have prescribed for them therein : the life for the life..." V, 45.

b) Islam also asserted equality of all citizens before the law. In this respect the Quran reads:"Verily Allah commands you to restore trusts to their owners ; and that when you judge between people you should judge with justice." IV, 58.

"...and let not hatred of any people provoke you to deal with them unjustly. Deal (always) justly. That is nearer to piety." V.,8.

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says:

"Only their injustice, destroyed those who came before you. When a member of nobility committed a theft, he did not suffer the punishment of cutting the hand, but when a commoner committed the same offence, they were quick to sever his hand ! By God! Should Fatimah, my own daughter commit a theft, I myself shall be the one to cut off her hand".

And the First Caliph, in his "inaugural" address, said:

"0 you people ! By God, there shall be no stronger person with me than a weak person until I restore him to his right nor shall there be a weaker person with me than a powerful one until I extract the right of others from him."

c) Economic Rights: Equal opportunities are assured to all people in the area of work (jobs), production, seeking one's sustenance and ownership. These economic activities are created to enable the individual to meet his own needs and the needs of his family and the needs of his societies. The Holy Quran calls upon all people to get engaged in work, to travel and seek sustenance. It reads:

"He (God) is Who has made the earth subservient unto you, walk in the path thereof and eat of His bounties." LXVII, 15.

"And We have indeed settled you firmly with power on the earth and provided the rein means of living (livelihood)." VII, 10.

"It is He Who had made the earth a convenient place and threaded therein roads for you; He also sends down abundant water from the sky whereby We have brought forth diverse varieties of vegetation. So, eat and drink (with joy and health), and feed your cattle and beasts. In all this there are indeed crying signs for those of reflective thought." XX, 53-4.

d) Financial Social Solidarity: In Islam, wealth, in the final analysis, belongs to God Who enjoins:"... and bestow upon them from the wealth God has bestowed upon you." XXIV, 33 (thus attributing the whole wealth to Himself .)

Yet, wealth is after all for common good of the community. The Quran states:

"It is He Who had created for you all that which is on earth." II, 28.

"And give not unto those who cannot manage their own affairs your wealth which God has bestowed upon you to maintain." IV, 5.

Nevertheless, wealth belongs to and is the possession of the individual who legitimately earns it. He possesses it and may use it and invest it to provide his needs and promote his own interests and those of his family and community within the prescribed limits, and should pay off the obligation due to the state and to the needy obligations which God has trusted to those with fortune. God the Almighty says:"And in their wealth, there is a defined right due to the beggar and the destitute." L. 9.

"And give the kinsman his due, and the needy and the wayfarer and squander not your wealth in wantonness." XVII, 26.

The Shari'a of Islam has guaranteed to every person living under its auspices to enjoy a satisfactory living, owing to its teachings pertaining to the payment of Zakat (prescribed alms), the institution of religious endowments and the emphasis on general charity, as well as its rules pertaining to the mandatory payment of maintenance due to members of one's family and also those rules governing the administration of the state revenues.

e) Religious Equality: According to the rule established by the Prophetic traditions, non-Muslim inhabitants should enjoy rights and obligations equal to those due to Muslims. A tradition states : "To them, (meaning non-Muslims) is due what is due to us; and from them is due what is due from us". There can be no more eloquent assertion of equality.

f) Sex Equality: Islam also teaches that women are equal to men and calls upon women to play their roles, like men, in the areas of worship, work, production and social services. A woman is entitled to fill public jobs according to her qualifications and ability, as each person is created with some special talents. The Almighty God says:"And the believers, men and women, are protecting friends one of another. They enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and they establish worship and pay the poor due and obey Allah and His Messenger." IX, 71.

Islam asserts the woman's individual capacity and personal independence, and entitles her to undertake financial business and manage her property on her own, independently from her father and husband, as much as a man can do. She can buy and sell, may grant gifts and bequeath a will. She can work in an agricultural farm, in factory and sign contracts. She has a right to inherit from the estate of a deceased relative or a deceased husband, though her share is often half that of her inheriting brother, a fair adjustment in view of the financial burden incumbent on man alone, (in having to provide for his wife and children whereas a women as wife or daughter is provided for). (As stated earlier), a woman may occupy a public office within her ability and according to her qualifications. And so, she is man's partner in society each complements the other in a cooperative bond, not in a way of wasteful repetition or unthinkable identical role. This (differentiation) is due to natural differences, both in certain features and endowed gifts, which, in the interest of society have to be rightly, and correctly applied. God the Almighty says:"Let not some of you covet that which God has bestowed upon the other, (i.e. envy not each other ) . To men there is a right in that which they have earned, and to women there is a right in that which they have earned." IV, 32.

G) If we should review the rest of the human rights stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they will be found to comply with the principles and rules set out in the detailed analysis of the Shari'a law of Islam. Some of these have been alluded to above ; so let us examine some of the other principles (which the Universal Declaration has in common with Islam.)

1) (The rule) that a defendant is innocent until he is proven guilty, is an Islamic legal principle. The individual is originally innocent (before committing a violation), and violation is accidental and needs evidence (in order to be proved). Therefore, according to Shari'a, doubt or suspicion should not condemn the defendant.

2) Islam endorsed the principle calling for the protection of the private and domestic life from any undue interference, and the protection of the individual's honor from slander. This is clear from the prescribed punishment of slanderers, and from reading the following Quranic texts:"0 my bondmen who believe ! My earth is indeed spacious." XXIX, 56.

"Whosoever migrates for the cause of God will find much refuge and abundance in the earth, and whosoever forsakes his home, a fugitive unto Allah and His Messenger, and death over takes him, his reward is then incumbent on Allah". IV, 100.

"Verily those whom the angles take (in death) while they wrong themselves, (the angels) will ask: In what were you engaged? They say:We were oppressed in the land. (The angels) will say : Was not Allah's earth spacious enough for you to migrate therein ? As for such, their habitation will be hell, an evil journey's end!" IV, 97.

3) The right to rest and leisure due to everyone is strongly advocated by Islam. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him said, "Verily whosoever continues on his journeying (without interruption to rest and relieve his riding beast) will neither be able to reach his destination nor spare his riding beast !" He also said : "Your body has a right on you".'

4) Again, the right of everyone to education is fully emphasized in Islam, which made seeking knowledge an obligation both on men and women. The Prophet said, "Seeking knowledge is obligatory both on believing men and believing women". Another tradition commands : "Seek knowledge (everywhere) even in China".

H. We mentioned earlier that there are nevertheless between patterns human rights as called for in Islam, and some of the proclaimed in the Universal Declaration. One of these is related to the institution of marriage, which is a strongly recommended and praised practice in Islam as the Quran commands,

"And marry such of you as are solitary and the pious of your slaves and maid servants." XXIV, 32.

I honored to participate. The following recommendations were made by that Seminar:

a) To set up a special committee (consisting of well-qualified experts), with the special task of preparing a well-documented paper on human rights in Islam, based on the Quran and the Prophetic traditions. The paper should also demonstrate how these rights were respected during the early part of the history of Islam, and how that religion from the time of its inception, has not only honored mankind and asserted his rights and liberty but regarded respect of these rights a religious obligation incumbent both on society and the individual himself. The individual must resist encroachment on his freedom and any violation on his right, and society must repair any such violation.

b) To set up another Islamic Committee that would collaborate with the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations, and would help in promoting respect of the human rights due to all people of all creeds wherever they may live.