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Islamic Conception of Human Rights

In the United States, the concept of human rights tends to be equated with the political and civil rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed to citizens through the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. These rights include freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, freedom from unreasonable search and inhumane punishment, and other rights. They focus on providing individuals with the freedom to pursue their own individual courses, free from government interference unless they violate the laws. Even then, the rights of the accused in a criminal proceeding are protected.

Many scholars, politicians, and ordinary citizens in the United States, and in most of the West too, believe that this concept of human rights is the only true concept and that those countries which do not guarantee the same rights to their citizens are backwards in terms of human rights. However, outside the West, there are those who claim that there are other kinds of concepts of human rights. For example, Islamic scholars contend that Islam provides a more appropriate understanding of human rights in a communal context. It is the contention of this paper that Islam does support a concept of human rights, even though that concept is not identical to the Western concept.

One of the first strong U.S. voices to emphasize the way in which Islam contributed to human rights was Malcolm X (Haley, 1968). In his autobiography, Malcolm talked about how he first became aware of the common humanity he shared with all others when he went on pilgrimage to Mecca. There, in his experience of traditional Islamic practice, rather than the practice of the Nation of Islam, he found a religion that was anti-racist, and supported the brotherhood of all humanity. He experienced the practice of brotherhood during the pilgrimage and came to a deeper faith in Islam, and a more compassionate expression of that religion, through his enc...

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Islamic Conception of Human Rights. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 11:16, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1691096.html