am, or surrender to the will of God. As such, they must be supported in the inherent dignity of that human nature.
A second basis for human rights within Islam is the understanding of the community as a whole and the individual's relationship to it. According to Bassiouni, the individual does not exist in an adversarial relationship to the state as in Western society. Civil and human rights in Western society are often understood to provide individual citizens with protections from the state itself, which is seen as threatening. In Islam, however, the individual is inextricable from the community and the community of believers comprises the true Islamic state. It is the community of believers that ultimately shapes the religious law, or Shariah. While authority may be vested in administrators and various types
...