Islamic and UN Approaches to Human Rights and Dignity
The fundamental approach to human rights differs significantly between the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Islamic doctrine. While the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) has no discrete agreement to a specific ethical goal of prime importance, Islam on the other hand clearly identifies the establishment of Justice as the objective of prime value and relevance.
In Islam, the establishment of Human Rights is achieved through individuals committed to promoting virtues, peace, and harmony. Conversely, the UN advocates that the inanimate State is responsible for implementation—a state that, in principle, is not sovereign but governed by people, changing socio-political aspirations, time, geography, race, religion, caste, creed, and customs.
The foundational principle of Islam rests on divine equality. As the Quran states:
“Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah…” Al-Qur’an, [3:110].
Below, we begin a detailed comparative analysis, starting with the very first principles of human existence, rights, and freedom from servitude.
Article 1: Human Dignity, Equality, and Brotherhood
| Parameter | UN Human Rights Declaration | Islamic Perspective (with Quranic References) |
|---|---|---|
| Article 1: Dignity & Brotherhood | All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. | All men and women are born free and descendant of common father i.e. Adam (peace be upon him). They belong to one family and thus are linked to kinship like brothers and sisters affiliated to a commune. No one has any worldly superiority over another due its biological origin, race, colour, creed, religion, geography etc. {O MANKIND! Be conscious of your Sustainer, who has created you out of one living entity, and out of it created its mate, and out of the two spread abroad a multitude of men and women. And remain conscious of God, in whose name you demand [your rights] from one another, and of these ties of kinship. Verily, God is ever watchful over you!} (An-Nisa 4:1) Human beings are undoubtedly the most superior creature as they are endowed with Reason to Comprehend Realities (of Perceptible nature) and Conscience (Heart to appreciate Inferential Truths, Justice and Knowledge Class Subjective in nature) and thus deserve to be successive vicegerents made responsible to practice, promote and establish Justice. {For, He it is who has made you inherit the earth, and has raised some of you by degrees above others, so that He might try you by means of what He has bestowed upon you. Verily, thy Sustainer is swift in retribution: yet, behold, He is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.} (Al-An`am 6:165) |
Article 2: Equality and Non-Discrimination in Islam
| Parameter | UN Human Rights Declaration | Islamic Perspective (with Quranic References) |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs… | Born out of same father and tied to the bond of kinship no distinction at all is admissible. The UN declaration is in conformity with Islam. However, it is falling short of Human Rights as propounded by Islam. Islam approves rights of economically weaker sections, underprivileged, relatives, neighbors, kins, wayfarers, captives, dedicated and committed social activists and so alike defined in parlance to Equitable Justice meant for all with no distinction. {And give his due to the near of kin, as well as to the needy and the wayfarer, but do not squander [thy substance] senselessly.} (Al-Isra’ 17:26) Any unwarranted discrimination is not at all admissible. |
Article 3: The Islamic Perspective on Life and Liberty
| Parameter | UN Human Rights Declaration | Islamic Perspective (with Quranic References) |
|---|---|---|
| Article 3: Life & Liberty | Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. | Life, Liberty and Security of Individuals are sacred and treated as rights non-negotiable. {Say: ‘Come, let me convey unto you what God has [really] forbidden to you: ‘Do not ascribe divinity, in any way, to aught beside Him; and [do not offend against but, rather,] do good unto your parents; and do not kill your children for fear of poverty – [for] it is We who shall provide sustenance for you as well as for them; and do not commit any shameful deeds, be they open or secret; and do not take any human being’s life-[the life] which God has declared to be sacred – otherwise than in [the pursuit of] justice: this has He enjoined upon you so that you might use your reason’.} (Al-An`am 6:151) None have the power to encroach upon such boundaries with unlawful means as they are the boundaries set by God Almighty. Homicide, infanticide or any such attempt to take life in any mode or form is strictly prohibited and considered as sin severe (Crime Capital). |
Article 4: Islam and the Prohibition of Slavery
| Parameter | UN Human Rights Declaration | Islamic Perspective (with Quranic References) |
|---|---|---|
| Article 4: Prohibition of Slavery | No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. | Islam prohibits the practice of slavery in any form. Islam is the pioneer in eradicating the evils of slavery forever. {True piety does not consist in turning your faces towards the east or the west – but truly pious is he who believes in God, and the Last Day; and the angels, and revelation, and the prophets; and spends his substance – however much he himself may cherish it – upon his near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer, and the beggars, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage; and is constant in prayer, and renders the purifying dues; and [truly pious are] they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are patient in misfortune and hardship and in time of peril: it is they that have proved themselves true, and it is they, they who are conscious of God.}(Al-Baqarah 2:177) Attempt to Free Slave is regarded as one of Highest Islamic Virtues in Islam. |
| Parameter | UN Human Rights Declaration | Islamic Perspective (with Quranic References) |
|---|---|---|
| Article 1: Dignity & Brotherhood | All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. | All men and women are born free and descendant of common father i.e. Adam (peace be upon him). They belong to one family and thus are linked to kinship like brothers and sisters affiliated to a commune. No one has any worldly superiority over another due its biological origin, race, colour, creed, religion, geography etc. {O MANKIND! Be conscious of your Sustainer, who has created you out of one living entity, and out of it created its mate, and out of the two spread abroad a multitude of men and women. And remain conscious of God, in whose name you demand [your rights] from one another, and of these ties of kinship. Verily, God is ever watchful over you!} (An-Nisa 4:1) Human beings are undoubtedly the most superior creature as they are endowed with Reason to Comprehend Realities (of Perceptible nature) and Conscience (Heart to appreciate Inferential Truths, Justice and Knowledge Class Subjective in nature) and thus deserve to be successive vicegerents made responsible to practice, promote and establish Justice. {For, He it is who has made you inherit the earth, and has raised some of you by degrees above others, so that He might try you by means of what He has bestowed upon you. Verily, thy Sustainer is swift in retribution: yet, behold, He is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.} (Al-An`am 6:165) |
