Transcript Montage de Rapports SANAD objectifs et Modalités

International Law Based on Religious Codes
Islam as a Case Study
Unlocking the Conundrum
Thursday, May 9th 2013
By: Mr. Zouhair El Aouni
Literature Review

Islam embodies, it is claimed, a “world in which human
life doesn’t have the same value as it does in the West, in
which freedom, democracy, openness and creativity are
alien”, Benny Morris.
 “Islam is the only cultural system that regularly seems to
produce people like Osama bin Laden or the Taliban who
reject modernity lock, stock and barrel”, Francis Fukuyama.
 “Islam's borders are bloody and so are its innards. The
fundamental problem for the West is not Islamic
fundamentalism. It is Islam, a different civilization whose
people are convinced of the superiority of their culture
and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power.”,
Samuel P. Huntington
Harvard recognizes the Quranic Verse as one
of the greatest expressions of justice
Sources of the Islamic Law
 The Holy Quran: accepted universally by all Musilims
 The Sunna/Hadith: It consists of the religious actions
and quotations of the Islamic Prophett Muhammad and
narrated through his Companions.
 Consensus:The ijma‘ amongst Muslim jurists on a
particular legal issue,
 Analogical Reason: Qiyas is the process of legal deduction
according to which the jurist, confronted with an
unprecedented case, bases his or her argument on the
logic used in the Qur'an and Sunnah.
Understanding Human Rights (1)
 The concept of human rights emerged only in the modern
era. The idea of human dignity has prominent roots as
early as the third century before the Common Era in Stoic
philosophy; and the principle of the "rule of law" became
binding in various medieval documents, namely the
Magna Carta of 1215.
Islam as Opposed to Muslim
Practices
Those skeptical about the compatibility of Islam with universal
human rights often point to conditions in Islamic countries as
evidence that the religion itself is partly responsible for
human rights violations.
Understanding Human Rights (2)
 A historic breakthrough was achieved in the late
eighteenth century in the "Virginia Declaration of Rights"
of 1776 and the "declaration des droits de l'homme et du
citoyen" of 1789. The adoption of human rights in
international law gelled even later, after the Second World
War. Hence, it is fair to say that human rights are a
genuinely modern phenomenon. The turning point was
undoubtedly the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR), a declaration adopted by the UN General
Assembly in December 1948.
The Universal Islamic Declaration
of Human Rights
• The Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights is a
document created by Islamic Councils in Paris and
London. It restates basic human rights using the language
of Islamic jurisprudence. The difference between the
original Arabic version and the official English translation
has been described as "very problematic.“
Areas of Conflicts
 Universal human rights are based on a secular philosophy
while the rights in Islam, like other religions, are divinebased. Therefore, while the source of legitimization is
different, the theme is the same.
 While the roots of Islam go back to the sixth century, the
concept of human rights surfaced in 18th-century Western
Europe and has only been an issue in world politics for
around 50 years. Thus no one can expect Islamic law,
formulated centuries ago to protect human rights in the
terms of present day instruments. Moreover, human rights
standards change with time according to human needs and
interests. The conceptualization and wording might be
different but the target is the same: to protect human
honor and dignity.
Common Denominators
 As the modern human rights movement is based on the
notion that all human beings are equal in worth, regardless
of gender, religion or race, numerous verses of the Quran
speak of honor and dignity for 'humankind' and 'the
children of Adam also without any distinction. Allah states
in the Holy Quran:
“ O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and
female and made you peoples and tribes that you may
know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the
sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is
Knowing and Acquainted”Chapter (49) sūrat l-ḥujurāt (The
Dwellings)
General Rights in Islam (1)

Right to Life: The Qur'an upholds the sanctity and
absolute value of human life and points out that, in
essence, the life of each individual is comparable to that of
an entire community and, therefore, should be treated
with the utmost care.
• Right to Respect: The Qur'an deems all human beings to
be worthy of respect. Human beings can exercise freedom
of the will because they possess the rational faculty, which
is what distinguishes them from all other creatures. The
Qur'an declares that they have been made "in the best of
moulds", having the ability to think, to have knowledge of
right and wrong, to do the good and to avoid the evil.
General Rights in Islam (2)
 Right to Freedom: In the context of the human right to
exercise religious freedom, it is important to mention that
the Qur'anic dictum, "Let there be no compulsion in
religion" [37] applies not only to non- Muslims but also to
Muslims. While those who renounced Islam after
professing it and then engaged in "acts of war" against
Muslims were to be treated as enemies and aggressors,
the Qur'an does not prescribe any punishment for nonprofession or renunciation of faith. The decision regarding
a person's ultimate destiny in the hereafter rests with
God.
Thank you for your active listening