Islam Guarantees All
Fundamental Rights to Every Human Being
Saturday, 24th January
2015
On the eve of our 66th
Republic Day, JIH Mira Road
The program commenced with the
recitation of the 48th ayat of Surah Maidah wherein Allah has
instructed us to follow the Qur’an in letter and spirit and to judge our
affairs in its light.
Thereafter, Dr. Parvez Mandviwala
began his speech by explaining the need to frame rights for human beings in the
first place. He said that unlike animals, man needs to establish for himself a
set of rights and duties to save himself from exploitation by his own kind. He
went on to brief the audience about the Magna Carta (1215), French Revolution
and Declaration of Rights of Man (1789-1799), the Geneva Convention (1949) and
the Indian Constitution (1950).
He averred that the Qur’an and
the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (May peace and blessings be upon him) are the
basic source of the Islamic Constitution, and the examples of the rightly
guided Caliphs serve as lasting guidelines for any state. Further, he went on
to expound upon the Fundamental Rights that an Islamic State guarantees its
citizens. Under the broad headings of Justice, Equality, Secularism, Freedom of
Speech and Expression, War principles and State Affairs, the speaker touched
upon a long list of established fundamental rights like:
1. Right to Justice: Irrespective of Social, Economical and Political
position
2. Right to Life
3. Right to Appeal and Habeas Corpus
4. Protection from Prosecution for someone else’s crime
5. Right to be treated as innocent unless proven guilty
6. Right to Refrain from sin/crime
7. Right to Disobey the oppressor
8. Right to Equality: Irrespective of race, nationality, class or
profession
9. Right to Equal Opportunity
10.Right to Choose one’s profession
11.Women’s Rights in Islam
12.Political Rights
13.Right to Practice one’s faith
14.Right of Dhimmis
15.Right to Protection from
Religious insult
16.Right to Speak for the Truth and
against Evil
17.Right to Protest against Injustice
18.Right to Hold ivergent views
19.Right to Dignity
20.Right to Peaceful Gathering and Organization
21.Protection of non-combatants in War
22.Rights of Prisoners of War and
captives
23.Right to Food, Clothing and Medicine
24.Property rights
All these rights are guaranteed
to each and everyone staying under the jurisdiction of an Islamic state,
whether he is a Muslim or a non-Muslim and whether he is a friend or a foe.
Apart from these enlisted above, Moral rights like those of parents, children
and spouse were also constituted in the light of the Qur’an and Hadees and the
state was responsible for their implementation.
Dr. Parvez concluded by stressing
upon the point that we need to realize that these rights were declared and
enforced by the erstwhile Islamic state 1400 years back when the very concept
of Human Rights was elusive. Even today, while a lot has been written about
Human Rights in various State Constitutions around the world, they are hardly
heeded to. In sharp contrast, the era of the rightly guided Caliphs was a
personification and epitome of justice, equality, secularism, freedom and
fraternity in the truest sense of the terms and these are the very Guiding
Principles which are required to be followed by every Islamic State in any part
of the world.
