Islam and Human Rights

In his book Christianity Alongside Islam John Wilson gives extended consideration to the issue of human rights in Islam. In this discussion it is important to avoid hypocrisy and to admit readily that human rights abuses are committed by non-Muslim societies. Notwithstanding, Islam does have some major problems in this area:

1. The Qur’an encourages the treatment of non-Muslims as inferior persons not entitled to the same human rights as Muslims. In Surah 5:32 we read:

On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our messengers with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.

But it would be hasty to conclude from this that the Qur’an hereby grants equal rights to all humans for only two verses later, in 5:34 we read:

The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;Except for those who repent before they fall into your power: in that case, know that Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.

2. Throughout history in Muslim-controlled societies the treatment of non-Muslims as dhimmis has involved massive human rights abuses and a deliberate policy of humiliating and degrading dhimmis. Mark Durie has demolished propagandist and romantic claims to the contrary in his book The Third Choice. Wilson (207) cites Richard Fletcher in challenging the bogus notion that medieval Spain represented the ideal concerning Islamic treatment of dhimmis:

It is a myth of the modern liberal imagination that medieval Islamic Spain was, in any sense that we should recognise today, a tolerant society.

3. There is a glaring inconsistency between treatment of Muslims in Western democracies (while admitting there may be shortcomings) and the treatment of Christians (and other minorities)  in Islamic societies. So Samuel Shahid asks why

do Muslims in the West enjoy all freedoms allotted to all citizens of these lands, while Muslim countries do not allow native Christians the same freedoms? Muslims in the West build mosques, schools, and educational centres and have access to the media without any restriction. They publicly advertise their activities and are allowed to distribute their Islamic materials freely, while native Christians in any Islamic country are not allowed to do so. Why are Christians in the West allowed to embrace any religion they wish without persecution while a person who chooses to convert to another religion in any Islamic country is considered an apostate and must be killed if he persists in his apostasy? (Wilson, 208).

4. The Western press has a strong record of exposing abuses committed by members of the US, British and other coalition forces leading to perpetrators being brought to trial by government authorities. Take, for example, the current media campaign against the Australian Defence Academy concerning alleged sleep deprivation torture being used against teenage cadets in the wake of the Skype sex scandal. By contrast, sharia law is used by Islamist groups to justify the way in which they freely torture and execute their victims and promote suicide bombing.

5. As Wilson points out (210-211), Islamic Declarations on human rights fudge or ignore certain critical issues:

These include discriminating distinctions between Muslims and non-Muslims; the rights of women as compared to men; punishments; and freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

It is further disturbing that the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI) states in Articles 24-25:

All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari’ah.

The Islamic Shari’ah is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification of any one of the articles of this Declaration.

6. Slavery has never been the subject of apology, rejection and condemnation as it has been by Christians and the West. Wilson shows how widespread and persistent slavery has been in the world of Islam. He observes that Islamic states have been comparatively slow in abolishing slavery in law with Saudi Arabia only doing so in 1962, but with slavery still existing in parts of Muslim Africa and in Arabia. Rodney Stark notes:

The fundamental problem facing Muslim theologians vis-a-vis the morality of slavery is that Muhammad bought, sold, captured, and owned slaves (Wilson, 233; the emphasis is Stark’s).

7. The treatment of women in Islamic societies and communities is a matter of grave concern. In assessing this issue in an objective manner it is important to avoid stereotyping Muslim women and to recognise, for example, that in some parts of the world educational opportunities available for Muslim women are far broader than is otherwise the case. Iraqi politician and scholar Ali A. Allawi states:

Women’s rights… is an issue that will not be explained away by reference to the fact that Islam honoured women in Arabia of the seventh century, that women’s rights are enshrined in the Qur’an, or that women dominate the private space in Islamic life. All these facts are true*, but they bear little relation to the real condition of women in Muslim societies and the raw deal they receive under the camouflage of the Sharia. (Wilson, 250-251).

* Many would especially challenge Allawi’s claims that Islam honoured women in 7th century Arabia and that women’s rights are enshrined in the Qur’an. But even when viewing the matter in the best light Allawi has to recognise that “the real condition” of Muslim women is lamentable.

Posted May 30, 2011

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