Moodhy Al-Khalaf

RIYADH - The following statement is representative of many from the critics of Arab countries. "The modern concepts of 'human rights' and 'civil liberties' are of Western origin, not native to the Middle East. Their introduction into the Arab world has been patchy at best..." (World Conference Against Racism, Durban, 2001).

More and more studies and statistics show how Arab and Muslim countries are violating human rights. Sadly, the growing interest in Islam and Muslims has for the most part focused on issues like Islamic fundamentalism, women in Islam, strife between Islamic sects and so forth. Both the choice of subjects and the ways such topics are handled obviously aim to evoke negative attitude towards Islam and Muslims in Western audiences.

Moreover, most human rights proponents assume that human rights can exist only within a secular context and not within the framework of religion. Many Muslims have fallen into the same trap. They are beginning to fear the term and brand anyone who speaks of human rights as a secularist or even atheist. But why is the term so threatening? Was it not, in fact, Islam that made the first call for human rights? Before the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and even before the 1789 French Revolution call for freedom and equality, Islam announced the sacredness of human rights. Even more so than later treaties, Islam considered human rights as obligations to be upheld rather than just privileges to be sought.

Human rights are not the product of Western ingenuity. More than 1,400 years ago, Islam enshrined human rights like life, freedom, equality, justice, honour and privacy.

* The right to life: "If anyone kills a person not in retaliation of murder or spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he killed all mankind... (5:32)

* Related is the issue of saving life: "And whoever saves a life it would be as though he had saved the lives of all mankind." (5:32)

* Equality of human beings: "Oh Mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other (not that you may despise each other). Verily, the most honoured of you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous of you." (49:13)

* Protection of dignity: "You who believe, do not let one (set of) people make fun of another set.. Do not defame one another.. Do not insult by using nicknames.. And do not backbite or speak ill of one another." (49:11-12)

* The right to security and privacy: "Do not spy on one another." (49:12)

"Do not enter any houses except you own homes until you have asked for permission." (24:27)

The right to injustice: "Oh You who believe. Stand our firmly for God, as witnesses to fair dealing and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: That is next to piety: and fear God; for God is well-acquainted with all that You do." (5:8)

The list goes on. And while the Muslim nation is going through troubled times, the problem is not in the religion per se. The heart of the problem lies in the gap between Qur'anic ideals and actual Muslim practice.

As a nation, Muslims have come to be so preoccupied with the details of implementing Islam that in some ways they have forgotten the fundamentals. Islam is a religion that transcends time and place. Modern Muslims seem to have forgotten the true essence of that reality. Wilfred Cantwell Smith says: "Whereas the original Muslims believed in God, modern Muslims believe in Islam". (Islam in Modern History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1957).

Early Muslims did not read the Qur'an as a closed text; they sought to understand the deeper meaning of Islam and implemented it in the societies they created. While the Qur'an and Sunnah (the Prophet's traditions) were the main sources, original Muslims practised and encouraged "intellectual striving." This, in particular, allowed them to stretch Islamic teachings over different situations and across different times. It was these Muslims, who believed in practising the flexibility of Islam that led the world for over three centuries and paved the way for the European Renaissance.

The human rights issue is a glaring example. It is not Islam that dictates the violation of human rights, it is lack of correct implementation. But if lack of effective implementation is a valid reason to last out against Islam, then by the same token the UN should be dismantled because the rights given to people on paper are never implemented in real life. Despite all the ambitious resolutions passed by the UN, human rights have been, and continue to be, violated and trampled on in different parts of the world.

Unfortunately, however, two wrongs do not make a right. The Muslim nation must not let anyone take away the faith in return for a mirage of human rights and a promise of better times to come. At the same time, it is essential to realise that the time for change is overdue. History has shown that, if implemented correctly, Islam can raise those who embrace it to the highest of levels - when will we rise to the occasion?