Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Islam lil-Turki

Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Islam (Human Rights in Islam) is a contemporary treatise authored by the Saudi scholar and official Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Muhsin al-Turki during his tenure as the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da‘wah, and Guidance Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…. The work examines the contemporary discourse surrounding human rights, contrasting secular Western frameworks with the principles established in Islamic law Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+1.

Purpose and Scope

The author wrote the book to guide Islamic preachers and Muslims in evaluating modern human rights slogans through the lens of Islamic revelation Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…. He emphasizes that while modern terminology around dignity, equality, and justice appears attractive, its secular definitions frequently diverge from Islamic doctrine and moral principles Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+1. The treatise seeks to articulate the philosophical foundations of human rights in the Quran and Sunnah and to demonstrate their practical realization in Islamic legal traditions Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+1.

Critique of Western Conceptions

Al-Turki outlines the historical development of human rights in the West, citing foundational milestones including England's Magna Carta (1215), the United States Declaration of Independence (1776), the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+1. He argues that European rights discourses originated primarily as political reactions against feudal tyranny and clerical authority, focusing narrowly on public liberties exercised in opposition to state power Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+1. Furthermore, he notes that these protections were historically denied to non-Western peoples subjected to European colonial rule Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl….

The book identifies fundamental philosophical distinctions between Western legal philosophy and the Islamic worldview:

• Source of Rights: In secular thought, rights are conceived as emerging from human legislation or the collective conscience (damir al-jama'ah) to deliberately exclude religion, making rights relative to changing majority views and societal interests Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+1. In Islam, divine Sharia is the exclusive source, foundation, and safeguard of all rights, binding both ruler and subject to transcendent obligations Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+1.
• Cultural Relativity vs. Western Universalism: Al-Turki critiques the imposition of Western cultural norms as universal standards through international mechanisms and indices such as the Humana index, noting that Western criteria categorize capital punishment, bans on homosexuality, and regulations on marriage as human rights violations Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+2. He also notes how human rights are deployed as foreign-policy levers by major powers and non-governmental organizations to justify unwarranted intervention in sovereign nations Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+1.

Core Rights in Islamic Law

The work examines specific categories of rights articulated in Islamic jurisprudence:

• Right to Life and Bodily Integrity: Islam safeguards human sanctity from birth through death, prohibiting suicide, negligence leading to bodily harm, torture, defamation, and the mutilation or desecration of corpses Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+2. The author cites rules of engagement in warfare that strictly prohibit killing non-combatants—such as women, children, the elderly, hermits, and agricultural workers—as well as the destruction of crops and livestock Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl….
• Freedom: True human freedom is achieved by freeing the intellect and soul from subservience to worldly tyrants (taghut) and personal desires through the exclusive worship of God Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+2. Al-Turki outlines how Islamic law methodically restricted avenues into bondage while dramatically broadening pathways to emancipation Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl….
• Equality and Non-Discrimination: Affirming the shared origin of humanity from a single soul, Islam invalidates distinctions based on race, color, class, or lineage Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+2. The sole criterion of distinction is piety (taqwa) Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+1. The treatise addresses legal equality between rulers and subjects, the complementary rights and independent financial capacity of women, and the protections granted to non-Muslim minorities (dhimmis) under Islamic covenants Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+2.
• Social Solidarity (al-Takaful al-Ijtima'i): Grounded in the Quranic principle of mutual guardianship (wilayah) among believers, Islamic social welfare operates through mandatory zakat, charitable endowments, familial maintenance obligations (nafaqah), and mutual liability in accidental blood-money (diyah) Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+3.

Constitutional Application

In the final portion of the work, al-Turki analyzes Saudi Arabia's Basic Law of Governance, promulgated by Royal Order A/90 on 27 Sha'ban 1412 AH under King Fahd ibn Abd al-Aziz, presenting it as a practical codification of Islamic human rights principles Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+1. He discusses several articles of the law, including Article 26 on the state's duty to protect human rights in accordance with Sharia, Article 27 on social security, Articles 28–30 regarding labor protections and education, Article 32 on environmental preservation, and Articles 36–40 governing personal liberty, judicial procedure, inviolability of dwellings, freedom of private communication, and media standards Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+4.

In his conclusion, the author urges Muslim societies to preserve their Islamic identity and assert their legal heritage in international forums, referencing the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna where Islamic nations defended cultural and religious specificities against Western ideological dominance Huqooq al-Insan fi al-Isl…+3.