Huquq al-Insan fi al-Islam li Abd al-Fattah Ashmawi
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah bi-al-Madinah al-Munawwarah
Huquq al-Insan fi al-Islam (Human Rights in Islam) is a scholarly treatise by Abd al-Fattah bin Sulayman Ashmawi, an instructor and lecturer at the Faculty of Hadith at the Islamic University of Madinah, examining the concept of human rights in Islamic law in comparison with contemporary international declarations .
Background and Scope
Originally published as a serialized study across multiple issues of the journal of the Islamic University of Madinah, the work evaluates human rights from the premise of Islamic theological and legal principles . Ashmawi posits that divine revelation in the Quran and the Sunnah comprehensively covers both worldly and otherworldly human welfare, rendering man-made charters inherently limited and flawed . He clarifies that his work does not intend an equal comparison between divine legislation and human drafting, which he views as rationally untenable, but seeks to provide a decisive refutation of the shortcomings of modern human-devised frameworks .
The text also critiques international bodies such as the United Nations, pointing out discrepancies between proclaimed universal rights and historical realities. Ashmawi highlights that the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 coincided with the violent dispossession and displacement of the Palestinian people, and argues that international human rights institutions have failed to protect Muslim populations and minorities facing persecution .
Structure and Content
Rather than analyzing each of the thirty articles of the Universal Declaration individually—which Ashmawi considers repetitive and interconnected—he organized them into ten thematic groups spread across ten chapters:
- Chapter One: Covers Articles 1 and 2 .
- Chapter Two: Covers Articles 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 .
- Chapter Three: Covers Articles 3, 5, and 12 .
- Chapter Four: Covers Articles 4, 18, 20, and 21, addressing issues including religious freedom and assembly .
- Chapter Five: Covers Article 16 .
- Chapter Six: Covers Articles 13, 14, and 15, addressing freedom of movement, asylum from persecution, and nationality, which Ashmawi correlates with Islamic legal principles on emigration (hijrah) .
- Chapter Seven: Covers Articles 17 and 23 .
- Chapter Eight: Covers Articles 22, 24, and 25, focusing on social security, rest and working hours, living standards, and the protection of mothers and children .
- Chapter Nine: Covers Articles 26 and 27 .
- Chapter Ten: Covers Articles 28, 29, and 30 .
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