islamic law

Islam and Human Rights is an attempt to establish whether Islamic Law, Sharia, is compatible with universal human rights as they are defined in the International Bill of Human Rights. After briefly describing the history of universal human rights, the concept of cultural relativism and introducing the early history of Islam as well as the concept of Sharia, the analyze focuses on a selection of human rights documents produced in an Islamic environment. Some of the documents are created on ...

Human rights as codified in international documents are claims every human being have by virtue of being a human. Meaning that every state must ensure, through its laws, that each individual is guaranteed these claims or rights equally. Islamic principles like other religions are obligations that its members (Muslims) must perform rather than claims. Therefore, it is possible that individual rights may not be respected within Islamic principles because, of the differences in their origin and emphasis, one is a ...