Human rights and Islam

Abstract

Through a careful reading of the Koran, we can deduce that life, dignity, justice, free will, property and privacy are considered sacred, inviolable and inalienable. Similarly, life, religion, intellect, family and property are considered to be the five essential elements (aldarurat) or the five foundations (al-usul al-Khamsah) of good governance. But it is clear that in an eminently God-centered society, based on the philosophy of the absolute and of the transcendence, the freedom of individuals is reflected in their servitude to God. This link between divine law and state laws, however, determines the endorsement of serious problems with respect to issues of equality between men and women, freedom of religion, discrimination on religious grounds and corporal punishment in many Islamic countries. The recent dramatic developments of the popular movements that inflamed the Mediterranean basin two years ago lead the observer to reflect deeply on Islamic culture about human rights and the compatibility between the Western standards on protection of those rights and sharia law.