Human Rights and Justice in Islam

Islam provides many human rights for the individual. The following are some of these human rights that Islam protects. The life and property of all citizens in an Islamic state are considered sacred, whether a person is Muslim or not. Islam also protects honor. So, in Islam, insulting others or making fun of them is not allowed. The Prophet Muhammad said: {Truly your blood, your property, and your honor are inviolable.} Racism is not allowed in Islam, for the Quran speaks of human equality in the following terms: O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female and have made you into nations and tribes for you to know one another. Truly, the noblest of you with God is the most pious. Truly, God is All-Knowing, AllAware. (Quran, 49:13) Islam rejects certain individuals or nations being favored because of their wealth, power, or race. God created human beings as equals who are to be distinguished from each other only on the basis of their faith and piety. The Prophet Muhammad said: {O people! Your God is one and your forefather (Adam) is one. An Arab is not better than a non-Arab and a non-Arab is not better than an Arab, and a red (i.e. white tinged with red) person is not better than a black person and a black person is not better than a red person, except in piety.} One of the major problems facing mankind today is racism. The developed world can send a man to the moon but cannot stop man from hating and fighting his fellow man. Ever since the days of the Prophet Muhammad , Islam has provided a vivid example of how racism can be ended. The annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to Makkah shows the real Islamic brotherhood of all races and nations, when about two million Muslims from all over the world come to Makkah to perform the pilgrimage. Islam is a religion of justice. God has said: Truly God commands you to give back trusts to those to whom they are due, and when you judge between people, to judge with justice.... (Quran, 4:58)

And He has said: ...And act justly. Truly, God loves those who are just. (Quran, 49:9)

We should even be just with those who we hate, as God has said: ...And let not the hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety.... (Quran, 5:8) The Prophet Muhammad said: {People, beware of injustice, for injustice shall be darkness on the Day of Judgment.} And those who have not gotten their rights (i.e. what they have a just claim to) in this life will receive them on the Day of Judgment, as the Prophet said: {On the Day of Judgment, rights will be given to those to whom they are due (and wrongs will be redressed)...}

Give your fellow Muslims their rights

Abu Hurayrah (radhiyallaahu anhu may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, The rights of a Muslim upon their fellow Muslim are six. It was said, And what are they Oh Messenger of Allah? He replied, When you meet them, give them the greeting of peace, when they invite you, respond to their invitation, when they seek your advice, advise them sincerely, when they sneeze and praise Allah, supplicate for mercy upon them, when they fall ill, visit them, and when they die follow them (i.e. his funeral). Muslim The First Right: When you meet them, give them the greeting of peace. For verily the greeting of peace is a cause of love one another, which results in producing faith (Al-Eemaan), which results in the person entering the Paradise. This is as Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) said,

By the one in Whose Hand is my soul, you all will not enter into the Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love each other. Shall I not direct you to something that if you do it, you will love each other? Spread the greeting of peace amongst yourselves. The greeting of peace is from the virtuous characteristics of Islam. For verily each of the two people who meet each other supplicates for the other for safety from evils, and mercy, and blessing that brings about every good. And what follows this is a cheerful face and appropriate words of greeting which result in unity and love, and it removes feelings of estrangement and cold disassociation. Thus, giving the greeting of peace is the right of the Muslim, and it is obligatory upon the person who is greeted to return greeting with a similar greeting or one that is better than it. And the best of the people are those who start the greeting of peace first. The Second Right: When they invite you, respond to their invitation. This means that when he invites you with an invitation to some food and drink, then fulfill the request of your brother who has drawn near to you and honored you with the invitation. Respond to his invitation (i.e. accept it), unless you have an excuse. The Third Right: His statement, And when they seek your advice, advise them sincerely. This means that if he seeks consultation with you regarding some action, as to whether he should do it or not, then advise him with that which you would like for yourself. Thus, if the action is something that is beneficial in all aspects, then encourage him to do that, and if it is something harmful, then warn him against it. And if the action contains both benefit and harm, then explain that to him and weigh the benefits against the harms. Likewise, if he consults with you concerning some dealing with someone among the people, or whether he should marry a woman off to someone, or whether he should marry someone, then extend your pure and sincere advice to him, and deal with him from the view point of what you would do for you own self. And avoid deceiving him in any matter of these things. For verily whoever deceives the Muslims, then he is not of them, and indeed he has left off the obligation of being sincere and advising. And this sincerity and advising is absolutely obligatory, however it becomes more emphasized when the person seeks your advice and he requests from you that you give him a beneficial opinion. For this reason the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) specifically mentioned it in this important situation. The Fourth Right: And when they sneeze and praise Allah, then pray for mercy upon them. This is due to the fact that sneezing is a favor from Allah, in the expelling of this congested air that is blocked in certain parts of the body of the human being. Allah makes it easy for this air to have a passage out where it can exit, and thus the sneezing person feels relief. Thus, the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) legislated that the person praise Allah for this favor, and he legislated for his (Muslim) brother to say to him, May Allah have mercy upon you. He also commanded the person who sneezed to answer his (Muslim) brother by saying to him, May Allah guide you and set right your affairs. Therefore, whoever does

not praise Allah, then he does not deserve for others to pray for mercy upon him, and in this case he cannot blame anyone except himself. For he is the one who has caused himself to lose the two blessings: the blessing of praising Allah, and the blessing of his brothers supplication for him that is a result of the praising. The Fifth Right: His statement, And when they fall ill, visit them. Visiting the sick is from the rights of the Muslim, and especially for the person who has a highly stressed and emphasized right upon you, like the relative, and the friend, and so forth. It is from the best of the righteous deeds. And whoever visits their fellow Muslim, they remain engulfed in the mercy (of Allah), and when they sit with him the mercy (of Allah) covers them. And whoever visits the sick Muslim at the beginning of the day, the Angels send prayers of blessing upon him until evening comes, and whoever visits him at the end of the day, the Angels send prayers of blessing upon him until morning comes. It is desired for the person who visits the sick to supplicate for him to be cured and to make him feel at ease. He should ease his worries by giving him glad tidings of well-being and recovery (i.e. be positive). He should remind him of repentance and turning to Allah, and he should give him beneficial admonition. He should not sit with him too long (i.e. over staying his welcome), rather he should only sit with him long enough fulfill the right of visiting, unless the sick person is positively effected by many people coming in to see him and many people coming to sit with him. Thus, for each situation there is a different statement (i.e. advice on how to deal with it). The Sixth Right: His statement, And if they die, follow them (his/her funeral). For verily whoever follows the funeral until the deceaseds body is prayed over, then he will receive a Qeeraat of reward. (Translators note: A Qeeraat is an amount equivalent to the size of the Mountain of Uhud in Madinah.) And if he follows the funeral procession until the body is buried, then he will receive two Qeeraats of reward. And following the funeral procession contains (fulfillment of) a right for Allah, a right for the deceased, and a right for the living relatives of the deceased.Ash-Shaikh Abdur-Rahmaan bin Naasir As-Sa`dee (Rahimahullaah) Source: Bahjatu Quloob il-Abraar wa Qurratu Uyoon il-Akhyaar fee Jaami il-Akhbaar, pp. 65-67, hadeeth no. 29.

RIGHTS OF OUR FELLOW HUMANS

Rights of our Fellow Humans

Allamah Shaykh Ashraf Ali at-Thanwi (ra) "Verily Allah commands you to fulfill trust (rights) to its recipients, and when you judge between people then judge with justice. (Qur'an)

Whoever has oppressed his brother should repay it before the Day (of Qiyamah) even if it be a Dinaar or a Dirham [a small monetary value]. (Hadith) Rights of our Fellow Humans As a great deal of rights have been ordained in Islam due to a person being close to you or due to having the same religion, so too some rights are ordained due to us being from the same species. That is, due to being human it is necessary to be considerate of them, even though they may not be Muslims. Their rights are:

Without reason do not give trouble to or harm anyone, neither in his person nor in his wealth. Without any Shar'ee reason do not speak evil or insult anyone. If you see someone afflicted with difficulty, poverty or sickness, then help him: give him food and drink, and give him medical treatment. Even in those cases where the Shari'ah has given permission to punish someone, do not be cruel or excessive, nor should you threaten him unjustly.

Rights of Neighbors, Companions, & Colleagues

Certain groups of people who have specific relations with you (viz. neighbors, colleagues, and companions), enjoy additional rights to those of the general Muslim populace. Their rights include:

Be kind and considerate towards them. Safeguard the honor of his household and family. At times send some gift for him. Especially when they are destitute or povertystricken then send some food for them too. Do not cause him trouble, do not become angry or create a quarrel with him on minor things. For, to remove any difficulty from him, the Shari' ah has granted him the "right of neighbor-ship". [This means that according to Shari' ah if you want to sell your home, then the neighbor has the first option and right to buy it.]

The Ulama have said that just as you have colleagues and neighbors when at home, so too when on travel. That is, you have travel-companions, and they are those people who travel with you when you leave home or those who coincidentally join you while traveling. This too has been mentioned in the Hadith. Their rights too are like those of your neighbors,

companions and colleagues at home. The result of all these rights is this: give preference to their ease over your ease. Some people inconvenience many others when traveling on some form of public transport, like a bus, train, plane, etc. This is a very bad habit.