The Primary Human Rights of Members Of An Islamic Society

March 19, 2014 by Admin 2 Comments

The foundation of Islamic society is laid upon the concept of provision of human rights. Islam ensures that every member of the society receives certain rights and it is the duty of other members of the society to ensure that people receive the rights they deserve.

Although Islam pays attention to each and every little detail of the construct of a society, however, for general understanding it gives some general rules as well, following which the members of a Muslim society can ensure that the basics of the society are set right. The Quranic verse below discusses the primary human rights, which the members of an Islamic society deserve.

Note – Muslims who are not able to read and recite Quran verses, are advised to learn Quran reading and reciting through online Quran academy.

 In Quran Allah Almighty says:

“And what is wrong with you that you fight not in the cause of God, and for those weak, ill treated, and oppressed among men, women, and children, whose cry is: “Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from you one who will protect; and raise for us from you one who will help!” (4:75)

From this ayah of Quran it is clear that the basic human right that the members of an Islamic society deserve is the freedom from impression. Allah Almighty has created every human being free thus, every person who lives in an Islamic society enjoys freedom and this freedom must not be oppressed. The oppression is not just limited to enslavement of people, rather the economic, social, religious and cultural oppressions are also evident and the members of Muslim society must be free from them. The other notion that this hadith implies is the fact that the one in power or the ones that have authority must make sure that they take care of those who are weak and do the due diligence to free them of the oppression of any kind which they face.

In one of His hadiths, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:

“Visit the ill, feed the hungry and release the slaves.” (Bukhari)

This hadith of Prophet (PBUH) explains three other major rights that the members of Muslim society must have and these include availability of food for hunger, freedom from enslavement, and care and cure for the ailment. Therefore, in order to fulfill these rights, those who are healthy should visit the ill and help them in their need, those who have ample ration should take care of the hunger of other people and provide food to them and those who have the ability to free someone should free people from the slavery.

In another hadith, Prophet (PBUH) said:

“For injustice shall be darkness on the Day of Requital.” (Ibid)

As per this hadith, the other fundamental right that the humans possess in a Muslim society is access to justice. There are numerous hadiths and ayahs of Quran in which Prophet (PBUH) and Allah Almighty have stressed upon the need of establishment of justice, therefore, those who are in power should ensure that a proper justice system is established and every member of the society has access to justice all the time.

In a nutshell, the prime human rights in Islamic society are freedom, provision of food, cure from ailment, and access to justice.