Toward the end of our article on human rights and their Islamic perspective last week, we quoted two Hadiths which are useful to remember at the beginning of our discussion today. The Prophet says: “Steer away from injustice, for injustice puts you in layers of darkness on the Day of Judgment.” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim). He is also quoted as saying: “If people encounter an oppressor and do not stop him, God could easily overwhelm them with a general punishment.” (Related by Abu Dawood).
In these and similar Hadiths we note that the Prophet addresses the entire Muslim community. Similarly, when he speaks of “people”, he emphasizes that action in this area is a collective or a community one. It must be undertaken by a group of people who respond collectively to the Prophet’s order. This indicates that action by an individual, however influential he may be, cannot attain the results that may be achieved through collective action.
This confirms the right legal view which considers collective or community duties to have greater priority than duties of individuals. Should their be a conflict between such duties, then a collective duty, or fardh kifayah, should be given precedence. The benefit that results from a collective duty goes to the whole community, while in the duties of individuals the benefit is gained by a particular person. Conversely, when duties are left undone, the entire community is accountable for such failure in the case of a collective duty, while one person bears the responsibility for failing to do his or her individual duty.
In the authentic Sunnah we have a report of an incident that confirms all this. The Prophet refers to the alliance known as Hilf Al-Fudhool, saying: “I witnessed in Abdullah ibn Jud’an’s home the making of a particular alliance. Should I be called upon to honor it under Islam, I would certainly do so. They solemnly agreed to give everyone their dues, and not to allow anyone to get away with injustice.” Another report quotes the Prophet as saying: “I would not exchange this alliance for anything in the world. I would certainly honor it if it is invoked today under Islam.”
The initiative for forging this alliance was taken by some honorable men of Makkah, prior to the start of Islamic revelations. These people were very unhappy to see that some of the distinguished people of Makkah dealt unfairly with strangers, refusing to give them their dues. Among the participants were more than one of the Prophet’s uncles. They all met and pledged themselves to cooperate and stand united against anyone dealing unfairly with any person. Some reports mention the terms of the agreement as pledging that “should they find anyone suffering injustice in Makkah, be he a resident of the city or a stranger, they would support him against his oppressor until he gets what is rightfully his.” The Quraysh called this agreement Hilf Al-Fudhool. It is reported that the reason for calling it by this name was that it emulated an earlier alliance made by four distinguished men, all having the same name, Al-Fadhl, which takes the plural form of Al-Fudhool.
We have reports expressly suggesting that the Prophet’s companions did not object to anyone invoking this agreement in an attempt to secure his rights. Indeed, this was the case of the Prophet’s own grandson, Al-Hussayn ibn Ali, who suffered some injustice at the hands of some people. He said to the community: “You will either ensure that I get my rights, or else I will stand up in the Prophet’s mosque and invoke the agreement of Hilf Al-Fudhool.” A number of the Prophet’s companions and men of Al-tabieen (i.e. people who belonged to the next generation of Muslims) said: “We will certainly support him until justice is done, even though we would all die in the process.”
It seems that those companions of the Prophet and people of Al-tabieen generation wanted to appeal to the equivalent of a human rights organization in their own time. They felt nothing wrong in doing so. Indeed some of them considered it their duty, for the honoring of which they might have to sacrifice their lives.
Thus we see a preponderance of evidence in which Qur’anic texts, Hadiths by the Prophet, a report about Hilf Al-Fudhool and the action of his companions, as well as the views of scholars of penetrative insight, giving priority to collective duties over individual ones, all pointing in one direction. All this evidence confirms the need to organize the process of defending human rights. Such organization was not precluded at the time of the Prophet’s companions by the fact that the state was Islamic in the full sense of the word. Nor was it stopped by the fact that the ruler had appointed judges to look into people’s disputes and judge in them according to Islamic law.
Yet the gap is great between the very high standard of justice that characterized the early Islamic generations, and their simple life on the one hand and the complexity of our own communities and the different forms of violation of rights of both community and individual on the other. There is also an increasing number of issues which indicate new forms of human rights. This is clearly seen in the fields of operation assigned by the United Nations General Assembly to its commission on human rights, in which all Muslim countries are members. Some of these rights, such as those relating to health, environment, work, etc. require highly specialized attention. In view of all this, to say that it is a duty to organize the defense and protection of human rights and methods of monitoring their observance is to state what is in line with Islamic provisions and corresponds with their objectives.
To deny this is not merely a mistaken view, for we are all liable to make such mistakes. But denying it is very serious. It shows Islam, which is suitable for implementation in all places and generations, to the people of this generation in all areas with Muslim communities, in false colors. It makes Islam less able than other human systems to ensure people’s rights and maintain justice, which is fundamental for the entire universe.
To sum up, Islam has taken the lead in establishing human rights, as detailed by the International Declaration on Human Rights in Islam issued by the Muslim Council of Europe in 1981. Moreover, it has taken the lead in laying down the duty of organizing the defense of human rights in a way that ensures, if properly fulfilled, a better standard of observing human rights than we see today in many Arab and Muslim countries.