by Abdulkader Tayob
Tayob, Abdulkader. 2011. “Human Rights in Modern Islamic Discourse.” In The Transmission and Dynamics of the Textual Sources of Islam: Essays in Honour of Harald Motzki, ed. Nicolet Boekhof-van der Voort, C.H.M. Versteegh, and Joas Wagemakers. Leiden: Brill.
This chapter is a closer reading of arguments in the twentieth century that claimed that Islam had its own unique... more
This chapter is a closer reading of arguments in the twentieth century that claimed that Islam had its own unique approach to human rights. There are Muslims who completely ignore or reject human rights as a product of Western and modern influence. Among these are jurists ( fuqahāʾ) who see no reason to depart from Islamic law and radical Islamists who frame human rights as an intellectual onslaught of the West.
This analysis of Islamic discourse on human rights in this article is not concerned with the compatibility between traditional Islamic law and human rights. It is also not directly concerned with the particular effect of Islamic law, or Islamic human rights, in specific contexts. Rather, it examines the construction and appeal of the dominant discourse that rejects or expresses reservations towards international human rights norms. Within this limited frame of reference, the analysis shows that human rights have been accepted as a public frame of reference. Rights are regarded as a positive value in society. This includes a certain critical approach to some practices within Muslim societies, the denial of which is regarded as a violation of Islamic human rights. Secondly and simultaneously, however, any adaptation of and departure from Islamic scriptural sources is rejected. This rejection is not only based on simple adherence to tradition and to the past. The rejection included a conception of Islamic law as a natural order of social relations. Islamic law, each and every one of its rules and pronouncements, is suited to the very nature of humanity (fitṛa). This naturalism is projected on a conception of human existence and human relations that are not open to change and adaptation. This naturalism gives Islamic law a new foundation that is very appealing to modern sensibilities and pro- vides justification for a rigid approach to human rights. This approach thus promotes a traditionalist viewpoint within a modern framework. This article, then, presents a deeply fractured discourse consisting of a conception of social order and a fidelity to scriptural texts. Closer examination reveals incongruence between the two, wherein fidelity to scriptural texts breaks down against a commitment to a social order.
Download (.pdf) 
