Islam, democracy, and human rights : can universal human rights be applied in our relativistic world?

Al-Hamli, Ahmed Thani Juma

Abstract

This study mainly focuses on the compatibility of the international human rights with the diverse cultural and religious values of our world, in particular, the Islamic Shari'ah, consisting of values that not only extend across different regions but even form an important factor of legitimacy for most Islamic states.

The study will extensively discuss the international conception of human rights and whether such rights are universal in character and hence applicable to all societies irrespective of their local values, or whether their local values are to a certain degree inevitable to establish real universal human rights with full realization of their essence. It will raise some religious and cultural matters that could form obstacles to the full realization of human rights, such as the complexity of the implementation of human rights under Islamic Shari'ah. It will also refer to traditional values and principles of the British common law, in which Parliament is the sovereign body accorded unrestrained power, which seems to pose the same difficulty that Islam could cause in human rights implementation. The study will demonstrate that the cultural tension with human rights is not exclusive to a certain culture but it is a result of the variety of diverse traditions of different nations that fonn our relativistic world. The study will suggest that although some of the local values of certain societies may raise tension with the principles and values of the current international trend of human rights, this does not mean that these local principles and values must be changed to comply. Rather, it may more appropriately be suggested that this developing notion of human rights should be reconsidered to make universal rights more universal and not relative to a certain regional part of the world.

Citation

Al-Hamli, A. T. J. (2006). Islam, democracy, and human rights : can universal human rights be applied in our relativistic world?. (Thesis). University of Hull. Retrieved from https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4213153

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Oct 2, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 22, 2023
• Keywords: Law
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4213153
• Additional Information: Law School, The University of Hull
• Award Date: Sep 1, 2006