Human Rights and the Prophet

Abstract

The teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, as registered and transmitted to later generations in the Qur’an and the collections of hadith, revolutionized the prevalent legal culture, in particular the tribal Arabic culture, pertaining to human rights in five significant ways. First, his teaching introduced the concept of the universal human being as a subject of law to which rights and duties are accorded. Second, it called for justice and equality before the law for all regardless of their tribe, wealth, and gender. Third, it introduced a list of human rights for all human beings. Fourth, it established a state system with laws and courts, which did not exist in Arabia at that time but were necessary to enforce human rights. Fifth, it put limits to the powers of the state and its ruler. Since then this legacy shaped, though in varying degrees and ways, Muslims’ understanding and practice of human rights for centuries all over the world.