Islam and Human Rights

Ann Elizabeth Mayer

This text exams of how the Islamic tradition has been exploited for political ends by regimes and institutions seeking to legitimize policies inimical to human rights. Mayer critically appraises Islamic human rights schemes that dilute the human rights afforded by international law, comparing them with the complex Islamic legal heritage and international human rights law.

Contents Preface Acknowledgments 1 Assimilating Human Rights in the Middle East Background: Legal Hybridity in the Middle East Misperceptions About Applying International Human Rights Law as Serving Imperialism Cultural Relativism Muslims Challenge Cultural Relativism Actual Human Rights Concerns in the Middle East The Emergence of International Human Rights Law Muslims' Responses to and Involvement in the UN Human Rights System Summary 2 Human Rights in International and Middle Eastern Systems: Sources and Contexts International Human Rights: Background Islamic Human Rights: Sources The Impact of Islamization on Constitutions and Justice The Taliban Takeover of Afghanistan and Its Aftermath Saudi Arabia Confronts Pressures for Reforms and Liberalization Summary 3 Islamic Tradition and Muslim Reactions to Human Rights The Premodern Islamic Heritage Muslim Reactions to Western Constitutionalism The Persistence of Traditional Priorities and Values Consequences of Insecure Philosophical Foundations Islamic Human Rights and Cultural Nationalism Ambivalent Attitudes on Human Rights Summary 4 Islamic Restrictions on Human Rights Permissible Qualifications of Rights in International Law Islamic Formulas Limiting Rights Restrictions in the Iranian Constitution Restrictions in the UIDHR Restrictions in Other Islamic Human Rights Schemes Islam and Human Rights in the New Constitutions of Afghanistan and Iraq Summary 5 Discrimination Against Women and Non-Muslims Equality in the Islamic Legal Tradition Equality in Islamic Human Rights Schemes Equal Protection in US and International Law Equal Protection in Islamic Human Rights Schemes Equality in the New Afghan and Iraqi Constitutions Summary 6 Restrictions on the Rights of Women Background Islamic Law and Women's Rights Muslim Countries' Reactions to the Women's Convention Tabandeh's Ideas Mawdudi's Ideas The UIDHR Islamization in Iran and the Iranian Constitution The al-Azhar Draft Constitution The Cairo Declaration and the