Human rights in Islam (Khamenei speech)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Further information: Ali Khamenei
Human rights in Islam is the name of a speech delivered at the inaugural of the 5th Islamic Thought Conference by Ali Khamenei. It has also been published in the form of a booklet.
Human rights in a key topic in Khamenei's speeches and he has spoken about the issue in innumerable other speeches.
Contents |
[edit] Themes
Khamenei believes the concerns with human rights since the Renaissance and campaigns of later humanists are very belated. He also touches on the ineffectiveness of the United Nations in remedying the human rights violations around the world. In spite of this, he doesn't reject the United Nations and unequivocally supports it. He only proposes ways of remedying the problems through refoms. He advocates reliance on the verses from the Quran and clauses from the recorded Sunnah to rectify the matter.
[edit] Best source for human rights legislation
According to Khamenei, the ideal sources to deal with the issue of human rights are the Quran and hadith. He repeatedly reiterates that "this does not need any elaboration" and "there is no need for the scholars to be reminded about this fact,"[1] However, he does not point the specific "verses of the Quran" and clauses of the hadith. This is only because most people are familiar with the parts of the traditional Islamic writings that promote human rights.
Khamenei strongly favors the interpretation of Islam by Khomeini. In a 2006, he touched on the need to rely on Islamic teachings to solve many problems including human rights. He supports "Genuine Islam, propounded by Imam Khomeini as a teaching [which] purged ... syncretism, bigotry and obscurantism."[2]
Khamenei is a staunch exponent of democracy--Islamic democracy; however, he openly regards liberal democracy with disdain[3] and calls it a "venom."[4] He believes the Quran and Sunnah should be used to guarantee human rights based on the interpretation of the Islamic clerics of the state.
[edit] Key paragraphs
The following is an important paragraph from the Human rights in Islam book.
| “ | With the formation of the UN after the Second World War and the subsequent drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a concrete model came into existence as a result of this emphasis that can serve as a criterion and basis of our judgment and analysis of the ideals voiced in this regard during the last two hundred years and especially in the last few decades. We Muslims, of course, know it very well that if the Western world and the Western civilizations have paid attention to this matter in the recent centuries, Islam has dealt with it from all the various aspects many centuries back. The idea of human rights as a fundamental principle can be seen to underlie throughout Islamic teachings. And this does not need any elaboration for a Muslim audience. That the verses of the Quran and the traditions handed down from the Prophet (SA) and the Imams of his Household (AS), each one of them emphasizes the fundamental rights of man something which has caught the attention of men in recent years-- is known to Muslims, and there is no need for the scholars to be reminded about this fact. However, I would say, that today it is big responsibility on the shoulders of the Islamic society to make this reality known to the world | ” |
