Following are the terms used commonly to explain different aspects of human rights:
i. Natural Rights
There are certain rights which are twin born with humanity. These are called natural rights.
Hazrat Omer(R.A) said:
"All men are free when their mothers give birth to them; nobody has a right to enslave them".
ii. Social Rights
Social rights are those powers or claim which are upheld by the society or public opinion. Social rights are also called moral rights.
iii. Legal Rights
Moral pressures, sometimes, prove too weak and ineffective to deal with the violaters. If this happens the authority of the state is invoked and the rights are enforced with the help of state authority. Rights protected by state laws are called legal rights.
iv. Fundamental Rights
Fundamental Rights form that portion of the legal rights, as are essential for the survival and development of a citizen's personality. Civilized world has now reached a general consensus regarding their content and nature. The UN Charter as well as the constitutions of all democratic countries have defined and provided guarantees for the fundamental rights.
v. Civil Rights
Fundamental rights have two further divisions i.e. (i) Civil rights. (ii) Political rights. Civil rights form that portion of fundamental rights which provide guarantees for the protection of a citizen's life, property and the development of his personality.
vi. Political Rights
Political rights enable a citizen to participate in the affairs of a state by taking part in the political process.
IMPORTANT CIVIL RIGHTS
i. Right to life.
ii. Right of ownership and inheritance.
iii. Right to family life.
iv. Right to congregation and assembly.
v. Right to make contracts.
vi. Right to freedom of opinion and expression.
vii. Right of forming associations.
viii. Right to education.
ix. Right to faith and belief.
x. Right to free movement.
xi. Right to correspondence and its secrecy.
xii. Rights of equality before law.
xiii.Economic Rights (i.e., right to be provided with the basic necessities of fe and the right against bonded labour and slavery).
xiv. Right of gender equality.
IMPORTANT POLITICAL RIGHTS
i. Right to vote.
ii. Right to represent.
iii. Right of equal access to public offices.
iv. Right to criticize and recall the elected representatives.
Last Hajj Sermon of Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah The Most Comprehensive Charter of Human Rights
In Zil Hijjah 10th 632 AD) Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah performed his first and last Hajj after Hijrah. Different sermons that Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah gave at different places, taken together exhibit the essence of Islamic faith. The authentic books of Hadith, Bukhari, Abu Daood and Muslim, have recorded full texts of these sermons as well as the details of the occasions and places where these sermons were delivered. These are very authentic accounts supported by the reporters. Scholars have compiled these sermons in the form of a single consistent discourse, referred to as Khutbat-e-Hijjatul- Wada'. This Sermon forms one the most important treatise in human history on the subject of human rights. We shall study important principles embodied in these sermons under separate heads:
Elimination of the Practices of Jahiliah: Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah said:
"All practices carried out in the period of Jahiliah are under my foot."
This meant that inhuman pre-Islamic practices were no more valid. The practices condemned were; rule of man over man, autocracy, dictatorship and religious coercion. Islam put an end to all these practices of the dark ages.
Equality: Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah said:
"Remember! Your Rab (Preserver) is one; your father is one. Yes! An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab (Ajami), and a non-Arab over an Arab, red over black, or black over red, but on the basis of Allah fearing (Taqwa)".
Elimination of Slavery
Slavery was a centuries old institution and was deeply ingrained in the social texture of the society. To eliminate slavery with one single executive order or an authoritative piece of legislation would result in the disintegration of the entire cultural set up. Being a system based on natural wisdom, Islam suggested a policy which would eliminate slavery through a gradual but effective process. Masters were made to deal with their slaves under such restrictions that the slaves acquired a social status almost equal to that of their masters. Naturally, the masters started setting their slaves free and the society was gradually purged of the vice of slavery. The Muslim societies were the first in the world to get rid of this curse, in countries like the United States of America the practice continued till nineteenth century. (Abraham Lincoln was able to eliminate slavery after a long drawn out war.)
Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah in his last sermon said:
"Your slaves, your slaves! Give them to eat what you yourself eat, give them to wear like you yourself wear."
Rights of Life and Property: For a Muslim no place on earth can be more sacred than the holy shrine of Kabah. Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah said that the blood and property of a human being is more sacred than the Ka'bah.
Rights of Honour and Prestige: Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah said that has an inviolable right that his honour and prestige be preserved at the hand of everyone others and this sanctity is valid till the Doomsday.
Religious Moderation: Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah warned his followers against the dangers of religious extremism; he said that the former nations were exterminated only because they adopted extremist practices in matters of religion and faith.
Legal Rights: Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah clearly proclaimed that no person can be punished for a crime which someone else has committed, so much so that even a son cannot be punished on account of the crime committed by his father,
He said:
"Yes the culprit is responsible for the crime he has committed, neither son for the crime of his father nor the father for the crime committed by his son."
Rights of the Rulers: Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah said that the rulers have a right to be obeyed and followed.
Rights of Inheritance: All rights of inheritance had been set forth explicitly in the Holy Quran and the Sunnah, Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah said that nobody has a right to violate the stipulated rules of inheritance and deprive anybody of his legal rights.
He said:
"Allah has given everybody his due in inheritance: nobody
has a right to make a will in favour of anyone of his inheritors"
Rights of Women: Before the advent of Islam, in most of the societies, women were not treated as human individuals, they were rather, treated as articles of property. Islam gave them honour and endowed them with human status.
In his last sermon Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah said;
"Fear Allah in your dealing with the women, you have
rights unto them and they have rights unto you."
End of Vengeance and Hatred: The most dangerous sentiments that cause disruption in human society are the sentiments of hatred and vengeance. Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah set an example of forgiveness, the like of which cannot be found in the entire human history. In his address of Hijjaht-ul-Wada', Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah said :
"All bloods shed in the days of Jahilah and their vengeance are void from this day. First of all I forgive the blood of my own family i.e., the blood of Rabia Bin Harith"
He added:
"All amounts accruing as interests on the loans advanced in the days of Jahiliah are hereby remitted, first of all I remit the interest on (my uncle) Abbas Bin Muttalib's But loans."
Reference for other rights: Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah's sermons of Hijjat-ul-Wada', like all his sermons, were very brief and comprehensive, obviously all the details of the matters could not be discussed in these sermons. Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah advised his followers to refer to the Holy Quran and the Sunnah for elaborate guidance,
He said:
"People! Listen to me attentively; I have communicated to you the message of Allah. Now I am leaving among you two things. You will not lose the right path until you will remain closely attached with these two things, i.e. the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of his Prophet (Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah.''
