Saudishia.com - 18 / 11 / 2009 - 10:49 am

"Islamic Discourse and Human rights" is another book by Sheikh Hasan Alsaffar in which he discusses the attitude of the contemporary Islamic discourse towards human rights issues. He, also, stresses the necessity of paying attention to such issues, and attaches the book with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration on the Rights of the Child and the Declaration of Human Rights in Islam.

Alsaffar believes that religious discourse in Arab society has a significant influence on individuals and the common conduct that are characterized with incapability and inefficiency; therefore, such discourse must be reviewed. He differentiated between the religious text and religious discourse. The religious text is everything proved that it was received by Allah the Almighty and his messenger Mohammad (PBUH) while religious discourse is what a religious leader comprehends from the religious text, and that is represented in religious verdicts and attitudes; however, these verdicts are not sacred and can be questioned. Unfortunately, most of Arab contemporary religious discourse is not presented by recognized religious leaders and scholars but by professional preachers regardless of their competence or integrity.

Sheikh Alsaffar attributes this incapability and inefficiency to the degradation of human rights in a way that Arabs became on the top of international human rights violations reports; not only politically but also socially. There is an intellectual terrorism that deprives people from their freedom of expression, discrimination against women, cruelty against children, and inferior look to the different others. As a result of this, many terroristic orientations emerged and practiced violence in the name of religion and defending the nation's sacred places and symbols; therefore, such type of discourse was subjected to accountability.

The author confirms that mankind throughout all of its ages suffered from perceptions that limit human dignity to a group of people, and that laid the basis for the justification of aggression and rights' violation. However, Qur'an condemns such perceptions and opinions, and warns the nation of Muslims from following them.

Alsaffar believes in the necessity of reviewing and re-examining some religious verdicts that are against dealing with non-Muslims and even with Muslims of different sects. He presents many Qur'anic verses that call for offering all types of services to all groups of people disregarding their race, religion, culture, etc, but unfortunately, this is not noted in the religious discourse.

Public religious speakers usually concentrate on the importance of performing religious rituals and avoiding committing sins, but they rarely speak about political, social and intellectual human rights. The author attributes this to two factors; a political one in which religious leaders and intellectuals avoid clashing with authorities and governments that practice political tyranny, and a social one that is represented in the control of the prevalent traditions and norms that religious leaders were not able of controlling them to limit the violations.

At the end of the book, Alsaffar emphasizes the significance of improving religious discourse as it is an essential requirement; not a marginal one, in order to achieve higher levels of human development and build the proper relationship for dealing with different others.