Divine Religions and Human Dignity

Human history clearly shows that the divine prophets had been the first proclaimers of the fundamental rights and freedom of the human who regarded them as the will of God. Although some of the Western scholars claim that they originated human rights, dignity and freedom; however with a brief look at the existing laws in the divine religions, especially Islam, it will be understood that moral values and the protection of dignity have a long history within societies.

The concept of human rights in the divine religions is based on monotheistic principles, such as freedom, equality, brotherhood, peace, security, fulfilling obligations, respect for individual and social rights, unlike other approaches which are based on humanism. From the perspective of the revealed religions, absolute sovereignty over the world and humanity belongs to God and the aim of creation is the perfection of man in both of his dimensions, material and spiritual, this is while man’s attention is focused on the Originator of Creation. These religions regard human rights as necessary for the dignity of man. Principles such as freedom, equality, brotherhood, peace, security, fulfilling obligations, respect for individual and social rights and the rights of women, children and refugees are among the basic principles of monotheistic religions.

Islam, as the last divine religion, places great emphasis on dignity and regards the human as worthy of being the representative of God. According to Islamic belief. God breathed His spirit in man and commanded the angels to prostrate before him. God gave the precious gift of dignity to man, declaring: “Certainly We have honoured the Children of Adam” (17:70). This status is a source of honor and esteem, which God has given to all humans, religious and non-religions. This type of prestige is an inherent distinction that all humans have an equal share in.

There is another form of nobility in divine religions, which is known as acquired dignity. Humans are able to achieve a higher status than other creatures, even the favored angels, based on their efforts and obedience to the commands of God in respect to the rights of others. God says in the Holy Qur’an. “Indeed the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most Godwary among you” (49:13). In fact, humans have received their dignity from God Himself, Who is dignified, and to the extent that a person can be successful in attaining divine morality, they will enjoy more or less of this attribute.

Based on the inherent dignity of the human. God has provided rights for mankind. In today’s language, these are referred to as human rights. Some of the rights that have been mentioned in the divine religions are:

1. Freedom

The first thing that arises from human dignity is freedom of belief and choice.
If a human is forced to accept a belief, even a correct belief, his dignity has been suppressed and his human personality has been offended, and in the view of Islam, this belief which has not been achieved through free choice, is lacking in value and validity. In the view of Islam, all humans have been created free and have the right to live freely.

There are various types of freedoms; we will mention three of them briefly:

1) Human free will: is tied to the freedom of thought Since the human essence possesses free will it can choose the direction of its actions.

2) Social freedom: is the freedom of a person from the constraints and captivity of others. Here a person gains his social freedom from others; who are not supposed to act as obstacles on the way of his development confine him or block his activities, exploit him or enslave him, meaning that they do not use all of his physical and mental faculties for their own benefit. The lack of this type of freedom has been a problem for humanity throughout its history and one of the general aims of the prophets has been the provision of social freedom and the combatting of different forms of slavery.

3) Spiritual freedom: means that a person is free within himself and is not a servant and slave of sensual desires or passions that will lead him to worldliness, Therefore, this freedom is even more valuable and sacred than social freedom because the person is free from the constraints and captivity of himself. Spiritual freedom can only be achieved through faith and divine teachings. Faith and piety free a person from bondage and slavery to their desires and removes the rope of greed. lust, envy and resentment from their necks, and thus destroys the roots of rivalry and social slavery. Persons who are not slaves to wealth and position will also never become affected by rivalry or subjected to social slavery.

2.Security

Islam invites its followers to peace and reconciliation in social life and warns against following provocateurs and those who have gone astray. Islam condemns all terrorist acts and any killing of innocents at any place:
however legitimate defense against aggression is considered a necessity of life and Islam supports struggles of liberation by oppressed nations.

3.Equality

In Islam, all humans enjoy a set of equal and basic human rights that are essential to humanity and human dignity. Islam negates any discrimination arising from differences in colour or language. The Prophet (s) stated: The Arab has no superiority over the non-Arab nor the non-Arab over the Arab, and the white has no superiority over the black, nor the black over the white: except in virtue. (Mu‘jam  al-Kabir, vol. 18, p. 13) In Islam, all people are equal in their ability to become close to God and achieve prosperity. Woman, man, old, and young: all Muslims, even the Prophet, are equal in their divine and social duties, and all human beings are equal in terms of social rights.