Adamiyyah (humanity) and ‘ismah (inviolability): Humanity as the ground for universal human rights in Islamic law

Research output: Book/ReportCommissioned reportpeer-review

Abstract

How would you describe the engagement between the Islamic tradition and the human rights discourse? A legal maxim in Islamic law states, “the right to inviolability (Ismah) is due for humanity (adamiyyah).” This right to inviolability includes inviolability of life, property, religion, mind (freedom of expression), family, and honor. All Hanafi (a rite of Islamic jurisprudence)124 jurists uphold this perspective, as do “universalist” jurists in other rites of Islamic jurisprudence. Thus, according to this perspective, simply being human is sufficient to possess human rights regardless of innate, inherited, and gained attributes such as sex, religion, race, and nationality.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2018
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameAtlantic Council

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