Islamic Law

This paper advances a framework for the evaluation of Sharia (Islamic law) with respect to the modern notion of international human rights law. The paper argues that certain universal standards of human rights and freedoms, as understood and formulated in international human rights documents, lack precise equivalents in Islamic law, and some generally-accepted principles of Sharia contradict corresponding principles of international human rights law. Sharia's response to the idea of human rights and traditional interpretation of Islamic law are hard to reconcile with international human rights norms and standards. It is also argued that the application of Sharia, public and criminal law in particular, is problematic and results in deficiencies and hardship in Muslim societies. This paper contributes to the debate on Islamic reformism and human rights in arguing that Sharia's contradiction of universal human rights norms cannot be avoided, and that traditional mechanisms of reform within the framework of Sharia are inadequate for achieving the necessary degree of reform. It is suggested that, based on a cross-cultural dialogue and intellectual debate, an essential and primary reform should define the objective foundations of human rights in reason and human dignity, not on Sharia criteria and qualifications.

International Human rights, especially women rights, in today's world is one of the main challenges of the Islamic world with International Law. In fact, one of the great allegation against Islam is about the violation of women rights in Islamic law. This is while in Islam, Human – even man or woman- is considered equal by specification of the verses of the Qur'an like” Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you” (al-hujurat/13). Islam however also recognizes that such equality does not mean that men and women are the same. It notes their different physical and emotional strengths and in view of this sets out their key roles in life. In this framework, the purpose of this article is to assess the misinterpretations of international women rights about some Islamic views toward women rights. This article’s objective is to highlight connections between the basic tenets of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the nature of Islam-based reservations. Also, it assess the question of the compatibility of the Sharia with modern international human rights law. Because it is a subject of enormous complexity and variation, detailed examination is restricted to two highly contentious subjects of Islamic family law – polygamy and the Divorce within Islam. The results show that the dispute between Islam and the West over human rights is not a conflict in dialectics but of perspectives, So that Islamic doctrines are compatible with modem norms regarding human rights. Likewise, the divergence between these two worlds are not fundamental clash, but actually the disagreement can be viewed as a cultural dialogue.