Protecting human rights
Islam provides many human rights for the individual. The following are some of these human rights that Islam protects.
The life and property of all citizens in an Islamic state are considered sacred, whether a person is Muslim or not. Islam also protects honor. So, in Islam, insulting others or making fun of them is not allowed. The Prophet Muhammad said: Truly your blood, your property, and your honor are inviolable.
Racism is not allowed in Islam, for the Qur’an speaks of human equality in the following terms Allah said:
Islam does not reject certain individuals or nations being favored because of their wealth, power or race. God created human beings as equals who are to be distinguished from each other only on the basis of their faith and piety. The Prophet Muhammad said: “O people! Your God is one and your forefather (Adam) is one. An Arab is not better than a non-Arab and a non-Arab is not better than an Arab, and a red (i.e., white tinged with red) person is not better than a black person and a black person is not better than a red person, except in piety”.
One of the major problems facing mankind today is racism. The developed world can send a man to the moon but cannot stop man from hating and fighting his fellow man.
Ever since the days of the Phrophet Muhammad, Islam has provided a vivid example of how racism can be ended. The annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to Makkah, Saudi Arabia, shows the real Islamic brotherhood of all races and nations, when about two million Muslims from all over the world come to Makkah to perform the pilgrimage.
Islam is a religion of justice. God has said:
And He has said: We should even be just with those who we hate, as God has said.
According to the Prophet Muhammad, “People, beware of injustice, for injustice shall be darkness on the Day of Judgment.
And those who have not gotten their rights (i.e., what they have is a just claim to) in this life will receive them on the Day of Judgment, as the Prophet said, “On the Day of Judgment, rights will be given to those to whom they are due (and wrongs will be redressed)…”
