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The Quran very firmly guarantees all fundamental human rights, without reserving them for men alone. These rights are so deeply rooted in our humanness that their denial or violation is tantamount to a negation or degradation of that which makes us human. These rights came into existence with us, so that we might actualize our human potential. These rights not only provide us with the opportunity to develop all of our inner resources, but they also hold before us a vision of what Allah would like us to be, what Allah deems to be worth striving for. The renunciation of an Allah-given right would be no more virtuous than the refusal to utilize a Allah-given talent.
The first and most basic right emphasized by the Quran is the right to be regarded in a way that reflects the sanctity and absolute value of each human life. Each person has the right not only to life but also to respect, not by virtue of being a man or a woman, but by virtue of being a human being. {Verily..} states the Quran: {We have honored every human being.} [Quran 17:70] Human beings are deemed worthy of esteem because, of all creation, they alone chose to accept the "trust" of freedom of the will [Quran 33: 72] Human beings can exercise freedom of the will because they possess the rational faculty, which is what distinguishes them from all other creatures [Quran 2:30-34] Although human beings can become {The lowest of the low} the Quran declares that they have been made {In the best of moulds.} [Quran 95: 4-6], having the ability to think, to have knowledge of right and wrong, to do the good and to avoid the evil. Thus, on account of the promise which is contained in being human, namely, the potential to be Allah's vicegerent on earth, the humanness of all human beings is to be respected and considered an end in itself.
Flowing from this primary right is the right to be treated with justice and equity. The Quran puts great emphasis on the right to seek justice and the duty to do justice. Justice encompasses both the concept that all are equal and recognition of the need to help equalize those suffering from a deficiency or loss.
Yet justice is not absolute equality of treatment, since human beings are not equal as far as their human potential or their human situation is concerned. While each person's humanness commands respect, the Quran also establishes the right to recognition of individual merit. Merit depends not on gender or any other characteristic, but only on righteousness. Righteousness consists of "just belief" plus "just action," including faith, prayer, wealth-sharing, equitable and compassionate behavior, and patience in the face of hardship or difficulty.
Of importance to women in the Muslim world today is the Quranic idea that justice takes into account the unequal conditions of different groups of people. This idea stems from the Quranic ideal of community, or "Ummah," a word deriving from the root "Umm," meaning mother. Like a good mother with her children, the good community cares about the well-being of all its members, offering particular support to the downtrodden, oppressed, and "weak" classes. This includes women, slaves, orphans, the poor and infirm, and minorities.
As discussed earlier, another fundamental right is the right to be free of traditionalism and authoritarianism. Instrumental here is the right to seek knowledge, which the Quran emphasizes perhaps more than any other right. Acquiring knowledge is a prerequisite for evaluating the conditions of life and working toward the creation of a just world. Denied knowledge, Muslim women are denied justice.
Additionally, with great implications for the status of Muslim women, human beings possess the right to work, to earn, and to own property. This right is not the monopoly of men. In Islam, everything belongs to Allah, not to any person, and so every human being has the right to a means of living. Given the Quran's recognition of women as persons in their own right and not as adjuncts to men, the right to earn a living is of great importance to women, and the Quran entitles both women and men to the fruits of their labors.
Human beings also have the right to develop their aesthetic sensibilities and the right not only to survive but to thrive, to enjoy "the good life." This requires self-actualization or development, which is not possible without social justice. Not only an end in themselves, women's rights are a basic component of social justice and a fundamental aspect of creating a just society, in which all people can actualize their Allah-given potential.
It is often said that rights entail responsibility, meaning the responsibility not to use rights to justify destructive behavior. Rights also entail another kind of responsibility: the duty not to neglect them. Rights given to us by Allah ought to be exercised, since everything that Allah does is for "a just purpose," as pointed out by a number of Quranic verses.
In short, as beings in a covenantal relationship with Allah, we must strive to secure and guard the rights which Allah has given us and which, therefore, cannot be revoked by any temporal authority.
