Portal: Islam and Human Rights
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While some modern Islamic scholars have struggled to reconcile Islam and modern, largely Western notions of human rights, the majority of traditional Islamic scholars today have generally defied what they perceive as a attempt at intellectual colonialism. The conflict between modern human rights doctrine and Islamic law can, for the most part, be understood as a product of their extreme historical and contextual distance. Whereas Islamic law was formulated in the harsh, unpredictable, and austere environment of 7th-9th century Arabia, modern Human rights doctrine is generally traced back to the European Enlightenment, starting especially with the English philosopher John Locke's ideas of natural rights in the 17th century.
Women
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Islamic law and doctrine holds women to be inferior to men in many respects, including in their intellect, their ability to serve as witnesses on topics other than female biology, ability to handle wealth, and ability to operate independently in society, among other things. While modernist Islamic movements have attempted to reconcile Islam with feminism, mainstream orthodox thought remains strictly antithetical. With some adjustments, Islamic law mandates the gender norms of 7th century Arabia.
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Rape, known in Islamic law as zina bil-ikrah or zina bil-jabr (literally "fornication by force"), is generally defined by Muslim jurists as forced intercourse by a man with a woman who is not his wife or slave and without her consent. As with enslaved females, according to Islamic law, married women are required to oblige their husbands sexual advances - raping one's wife is permissible. The concept of "rape" is thus deemed to be equally non-existent in the contexts of both marriage and slavery.
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Child marriage and sexual activity between adults and children are sanctioned by Islamic law and were practiced by Muhammad and his companions. The only restriction on sexual activity with children of any age within the contexts of marriage and slavery is that the child should not come to severe physical harm as a consequence of the encounter ("mental anguish", as such, is not considered, and consent is regardless irrelevant).
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Verse 4:34 of the Quran instructs men to, among other things, beat their wives "from whom [they] fear rebellion" or "disobedience". As a consequence, Islamic law sanctions and instructs wife-beating as a legitimate domestic disciplinary measure.
Other articles in this section
Minorities
Conscience
Corporal punishment
Modern movements and events