Community is first in Islam, says expert<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Islam puts the community, and consequently the
\nstate, before the individual, leading Moslem thinker Munawir
\nSjadzali said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"From my understanding of Islam, the religion recognizes that
\nindividuals have rights, but when it comes to community and state
\naffairs, the rights of the community as a unit, or the state,
\nmust take precedence,\" said Munawir, chairman of the National
\nCommission on Human Rights and former religious affairs minister.<\/p>\n
Munawir spoke about Islam and human rights at the graduation
\nceremony of the Jakarta Muhammadiyah University, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
In his paper, he said there were differences between human
\nrights concepts in the West, which underlines the United Nations
\nHuman Rights Declaration, and in the Islamic world.<\/p>\n
The UN declaration is founded on the belief that individuals
\nare born with natural rights that cannot be taken away, he said.<\/p>\n
This belief crystallizes the intellectual thinking of Western
\npolitical philosophers such as John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau
\nand Thomas Jefferson.<\/p>\n
\"The obligations of individuals are given in order to protect
\ntheir natural rights,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The UN declaration is also colored by the principle that a
\ncommunity and a state is established chiefly to secure and
\nprotect the rights of the individual members or citizens.<\/p>\n
In Islam, an individual is born with obligations, Munawir
\nsaid. If later the individual is granted rights, this is because
\nthe individual cannot meet those obligations without rights.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, according to Islam, individual rights are not
\nnatural. They are given,\" he said, citing a Koranic verse which
\nstates that man and other beings were created solely to dedicate
\nthemselves to Allah.<\/p>\n
Munawir said Islam has a history of strong tolerance towards
\npeople of other faiths, such as in the early years of Islam in
\nMedina, Saudi Arabia, when Moslems coexisted peacefully with Jews
\nand non-believers.<\/p>\n
The harmony was based on what was then known as the Medina
\nCharter. But the Jewish betrayal of that charter later sowed the
\nseeds of enmity between Moslems and Jews.<\/p>\n
This eroded the spirit of tolerance among Moslems, and began
\nthe shift towards a more exclusive community.<\/p>\n
This is why even in today's modern age, there are still many
\nIslamic intellectuals who feel that in an Islamic state, only
\nMoslems should enjoy full political rights, Munawir said. (emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/community-is-first-in-islam-says-expert-1447893297",
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