ISSUES OF COMPATIBILITY HUMAN RIGHTS AND ISLAM: The Experience of Egypt and Indonesia

Sus Eko Ernada

Abstract


This paper describes the plurality of Muslim responses to the modern conce­p­tion of human rights, drawing in particular on Muslim interpretations of key human rights issues in the dis­cour­se of human rights and Islam -women’s rights, reli­gious free­dom and minority rights, and corporal punishment- in Egypt and Indonesia. The case stu­dies of Egypt and Indonesia point to wide range of responses among Muslims to these issues, but also suggest that Islam is not incompatible with the modern conception of human rights. This paper argues that on the issues of human rights, Muslims do not share a single, monolithic stance. Instead, there is a variety of arguments based on various Islamic schools of thought and Islamic reli­gious groups. As a result, the issues of human rights and their implementation have elicited a wide range of responses among Muslims.


Keywords


Human rights; Indonesia; Egypt; Shariah; ijtihad

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abdillah, M. “Theological responses to the concepts of democracy and human rights: the case of the contemporary Indonesian Muslim intellectual”, Studia Islamika: Indonesian Journal for Islamic Studies, Vol. 3, No.1 (1996): pp. 1–32.

Ajami, F. “In the Pharaoh’s shadow: religion and authority in Egypt”, in J.P. Piscatori (ed.). Islam in the Political Process. Cambridge: Cam¬bridge University Press in association with Royal Institute of international Affairs, 1983: pp. 14–19.

Al-Asmawy, M.S. L’Islamisme contre L’Islam, translated by R. Jac¬que-mond. Paris La Ecouverte and Cairo: Edition La Fikr, 1989.

An-Na’im, A.A. Towards an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights and International Law. New York: Syracuse, 1990.

Badran, M. “Competing Agenda: Feminists, Islam and the State in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Egypt”, in D. Kandiyoti (ed.). Women, Islam, and the State. London: Macmillan, 1991: pp. 201–36.

Bauer, J.R. and Bell, D.A. (eds.). The Asian Challenge for Human Rights. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Bielefeldt, H. “Muslim Voices in the Human Rights Debate”, Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 4 (1995): pp. 587–617.

Brumberg, D. “Islamists and the Politics of Consensus”, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 13, No. 3 (2002): pp. 110–15.

Dalacoura, K. Islam Liberalism and Human Rights: Implications for International Relations. London: I.B Tauris, 1998.

Dzuhayatin, S.R. “Women, Globalization and Spirituality”, Islamic Millennium Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2001): pp. 130–34.

Eickelman, D. and Piscatori, J. Muslim Politics. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1996.

Esposito, John L. and J.O. Voll. Islam and Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Falaakh, M.F. “Nahdlatul Ulama and Civil Society in Indonesia”, in Nakamura Mitsuo, et. al. (eds), Islam and Civil Society in Southeast Asia. Pasir Panjang Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2001: pp. 33-42.

Fernea, E.W. In Search of Islamic Feminism: One Woman’s Global Journey. New York: Doubleday, 1998.

Guenena, N. and N. Wassef. Unfulfilled Promises: Women’s Rights in Egypt. Cairo: West Asia and North Africa Regional Office, Population Council, 1999.

Halliday, F. Islam and the Myth of Confrontation. London: I B Tauris, 2003.

Hasan, B.E. “Toward human rights enforcement in the Arab world: a comprehensive strategy”, in Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (eds.). Islam and Justice: Debating the Future of Human Rights in the Middle East and North Africa. New York: Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, 1997: pp. 147–69.

Hatem, M. “The enduring alliance of nationalism and patriarchy in Muslim personal status laws: the case of modern Egypt”, Feminist Issues, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1986): pp. 19–43.

Hefner, R.W. “Public Islam and the Problem of Democratisation”, Sociology of Religion, Vol. 62, No. 4 (2001): pp. 491–515.

Hicks, N. “Does Islamist Human Rights Activism Offer a Remedy to the Crisis of Human Rights Implementation in the Middle East?”, Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 2 (2002): pp. 361–81.

Hooker, M.B. Indonesian Islam Social Change through Contemporary Fatwa, Honolulu: ASAA in Association with Allen & Unwin and University of Hawaii Press, 2003.

Istiadah, “Muslim Women in Contemporary Indonesia: Investigating Paths to Resist the Patriarchal System”, CSES, Working Paper No 91, Clayton: Monash University, 1995.

Kepel, G. Muslim Extremism in Egypt: the Prophet and Pharaoh, translated by J. Rothschild. London: al-Saqi Books, 1985.

Khalil, M. The Copts in the Immigration Countries: a Field Study of the Troubles of the Home Country and Citizenship, Cairo: Dar-Al Khayal, 1999.

Kull, A. Modern Interpretation of Islamic History in the Indonesian Context: the Case of Nurcholish Madjid, Paper presented at the Fifth Nordic Conference on Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University 25–28 October 2001.

Madjid, Nurcholis. “Cita-Cita Politik Kita”, in Aspirasi Umat Islam Indonesia, Jakarta: LAPPENNAS, 1983.

----------. “HAM, Pluralisme Agama and Integrasi Nasional: Antara Konsepsi dan Aktualisasi,” in Anshari Thayib, et. al. HAM dan Pluralisme Agama. Surabaya, Indonesia: PKSK, 1997.

Mas’udi, M.F. “Reinterpreting Islamic Teaching on Women”, in Forum for Islam and the Advancement of Women, Jakarta, 1994.

Monshipouri, M. Islamism, Secularism and Human Rights in the Middle East. Boulder: Lynn Reiner Publisher, 1998.

Moosa, E. “The Dilemma of Islamic Rights Schemes”, Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 15, No. 1–2 (2000/2001): pp. 185–215.

Nasr, S.H. The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity. New York: Harper San Francisco, 2002.

Orentlicher, D.F. Human Rights in Indonesia and East Timor. Washington, DC: The Asia Watch Committee, 1989.

Ramage, D.E. Politics in Indonesia: Democracy, Islam and the Ideology of Tolerance. London: Routledge, 1995.

Sadzali, Munawir. “Reaktualisasi Ajaran Islam” in Iqbal Abdurrauf Saimima (ed.), Polemik Reaktualisasi Ajaran Islam. Jakarta: Pustaka Panjimas, 1988.

----------. “Penegakan HAM dalam Pluralisme Agama: Tinjauan Konsepsional” in Anshari Thayib, et. al. HAM dan Pluralisme Agama, pp. 49-56.

----------. Islam and Governmental System: Teachings, History and Reflections. Jakarta: INIS, 1991.

Silas. “The Punishment for Apostasy in Islam.” Available online at http://answering-islam.org.uk/Silas/apostasy.htm [accessed on 11 March 2003], 2003.

Strawson, P.F. Entity and Identity: and Other Essays. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Tibi, B. Islam between Culture and Politics. New York: Palgrave, 2001.

Talbi, M. “Religious Liberty: a Muslim Perspective”, in Conscience and Liberty, 31 (1991).

Talhami, G. The Mobilization of Muslim Women in Egypt. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press, 1996.

Van Bruinessen, M. “Genealogies of Islamic Radicalism in Post-Suharto Indonesia”, South East Asia Research, Vol. 10, No. 2 (2002): pp. 117–54.

Wahid, A. “Hukum Pidana Islam dan Hak-Hak Asasi Manusia” in Muslim Di tengah Pergumulan. Jakarta: LAPPENAS, 1983: pp. 94–100.

----------. “Islam, Politics and Democracy in the 1950s and 1990s”, in D. Bourchier and J. Legge (eds), Democracy in Indonesia 1950s and 1990s. Clayton: Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1994.

----------. “Indonesia’s Mild Secularism”, SAIS Review, Vol. 21, No. 2 (2001): pp. 25–28.

Woodward, M. “Indonesia, Islam and the Prospect for Democracy”, SAIS Review, Vol. 21, No. 2 (2001): pp. 29–37.

Yadlin, R. “Militant Islam in Egypt: some Socio-cultural Aspects”, in G.R. Warburg and U.M. Kupferschmidt (eds.), Islam, Nationalism and Radicalism in Egypt and the Sudan. New York: Praeger, 1983: pp. 161–79.

Yafie, A. “Women’s Status and Leadership” in Forum for Islam and the Advancement of Women, Islam and the Advancement of Women. Jakarta, 1994.

Electronic Sources

Amnesty International. Egypt, London: Amnesty International, 2003. Available online at http://web.amnesty.org/library/eng-egy/-index [accessed on 27 August 2003].

Amnesty International. Indonesia, London: Amnesty Inter¬national, 2003. Available online at http://web.amnesty.org/lib¬ra¬ry/eng¬-idn/index [accessed on 27 August 2003].

Freedom House. Annual Report, Washington, DC: Freedom House, 2003. Available online at http://www.freedomhouse.org/ra-tings/ [accessed on 14 May 2003].

Hikam, A.S. “Islam and Human Rights: Tensions and Possible Cooperation: the Case of Indonesia” in http://www.asiafonad-tion.org/publications/rpt_othe1.htm#Islamic (accessed 05 May ¬2003).

Tibi, B. “Indonesia, a Model for the Islamic Civilization in Transition to the 21st Century”, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 27 October 1995. Translated version available online at http://www.arches.¬uga.edu/~godlas/tibi.html [accessed on 14 May 2003].

US Department of State. ‘Egypt’, International Religious Freedom Report 2003, Washington, DC: US Department of State, 2003. Available online at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/¬rls/¬irf/-2002/¬13994.htm [accessed on 11 May 2003].

----------. “Indonesia”, International Religious Freedom Report 2003, Washing¬ton, DC: US Department of State, 2003. Available online at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2002/13994.htm [accessed on 11 May 2003].

----------. Country Report on Human Rights Practices, Washington, DC: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US Depart-ment of State, 2003. Available online at http://www.¬state.¬-gov/¬www/global/¬human_rights/hrp_reports_mainhp.html [acces¬sed on 27 August 2003].

Wahid, A. “Religious Pluralism: Democratisation in Indonesia—an Assessment”, in Democratization in Indonesia. Stockholm: IDEA, 2003. Available online at http://www.idea.int/publica¬tions/-de¬mo¬cratization_in_indonesia/11_religious_pluralism.pdf [acces¬sed 27 August 2003].

Newspapers and Reports

“Indonesian Muslims Vote on Secular Lines: Poll”. Reuters, 19 November 2003.

“Police Arrest Paramilitary Muslim Leader in Surabaya”. Jakarta Post, 5 May 2001.

“Remembering Egypt’s Cassandra”. Cairo Times, 9 January 2002.

Al Ahram Weekly, 17–23 April 1997. Available online at http://www. weekly.ahram.org.eg/ [accessed on 27 November 2003].

PBNU and Lajnah Ta’lif Wan Nasir. Hasil-Hasil Musyawarah Nasional Alim Ulama dan Konferensi Besar Nahdlatul Ulama, Tanggal 16-20 Rajab 1418/H 17-21 Nopember 1997 M, di Pondok Pesantren Qamarul Huda Desa Bagu, Prngrata, Lombok Tengah Nusa Tenggara Barat. Jakarta: Sekteratiat Jenderal PBNU dan Lajnah Ta’lif Wan Nasir, January 1998.

The Economist, 5 March 1994. Available online at http://www.econo-mist.com/ [accessed on 13 August 2003].




DOI: 10.15642/JIIS.2007.1.1.100-134

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.




Indexed by:

    

Creative Commons License

View My Stats

Journal of Indonesian Islam (ISSN 1978-6301 and E-ISSN 2355-6994) is published by the Postgraduate Program (PPs) and the Institute for the Study of Religion and Society (LSAS), State Islamic University (UIN) of Sunan Ampel Surabaya.

Journal of Indonesian Islam by http://jiis.uinsby.ac.id/index.php/JIIs/index is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Copyright ©2020 State Islamic University (UIN) of Sunan Ampel Surabaya. Powered by Public Knowledge Project OJS.