Subjects 2008
Islam and Human Rights 730846
- Credited Courses: Graduate Diploma in Asian Law 726; Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law 636; Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law 636; Graduate Diploma in International Law 323; Graduate Diploma in International Law 323; Graduate Diploma in Islamic Legal Studies 892; Graduate Diploma in Legal Studies L08; Graduate Diploma in Transnational Law 333; Graduate Diploma in Transnational Law 333; Master of Law and Development 635; Master of Law and Development 635; Master of Laws (LLM) 502; Master of Laws (LLM) 502; Master of Laws by Coursework (LLM) 502; Master of Legal Systems 890; Master of Legal Systems 890; Master of Public and International Law 511; Master of Public and International Law 511
Objectives
A candidate who has successfully completed the subject should:
- Have an understanding of the Islamic foundations of human rights
- Comprehend the cultural relativist arguments in the Islamic context
- Have a critical engagement with key contemporary Islamic legal issues
- Examine specific human rights doctrines in Islam
- Recognise various methodologies and interpretative strategies in determining Islamic human rights
- Critically examine the application of international human rights standards in the context of Islamic societies
- Distinguish between political positions and sacred sources relating to Islamic human rights.
Syllabus
This subject will provide an insight into contemporary debates relating to Islamic concepts of human rights and their relationship with international human rights law. It will examine key areas of divergence between ‘Islam’ and ‘Western’ human rights thought and practice using Islamic textual sources and classical and current interpretative strategies. Selected contemporary Islamic legal issues and debates will be analysed, within the contexts of postcolonialism and Orientalist critiques. A comprehensive analysis of the sources and main methodologies of Islamic law (sya’riah) will be provided.
Some of the key issues covered will be:
- Contemporary ‘Islam’ and the ‘West’
- Issues of human rights and democracy in Islam
- Cultural relativism and Islamic human rights
- Law and Islamic feminism
- Diasporic Muslim communities in the non-Muslim world.
