---
title: "Human Rights, Women & Justice in Islam | Model Diplomat"
description: "Examine the Quranic and prophetic foundations of human rights, the status of women, and social justice in Islam, framed for high scores in the CSS Islamic"
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/css-islamic-studies-human-rights-women-social-justice-in-islam"
---

[New](https://modeldiplomat.com/)

Human rights, women & social justice in Islam

Read 1 of 4

1/80 XP so far this lesson

Lesson 18 min 20 XP

# Human rights, women & social justice in Islam

CSS Islamic Studies: the Qur'anic and prophetic foundations of human rights, women's status and social justice, framed for Paper exam scoring.

## The Qur'anic Charter of Human Dignity

Islam grounds human rights not in social contract or state grant but in divine creation. The foundational verse is **Sūrah al-Isrā' 17:70** — *"Wa laqad karramnā banī Ādam"* ("We have indeed honoured the children of Adam") — which confers dignity (*karāmah*) on every human being irrespective of faith, race or status. The unity of humankind is asserted in **Sūrah al-Hujurāt 49:13**: humanity is created from a single male and female, organised into nations and tribes only *li-ta'ārafū* ("that you may know one another"), with nobility measured solely by *taqwā* (God-consciousness).

Five objectives — the *maqāsid al-sharī'ah* systematised by **Imām al-Ghazālī (d. 1111)** in *al-Mustasfā* and elaborated by **al-Shātibī (d. 1388)** in *al-Muwāfaqāt* — frame the Islamic theory of rights: preservation of *dīn* (religion), *nafs* (life), *'aql* (intellect), *nasl* (lineage/progeny) and *māl* (property). Every classical right maps onto one of these objectives.

## The Farewell Sermon as a Rights Document

The **Khutbat al-Wadā'** (Farewell Sermon), delivered by the Prophet Muhammad at 'Arafāt on **9 Dhū al-Hijjah 10 AH / March 632 CE**, is the canonical proof-text. It abolished racial superiority ("no Arab has superiority over a non-Arab except by piety"), declared the sanctity of life, property and honour, cancelled the blood-feuds and usury of the Jāhiliyyah, and enjoined good treatment of women as *amānah* (a trust). Candidates should be able to reproduce its clauses.

## Sanctity of Life and the Right to Justice

**Sūrah al-Mā'idah 5:32** equates the unjust killing of one soul with killing all humanity, and saving one life with saving all. The **Mīthāq al-Madīnah** (Constitution of Medina, 622 CE) — preserved by Ibn Ishāq — is the earliest written instance of a pluralist polity, granting the Jewish tribes of Medina a single *ummah* with the Muslims, freedom of religion (*li-l-yahūd dīnuhum*), and mutual defence. It is routinely cited as Islam's prototype of citizenship and minority rights.

Rights of non-Muslims (*dhimmah*) were secured by prophetic warning: "Whoever wrongs a *mu'āhad* (treaty-bound person)... I will be his adversary on the Day of Judgement" (Sunan Abū Dāwūd). The second caliph **'Umar ibn al-Khattāb** issued the *al-'Uhda al-'Umariyyah* guaranteeing the lives, churches and property of the people of Jerusalem in **637 CE**. Compare these with the **Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)** and the **Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (OIC, 1990)**, which restated rights within a Sharī'ah framework — a frequent comparative-essay axis.

One question, then back to the lesson

Ask about this lesson