Dignity
is a distinguishing characteristic of the human being, bestowed upon him by God.
Dr. Taha Jabir Al-`Alwani asserts “The dignity of a human being is the essence
of his humanity”. Dr. Al-`Alwani answers questions about violations against
human dignity in general and torture and abuse from an Islamic perspective in
specific.
Q.
How does Islam view torture?
A.
Allah the Almighty has honored human beings and made them vicegerents on earth
and responsible for conveying His revelation. Allah has put all of us through a
test in life to see which of us is best in action. The dignity of a human being
is the essence of his humanity, it is like a brain to the body; if the dignity
of human being is humiliated, his “humanity” is de facto debased. Therefore,
if we find a human being, regime or a party torturing someone, especially if a
prisoner or a captive, it means the torturer’s “animal qualities” have
dominated his human characteristics, and therefore, oppressed his human brother
who could have been in his shoe to torture him—and it might happen one day.
Torture
has been practiced by people since old times, during the struggle between the
truth and falsehood, since Adam (peace be upon him). As we know, Islam commenced
with Adam and ended with Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and all
Prophets of Allah, including Abraham (Ibrahim), Noah (Nuh),
Isaac (Is-haq), Moses (Musa), Jesus (`Isa), and Muhammad –
peace and blessings be upon them all, preached the same message - Islam. This
resembles a program of study where each “Prophet” gave a course and all
courses have been re-edited and published in one book revealed to Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him).
We
know that the two sons of Adam (peace and blessings be upon him) disputed with
each other as one of them was righteous while the other was deviant. When each
of them offered a sacrifice to Allah, it was accepted from the righteous, while
it was not accepted from the other. The deviant brother threatened his brother
with death, and then executed him, while the righteous brother said: [Surely I
wish that you should bear the sin committed against me and your own sin, and so
you would be of the inhabitants of the Fire, and this is the recompense of the
unjust.] (Al-Ma’idah 5:29)
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Torture
has been used by those who want to enslave human beings
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Therefore,
torture is a battle between truth and falsehood, Islam and disbelief. It has
been used by those who want to enslave human beings to make them bow down to
them, and when the latter refuse to surrender, the former resort to those acts
of humiliation and torture with in order to debase the human dignity.
Islam
considers all humans as one family, and if those torturers realize that they are
torturing their human brothers and sisters, they would never thought of doing
such a heinous act.
Islam
came when oppression and tyranny were rampant among people; yet, Islam elevated
the rank of human beings and established justice on earth, which is the most
important value that comes next to the belief in Allah.
So,
all these acts committed since Adam till the present time, are signs of the
ignorance and injustice people are suffering from nowadays. Torturing captives
and prisoners is a sign of the lack of moral values, justice and human dignity.
Q.
Is it justified in Islam to torture a prisoner or an accused person for the
purpose of getting information?
A.
This act is totally contradictory to justice and it is unacceptable by all
means. To force an accused or a prisoner to admit to something is not permitted
in Islam, nor is it acceptable from a human point of view. This act is only
accepted by people of no faith, oppressors and tyrants who want to convert
people into slaves. All faiths condemn this act. The history of Islam shows that
the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to tell the criminals who
came to him voluntarily admitting their crimes, to repent and seek forgiveness
from Allah.
Torturing
prisoners and the accused at the time of investigation in an attempt to make the
accused witness against his own self, are flagrant violations of human dignity.
Therefore,
it is the right of the judge to refuse all information got under duress and
force.
Q.
What is Islam’s position on international human rights?
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Islam
is a holy and sacred religion that cannot be viewed through the wrong
practices of some of its followers.
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A.
I think that all Muslims today are required to work in this field and to promote
any effort in this regard. Muslims have lost many of their human rights and
dignity, especially in many Arab and Muslim countries. Therefore, we need to
work together to restore some of these missed rights.
We
should work with all human rights organizations, even those ones that don’t
work from a religious point of view. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) used to say: “I witnessed a peace treaty conducted in the house of
`Abdullah Ibn Jud`an that even if I were invited to a similar alliance or treaty
in Islam, I would have welcomed the idea.” So, we need to promote any
organization that works in the filed of human rights.
Q.
How do we interpret violations carried out by Muslim leaders if we say that the
Islamic perspective of human rights is much more superior to the western one?
A.
Islam is a religion and a mission, and people implement it in different degrees.
While some people apply Islam in an excellent manner, others misrepresent Islam.
In no case should we blame Islam for the mistakes of its followers. Islam is a
holy and sacred religion that cannot be viewed through the wrong practices of
some of its followers.
Q.
Does Islam allow Muslims to behead civilians and prisoners of war?
A.
In principle, Islam forbids targeting civilians and those who don’t contribute
to the war. A Muslim fighter can only target those who attack him and waged war
against his country.
As
for civilians or those who oppose the war, it is unacceptable to kill them at
any case. That is why the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Muslim
Caliphs after him, used to advise the leaders of the Muslim army in all battles
not to kill monks, civilians, or whoever surrenders and decides to leave off the
battle. This is because fighting in the perspective of Islam is like a surgery
sought only as the last resort. Allah SWT commanded us to establish peace
entirely: {O you who believe! Enter into peace
whole-heartedly.} (Al-Baqarah 2:
208) Therefore, fighting is an exceptional case; if it happens, it has to be
limited to the warring parties.
Killing
captives is unjustifiable in the perspective of Islam, except in case of
retaliation or responding to the same tactic the enemy is using. If there is a
war between Muslims and non-Muslims and the non-Muslim army get used to kill
Muslim captives—only in this case it is allowed that captives be killed in
return, in conformity with Allah’s saying: (whoever then acts aggressively
against you, inflict injury on him according to the injury he has inflicted on
you and be careful (of your duty) to Allah and know that Allah is with those who
guard (against evil).) (Al-Baqarah 2: 194)
*Adapted
from a live dialogue session with Dr. Taha J. Al-`Alwani. To read the entire
session, click here.
