Islam has two great aims: first, to worship Allah, who has no peer and no equal; second, to treat all of His creation — and above all the human being — with goodness. This sermon examines the weight our religion places upon human rights, starting from the occasion of revelation of the equality verse (Al-Hujurat 49:13), and moving through the rights to life, property, women's rights, and religious freedom — all in the light of the universal declarations of the Farewell Sermon.
The Equality Verse and the Incident of Thabit ibn Qays
The Companion Thabit ibn Qays, finding no seat opened for him in the Prophet's gathering, insulted the man who refused with the words "O son of such-and-such a woman." The Prophet (peace be upon him) turned to him and said: "Look at the faces in this gathering." Thabit looked and said: "I see white, black, and red faces." The Prophet replied: "You cannot prefer them one over the other by saying, 'This is black, an Arab; this is white, a non-Arab.' You may only say that people are virtuous according to their religion and their God-consciousness." Upon this, the thirteenth verse of Surah Al-Hujurat was revealed:
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقۡنَٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلۡنَٰكُمۡ شُعُوبٗا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓاْۚ إِنَّ أَكۡرَمَكُمۡ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ أَتۡقَىٰكُمۡ
— Surah Al-Hujurat 49:13O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes that you may know one another. The most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is the most God-conscious of you.
In another tradition the Prophet summarised the same truth with a different image: "Allah does not look at your outward forms or your wealth; He looks at your hearts and your deeds." (Sahih Muslim, al-Birr, no. 2564) The astonishment of Quraysh notables such as Harith ibn Hisham, when Bilal climbed upon the Ka'bah to call the adhan at the Conquest of Makkah — "Look where this black slave has climbed!" — shows just how deeply colour-based superiority had taken root in pre-Islamic Arabia. The Prophet had given the task to Bilal because his voice was beautiful and his faith sincere — the measure was qualification, never lineage or colour.
The Right of Allah and the Right of People
Islam divides rights into two: first and greatest is the right of Allah; the second is the rights of human beings. The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not want any believer to stand before Allah while still owing the rights of people. When asked to perform the funeral prayer, he would inquire whether the deceased had any unpaid debt; if no wealth remained to settle it, he would refrain from the prayer, thus encouraging the wealthy to step forward and clear the debt. The Companion Abu Qatadah's pledge to pay one such debt — after which the Prophet performed the prayer — is the best-known example of this stringency (Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Hawalat, no. 2289).
The limit of this concern is reflected in a striking warning:
لَتُؤَدُّنَّ الْحُقُوقَ إِلَى أَهْلِهَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، حَتَّى يُقَادَ لِلشَّاةِ الْجَلْحَاءِ مِنَ الشَّاةِ الْقَرْنَاءِ
— Sahih Muslim, al-Birr, no. 2582On the Day of Resurrection, rights will surely be returned to those entitled to them, until even the hornless sheep is given retribution against the horned one.
The closing phrase of this hadith provides the most encompassing definition of human rights — if the right of even an animal will not be lost, what then of the right of a human being?
The Right to Life
The right to life stands at the head of all human rights. In the Qur'an's own language, one who kills a single life is as if he has killed all humanity:
مَن قَتَلَ نَفۡسَۢا بِغَيۡرِ نَفۡسٍ أَوۡ فَسَادٖ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعٗا وَمَنۡ أَحۡيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَآ أَحۡيَا ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعٗا
— Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:32Whoever kills a soul, unless for retribution or to spread corruption in the land — it is as if he had slain all of humanity. And whoever saves a life, it is as if he had saved all of humanity.
The principle of qisas — equivalent retribution — is the strongest guardian of the right to life:
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيۡكُمُ ٱلۡقِصَاصُ فِي ٱلۡقَتۡلَىٰ
— Surah Al-Baqarah 2:178O you who believe! The law of equality in retribution has been prescribed for you in the case of murder.
The Prophet declared that the very first matter to be judged among people on the Day of Resurrection will be cases of bloodshed (Sahih Muslim, al-Qasamah, no. 1678). Suicide too is a violation of this right; the Prophet described in plain words the punishment prepared for one who takes his own life in the Hereafter.
The Qur'an also explicitly affirms the inborn nobility of the human being:
وَلَقَدۡ كَرَّمۡنَا بَنِيٓ ءَادَمَ وَحَمَلۡنَٰهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡبَرِّ وَٱلۡبَحۡرِ وَرَزَقۡنَٰهُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ وَفَضَّلۡنَٰهُمۡ عَلَىٰ كَثِيرٖ مِّمَّنۡ خَلَقۡنَا تَفۡضِيلٗا
— Surah Al-Isra' 17:70Indeed, We have honoured the children of Adam, and carried them on the land and the sea, and provided for them from the wholesome things, and preferred them above much of what We have created with a marked preference.
Property Rights, Women's Rights, and Religious Freedom
Everyone has the right to own property; no one is entitled to take what belongs to another. The Qur'an forbids unjust gain in clear terms:
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَا تَأۡكُلُوٓاْ أَمۡوَٰلَكُم بَيۡنَكُم بِٱلۡبَٰطِلِ إِلَّآ أَن تَكُونَ تِجَٰرَةً عَن تَرَاضٖ مِّنكُمۡ
— Surah An-Nisa' 4:29O you who believe! Do not consume one another's wealth unjustly, but only through lawful trade by mutual consent.
The transformation Islam brought to the status of women is among its most radical reforms. In pre-Islamic Arabia women were bought and sold like property, and infant daughters were buried alive. Islam restored to women the right to own property, the right to inherit, and the right to legal capacity. At the Farewell Sermon, the Prophet drew particular attention to this issue: "O people, fear Allah concerning women. You received them as a trust from Allah, and made them lawful unto yourselves by Allah's word. You have rights over them and they have rights over you." (Sahih Muslim, al-Hajj, no. 1218)
The recompense for good action is granted without distinction between man and woman:
مَنۡ عَمِلَ صَٰلِحٗا مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوۡ أُنثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤۡمِنٞ فَلَنُحۡيِيَنَّهُۥ حَيَوٰةٗ طَيِّبَةٗ
— Surah An-Nahl 16:97Whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, while being a believer, We will surely cause him to live a good life.
Religious freedom stands among Islam's clearest principles:
لَآ إِكۡرَاهَ فِي ٱلدِّينِ
— Surah Al-Baqarah 2:256There is no compulsion in religion.
The Messengers' duty is only to communicate, not to coerce. Allah commands the Prophet: "So remind them; you are only a reminder. You are not over them a controller" (Al-Ghashiyah 88:21-22). The Prophet's work is to set the truth before hearts — never to force entry into them.
Stories from the Tradition
The Farewell Sermon — The First Universal Declaration of Human Rights
In the tenth year after the hijrah, at the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet (peace be upon him) delivered the first comprehensive declaration of human rights in world history to roughly one hundred and twenty thousand Companions on the plain of Arafat. "O people, just as this month of Dhu al-Hijjah, this city of Makkah, and this day of Eid are sacred, so too are your blood, your wealth, and your honour sacred to one another." He continued: "No Arab has superiority over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab; no white over a black, nor a black over a white — superiority is only by taqwa." This sentence is the practical application of Al-Hujurat 49:13 — declared fourteen centuries before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Umar ibn al-Khattab and the Son of the Governor of Egypt
The justice of Caliph Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) made him a guardian of the rights even of non-Muslims. It is narrated that the son of Amr ibn al-As, the governor of Egypt, lost a race to a Coptic youth and lashed him in anger, saying "You dare to beat me? I am the son of the noblest of the Arabs!" When word reached Umar, the Caliph had the Coptic youth take the very same whip and strike the governor's son an equal number of times. Then he uttered his famous sentence: "Since when have you enslaved people, when their mothers gave birth to them as free?" The inborn freedom of the human being finds in Umar's words a single sharp ruling.
Bilal's Call to Prayer atop the Ka'bah on the Day of the Conquest
On the day Makkah fell to the Muslims, the Prophet ordered Bilal to climb upon the Ka'bah and call the adhan. Bilal obeyed at once. The Qurayshi notables watched in astonishment. One turned to Harith ibn Hisham and said, "Don't you see, this black slave has climbed up there?" Another remarked, "It is well that my father did not live to see this day." Their astonishment portrays just how deeply the belief in colour and lineage had taken hold — and how forcefully it was being broken. On a day when the question of who would call the adhan over the rooftops of Makkah was open, Allah gave the privilege to Bilal, a former slave — the visual expression of the divine lesson of equality.
The "Bankrupt" Hadith — Rights of People in the Hereafter
The Prophet (peace be upon him) once asked his Companions: "Do you know who is bankrupt?" They said: "To us, the bankrupt is the one who has neither money nor wealth left." The Prophet replied:
— Sahih Muslim, al-Birr, no. 2581"The bankrupt of my Ummah is the one who comes on the Day of Resurrection with prayer and zakat — but who insulted one, slandered another, devoured the wealth of another, shed the blood of another, and struck yet another. So his good deeds will be distributed to each of them. And if his good deeds run out before the rights are paid, the sins of his victims will be heaped upon him, and then he will be cast into the Fire."
This hadith portrays in the most vivid terms how the rights of people transform into an immense reckoning in the Hereafter. A believer who in this world thinks he has prayed and given zakat — but who has consumed the rights of others — will, the instant he sees his good deeds being distributed away, understand the meaning of bankruptcy.
Putting Human Rights Into Practice With VAAZ
The 99 Beautiful Names of Allah collection in the VAAZ app presents Allah's names Al-Adl (the absolutely Just), Al-Hakam (the Judge), and Al-Karim (the Most Generous) as the divine ground for this subject. For believers concerned about the rights of others, the supplication archive holds prayers of repentance and istighfar to recite as a daily practice. For deeper context, see the Sermon on the Sacred Trust and the Sermon on Forgiveness.
The rights of people are a trust before Allah. If we leave a single creditor unpaid in this world, no wealth, no lineage, and no influence will avail us on the Day no soul can speak. We ask Allah not to bring us before His presence carrying the rights of others, and to grant us a life of lawful earning.
References
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Hujurat 49:13.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:32.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Baqarah 2:178 and 2:256.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Isra' 17:70.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah An-Nisa' 4:29.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah An-Nahl 16:97.
- The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Ghashiyah 88:21-22.
- Sahih Muslim, Book of al-Birr wa as-Silah, hadith no. 2581 (The bankrupt person) and 2582 (The hornless sheep).
- Sahih Muslim, Book of al-Hajj, hadith no. 1218 (The Farewell Sermon).
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of al-Hawalat, hadith no. 2289 (The funeral prayer of the indebted).