Hartford Seminary Summer online course 2018 Course title: Islam and Human Rights Instructor: Seyfeddin Kara Course description: There has been a tension between Islam and Human Rights theory as both present themselves as value systems that are applicable universally. This course will try to understand the nature of the tension through examining various debates on the subject, and explore the possibility of reconciliation of Islam and Human Rights theory. Upon examining the theoretical issues, the course will focus on some of the Sunni and Shiʿi legal concepts that may provide a framework for reconciliation between Islam and Human Rights. Finally, it will focus on some practical issues such as ḥudūd (fixed Islamic punishments), women s rights, minority rights, and religious freedom. The readings (excluding Conor Gearty s Can Human Rights Survive?) will be provided by the instructor so no need to purchase any texts. Course Structure: The class will run for an intensive period of seven weeks. All the work for the course will be due during the seven weeks of study; no assignments will be due after the course concludes. Some of the course readings will be possible to complete before the start of the course, but other than that, all work will be assigned and completed during the seven weeks of the course. None of the assignments and study materials for the course will require participants to log into the system at a specific time of day. However, students will have specific days of the week when assignments of a particular kind are due. The schedule for the class will provide a repeating, weekly pattern. Students who may need to interrupt the pattern for travel or other commitments will need to make specific arrangements with the instructors. 1
Assignments and Assessments: There will be two main kinds of assignments, both of which will bring students into interactions with each other and with the instructor: The first assignment, the Weekly Reaction Paper will require students to write a short essay of 700 words in reaction to the material for the week. The assignment will also require students to engage substantively two fellow students. Interaction with other students is compulsory. The second assignment, the final paper will require students to write a 2000-word essay and submit it on the last day of the course. Grading: Weekly Reaction Paper: 50% Final Paper: 50% Required Texts: Ann Elizabeth Mayer, Islam and Human Rights: Tradition and Politics (Westview Press, 2013) Abdulaziz Sachedina, Islam and the Challenge of Human Rights (Oxford University Press, 2009) Conor Gearty, Can Human Rights Survive? (Cambridge University Press, 2005) Pre-readings: Conor Gearty, Can Human Rights Survive? (Cambridge University Press, 2005) Marie Juul Petersen, Islam and human rights: Clash or compatibility? http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionpublicsphere/2016/10/islam-and-human-rights-clash-orcompatibility/ Note: Students should read these texts before the start of the course. Week 1: Are Islam and human rights compatible? 2
- John Strawson, A Western Question to The Middle East: "Is There A Human Rights Discourse In Islam?" Arab Studies Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Winter 1997), pp. 31-58. - Michael Freeman The Problem of Secularism in Human Rights Theory, Human Rights Quarterly, 26, 2 (2004), pp. 375-400. - Mohammad Saeed Bahmanpour, Religion of Human Rights and Other Religions Are They Compatible? https://www.al-islam.org/articles/religion-human-rights-other-religions-are-theycompatible-shaykh-bahmanpour Week 2: The Clash of Universalisms -Abdulaziz Sachedina, Islam and the Challenge of Human Rights pp. 3-41 -Michael J. Perry, Are Human Rights Universal? The Relativist Challenge and Related Matters, Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 3 (1997) pp. 461-509. - Abdullahi A. An-Na'im and Louis Henkin, Islam and Human Rights: Beyond the Universality Debate Proceedings of the Annual Meeting (American Society of International Law), Vol. 94 (2000), pp. 95-103. Suggested Reading - Thomas M. Franck, Are Human Rights Universal? Foreign Affairs, Vol. 80, No. 1 (2001), pp. 191-204. Week 3: Muslim Reaction to Human Rights Readings: -Ebrahim Moosa, The Dilemma of Islamic Rights Schemes, Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 15, No. 1/2 (2000-2001), pp. 185-215 -Ann Elizabeth Mayer, Islam and Human Rights: Tradition and Politics pp. 43-67. -Irene Oh, The Rights of God: Islam, Human Rights, and Comparative Ethics (Georgetown University Press, 2007), pp. 36-55 -Mashood A. Baderin, Abdullahi An-Na im s Philosophy on Islam and Human Rights SOAS School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series (Ashgate, 2010), pp. xiii-xxxix Suggested Reading: 3
-Anis Ahmad, Human Rights: An Islamic Perspective, Policy Perspectives, Vol. 3, No. 1 (2006), pp. 101-112 Week 4: Islamic Law and Human Rights -Bassam Tibi Islamic Law/Shari'a, Human Rights, Universal Morality and International Relations, Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 2 (1994), pp. 277-299 - David L. Johnston, Maqāṣid al-sharī'a: Epistemology and Hermeneutics of Muslim Theologies of Human Rights Die Welt des Islams, Vol. 47, Issue 2 (2007), pp. 149-187 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/20140763?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents). Week 5: Fixed Islamic punishments -Elizabeth Peiffer, The Death Penalty in Traditional Islamic Law and as Interpreted in Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law, vol. 11(3) (2005) pp. 507-539 (http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1132&context=wmjowl). - Mohammad H. Fadel, Public Reasons as a Strategy for Principled Reconciliation: The Case of Islamic Law and International Human Rights Law, Chicago Journal of International Law, 8, 1 (2007) pp. 1-20. Week 6: Women s rights - Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Muslim Legal Tradition and the Challenge of Gender Equality, in Men in Charge? (Cambridge University Press, 2015) - Dina Mansour, Women s Rights in Islamic Shari a: Between Interpretation, Culture and Politics, Muslim World J. Hum. Right. 2014; 11(1): 1 24. -Murad H. Elsaidi, Human Rights and Islamic Law: A Legal Analysis Challenging the Husband s Authority to Punish Rebellious Wives, Muslim World Journal of Human Rights, 7, 2 (2011), pp. 1-25 Week 7: Minority rights, and religious freedom - Abdulaziz Sachedina, Islam and the Challenge of Human Rights, pp.185-209 - Nazila Ghanea-Hercock, Human Rights of Religious Minorities and of Women in the Middle East, Human Rights Quarterly, 26, 3 (2004), pp. 705-729. 4
-Recep Senturk, Minority Rights in Islam: From Dhimmi to Citizen, in Islam and Human Rights: Advancing a U.S. -Muslim Dialogue (Center for Strategic & International Studies, 2005), pp. 67-99. Suggested reading: - Irene Oh, The Rights of God: Islam, Human Rights, and Comparative Ethics, pp. 93-112. 5