The Muslim World Half a Century after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Progress and Obstacles

Abstract

Fifty years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the Muslim world shows signs of divergence from and convergence toward that declaration. There obviously exist some fundamental disagreements between the Muslim world and the West regarding the separation of religion from politics. Other differences centre particularly on the nature of universality of human rights, women's rights, and the rights of minorities. Islamists are faced with two options: either (1) reconcile the sources of cardinal Islamic truth with those of an emerging transnational society, or (2) re-establish the practical relevance of authentic Islamic ideas to international normative standards. The contemporary discourse on human rights has pressured Muslim theological thinkers into committing to the modern notions of popular sovereignty and political democracy. Meanwhile Muslim reformists continue to explore common grounds with the West so as to promote principles as well as practices that are consonant with modern human rights standards. The task of Muslim reformists is fraught with difficulties and their effectiveness is hard to gauge; nonetheless, their calls for democratisation, the expansion of civil society, and the protection and promotion of individual rights are gaining a wider popular appeal.