Right Of Diversity In Sharia

The Right of Diversity in the Sharia

Prof. Wael Allam

Professor of Public International Law

College of Law, University of Sharjah, UAE

The right of diversity means that every person has the right to live as he/she is. Respecting this right promotes and encourages peace, understanding and friendship among all persons in the society and between all nations and states. The right of diversity is based on the following factors: equality between all human beings; acceptance of human diversity and tolerance with diversity. This paper proves that these factors are already included in the Sharia.

Keywords: right of diversity, tolerance, inter-civilizational dialogue

1. INTRODUCTION

In the current days, it is obvious that there is an increase

This was in 1978 when UNESCO adopted the Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice in 1978 . Article 1/1 of the Declaration states: “All human beings belong to a single species and are descended from a common stock. They are born equal in dignity and rights and all form an integral part of humanity. 2. All individuals and groups have the right to be different, to consider themselves as different and to be regarded as

According to its preamble, diversity is a defining characteristic of humanity and cultural diversity creates a rich and varied world, which increases the range of choices and nurtures human capacities and values, and therefore is a mainspring for sustainable development for communities, peoples and nations.

5. TOLERANCE WITH DIVERSITY

Islam respects the fundamental freedom of thought, conscience and belief which is necessary for enjoying the right of diversity. Every person has the right of belief according to the Islamic rule: “no coercion in religion.” God forbade His Prophets and the believers from having recourse to coercion in religion.

Islam acknowledges and respects all the previous prophets and messengers. The Qur’an says: “The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], "We make no distinction between any of His messengers. The Qur’an is perhaps the only divine book in the history of religions that has talked about the efforts of the previous