Islam and Human Rights in Practice: Perspectives Across the Ummah / Edited by Shahram Akbarzadeh & Benjamin Macqueen

Islam and Human Rights in Practice Questions over the compatibility of Islam and human rights have become a key area of debate in the perceived tensions between ‘Islam and the West’. In many ways, discussion over the stance of Islam in relation to such factors as gender rights, religious freedom, social and political freedoms, and other related issues represents a microcosm of the broader experience of how Muslim and ‘Western’ communities interact and relate. This volume seeks to engage with the various debates surrounding Islam and human rights, in particular, challenging assumptions of a ‘standard’ or ‘essential’ Muslim perspective on human rights. Through a survey of the experiences of Muslim communities across the globe (the ummah), this volume highlights the dynamic way Muslims understand and incorporate human rights into their personal, social and political experiences. From conceptual discussions on the issues of gender rights and religious freedom, to examining Muslim communities from South East Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, leading global experts bring forth key insights into the way in which Muslim communities live and experience human rights. The potential for deeper engagement with this issue is critical, as it opens possibilities for more profound understanding and tolerance. Associate Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh researches the politics of Central Asia and the Middle East, political Islam and US relations with the Muslim world. He is Deputy Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne. Benjamin MacQueen is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on political transformation in the Middle East and conflict resolution theory and practice. His publications focus on Islamic political thought, conflict resolution and the international relations of the Middle East and North Africa. Routledge Advances in Middle East and Islamic Studies 1 Iraqi Kurdistan 8 Beyond the Arab Disease Political development and emergent New perspectives in politics and democracy culture Gareth R. V. Stansfield Riad Nourallah 2 Egypt in the Twenty-First Century 9 The Arab Diaspora Challenges for development Voices of an anguished scream Edited by M. Riad El-Ghonemy Zahia Smail Salhi and 3 The Christian-Muslim Frontier Ian Richard Netton A zone of contact, conflict or 10 Gender and Self in Islam cooperation Etin Anwar Mario Apostolov 11 Nietzsche and Islam 4 The Islamic World-System Roy Jackson A study in polity-market interaction 12 The Baha’is of Iran Masudul Alam Choudhury Socio-historical studies 5 Regional Security in the Middle East Dominic Parvis Brookshaw and A critical perspective Seena B. Fazel Pinar Bilgin 13 Egypt’s Culture Wars 6 Political Thought in Islam Politics and practice A study in intellectual boundaries Samia Mehrez Nelly Lahoud 14 Islam and Human Rights 7 Turkey’s Kurds in Practice A theoretical analysis of the PKK and Perspectives across the Ummah Abdullah Ocalan Edited by Shahram Akbarzadeh and Ali Kemal Özcan Benjamin MacQueen Islam and Human Rights in Practice Perspectives across the Ummah Edited by Shahram Akbarzadeh and Benjamin MacQueen First published 2008 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2008 Editorial selection and matter; Shahram Akbazadeh & Benjamin MacQueen; individual chapters the contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Islam and Human Rights in practice: perspectives across the ummah / edited by Shahram Akbarzadeh & Benjamin MacQueen. p. cm. -- (Routledge advances in middle east and islamic studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Human rights--Islamic countries. 2. Human rights--Religious aspects--Islam. I. Akbarzadeh, Shahram. II. MacQueen, Benjamin. BP173.44.1856 2008 297.2`72--dc22 2007047898 ISBN 0-203-92675-7 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 10: 0-415-44959-6 (hbk) ISBN 10: 0-203-92675-7 (ebk) ISBN 13: 978-0-415-44959-5 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978-0-203-92675-8 (ebk) Contents Acknowledgements vii Contributors viii 1. Framing the debate on Islam and human rights 1 Shahram Akbarzadeh and Benjamin MacQueen 2. The reformulation of Islamic thought on gender 12 rights and roles Ann Elizabeth Mayer 3. Women’s rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran: 33 the contribution of secular-oriented feminism Rebecca Barlow 4. Islamic reformism and human rights in Iraq: 52 gender equality and religious freedom Benjamin MacQueen and Shahram Akbarzadeh 5. The reluctant partnership between the Muslim 75 Brotherhood and human rights NGOs in Egypt Benjamin MacQueen 6. Human rights in Afghanistan 89 William Maley 7. Competing domains of control: Islam and human 108 rights in Malaysia Shamsul Amri Bin Baharuddin vi Contents 8. Muslims in Malaysia: notions of human rights reform, 118 and their contexts Patricia Martinez 9. Indonesian Islamist perspectives on human rights 142 Greg Fealy Bibliography 154 Index 167 Acknowledgements We are grateful for the generous support of the Australian Research Council and the International Centre of Excellence in Asia-Pacific Studies (ANU) which made possible the 2005 convention on Islam and Human Rights in Melbourne. Contributors Shahram Akbarzadeh is Associate Professor and Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies, University of Melbourne. His research interests include Islam in Australia, the Middle East and Central Asia. Among his latest publications are (with Abdullah Saeed) Muslim Communities in Australia (Sydney: University of New South Wales, 2001), Uzbekistan and the United States (London: Zed Books, 2005), Islam and Globalization – 4 volumes (London: Routledge, 2006) and (with Kylie Baxter) US Foreign Policy in the Middle East (London: Routledge, 2008). Shamsul Amri Bin Baharuddin is Professor of Social Anthropology and is currently the Director of the Institute of Occidental Studies (IKON) at the National University of Malaysia. He researches, writes and lectures extensively on the theme ‘politics and culture in developing countries’ with an empirical focus on the Malay-speaking Islamic region of South- East Asia. Besides his award-winning book From British to Bumiputera Rule (1986), which has been reprinted three times (latest in 2004), he has also written numerous articles on Islamic Revivalism in South-East Asia. Rebecca Barlow graduated with a BA(Hons) in international relations and global politics from Monash University in 2005. Since 2006 she has been undertaking her PhD research and working as a research assistant focusing on the rights of Muslim women, the international human rights system and Middle Eastern politics. Rebecca’s PhD focuses on the Iranian women’s movement and the implementation of international human rights law in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Significant focus lies on the ideology and activism of lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi, a devoted Muslim who has advocated for secular forms of rights-based governance. Contributors ix Greg Fealy holds a joint appointment as Fellow and Senior Lecturer in South-East Asian Politics at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, and the Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra. He specializes in Indonesian politics, particularly political Islam and radical movements. His recent publications include: Ijtihad Politik Ulama: Sejarah NU, 1952–1967, Joining the Caravan? The Middle East, Islamism and Indonesia (co-authored with Anthony Bubalo), and Voices of Islam in South-East Asia: A Contemporary Sourcebook (co-edited with Virginia Hooker). Dr Benjamin MacQueen is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Post- Doctoral Fellow at the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies, University of Melbourne. He completed his PhD in 2006 at Deakin University, focusing on conflict resolution and the role of political culture on the form and legitimacy of peace agreements in Lebanon and Algeria. Currently, he is working on a major ARC project exploring the impacts of US foreign policy on political transformation in the Middle East and Central Asia. He previously served as a research fellow on an ARC-funded project exploring Muslim perspectives on global justice and the possibilities for accommodation and reform within the structure of the United Nations. He is the author of various articles and chapters examining political transformation in the Middle East, conflict resolution, as well as the role of external powers in the Middle East. Dr William Maley is Professor and Director of the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy at the Australian National University, and has served as a Visiting Professor at the Russian Diplomatic Academy, a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the

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