1887
Volume 2025, Issue 1
  • EISSN: 2223-506X

Abstract

This research examines the contradictions between Islamic law and international human rights law, on issues such as civil and political rights, gender equality, and religious freedoms. It investigates how Islamic law interacts with international human rights norms and seeks to understand the potential for reconciling these two legal systems. This research is important because growing global dialogue and legal integration require a better understanding of how different legal traditions can coexist and inform one another. The study employs a comparative analytical approach, critically analysing key documents and existing literature. The main sources of international law analysed in this paper are the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which are compared to Sharia-based (as derived from the Quran and Sunnah) legal instruments. Concurrently, their foundational principles are compared to identify the differences leading to conflicting interpretations and trace the potential for compatibility of Islamic law and international human rights. The research draws on the experience of Muslim-majority MENA countries as case studies, with a focus on Gulf states, to explore the intersections and tensions between Sharia law and international human rights. To anchor the discussion, postcolonial legal theory is used as a theoretical framework. The findings reveal that while there are apparent contradictions between Sharia law and international human rights, these are often overstated. Islamic jurisprudence contains provisions that protect fundamental human rights, but tensions arise primarily due to differing interpretations of gender equality and civil rights. The study also highlights how contemporary Islamic legal scholars are using ijtihad to reinterpret traditional Sharia provisions in ways that align more closely with international human rights standards. This study contributes to the broader debate on the compatibility of Islamic law and international human rights and offers insights into how Islamic law can evolve through reinterpretation to meet international human rights expectations.

© 2025 The Author(s), licensee HBKU Press.
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2025-09-18
2025-12-07

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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): international human rights law, Islamic law, rejectionist views and Sharia

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