Convergences in Universal Human Rights: An Analytical Comparison of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Articles 1–15) and the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Abstract

In the second decade of the twentieth century, a war broke out between European countries, namely Britain and Germany, in which the whole world was directly or indirectly involved which is why it is called the “First World War”. In this war, the representative government of the Islamic world, the “Ottoman Caliphate”, had sided with Germany, so it too suffered defeat along with Germany and as a result, the Ottoman Caliphate came to an end. After millions of people were killed in the First World War, an international organization of nations and countries, the “League of Nations”, was established. Its main objective was to prevent conflicts arising between nations and countries from escalating into war and to prevent wars between nations and countries by resolving these conflicts through this international forum. However, the “League of Nations” failed in its objective and between the fourth and fifth decades of the twentieth century, another world war broke out, in which Germany and Japan were on one side and Britain, France, and Russia were on the other side. This war caused more destruction than the first war and in its final stages, the United States joined the war in support of the Allies and dropped atomic bombs on the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing them to surrender, ending the Great War. After this, in 1945, another international organization came into existence called the United Nations, which not only exists till now but also controls international affairs. The current term "human rights" is not very old but this term gained more fame when human lives were dealt a great blow in the First and Second World Wars and a large number of human lives suffered irreparable damage. Therefore, in this context, on December 10, 1948, a manifesto called the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" was passed at the United Nations World Forum, which consists of 30 articles. It has been repeatedly reiterated about the freedom of the individual, equality among members of society and the establishment of justice and fairness in society. And which the world today is promoting with great vigor and enthusiasm by calling it the "standard of humanity". In this manifesto, respect for human rights has been emphasized a lot and a lot of emphasis has been placed on this. It has been stated that man should be granted his fundamental rights. There should be no hesitation in granting all human beings their legitimate rights without discrimination and in the exercise of these rights, no distinction should be made on the basis of colour, race, language, sex and religion. On the other hand, Islam also talks about human rights and the personality of the Holy Prophet presents the practical form of human rights. Therefore, it is necessary that the common aspects of the Charter of Human Rights stated in 1948 and the principles of human rights stated in the Prophet's biography be brought to light so that the human world can be convinced that the laws that are being stated today were stated by the greatest man of the world 1400 years ago. Therefore, in this article, the common aspects of the Prophet's principles of human rights and the human rights stated in the Charter of 1948 will be brought to light so that efforts for society and social peace in this global world can be further strengthened.