.png)
RIGHTS
English word 'Right' has numerous meanings but when used in a specific sense as a concept of social sciences it implies "the power to do or enjoy something which is approved or recognized by other members of the society".
Given below is a standard definition of 'Right':
"Those conditions of social life without which no man can seek, in general, to be his best self."
The concept of rights is as old as human history itself. The Holy Quran says that before descending the Adam on the earth Allah gave him Huda or the guidance for the right path, this code embodied all fundamental human rights. One of the two first sons of Adam, Cain (Qaabeel) murdered his brother Abel (Haabeel). In this way he became the first human person to transgress the most paramount human right i.e, right to life. Rasools were sent for guiding the people to Allah's path as well as for safeguarding the rights of the weaker and the down-trodden against trespass form the powerful and the authoritative. Islam took cognizance of the fundamental human rights at such a time when humanity had almost totally forgotten the teachings of the messengers of Allah. Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah said "render unto others what you would like others to render unto you". This implies that if a man would like to see his right of life protected against trespass from others, he should himself respect others' right to life, if one likes his honour and prestige to be upheld by others he should look that the prestige and honour of his fellow beings is maintained and protected by him. Last Hajj Sermon (Khutab-e-Hijjatul-wada) of Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah is the most comprehensive treatise on human rights. The first pious Caliph Hazrat Abu Bakr said that the most powerful of you is the weakest unto me until I have forced him to restore the right of the weaker and the weakest of you is the most powerful unless his right has been restored. The people of England got their fundamental human rights recognized for the first time in the year 1215 under a charter granted to them by a king. It is known as the Magna Carta, incidentally this came six centuries after Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah had given his charter of rights at Makkah. The people of France and the US had to wait for six more centuries before they got their fundamental r ghts upheld.
In our age a chapter on fundamental right is considered to be an essential part of all democratic constitutions. These rights are made justiciable, which means that the courts. are endowed with powers to safeguard and administer the fundamental rights.
What Rights Imply?
Following are the basic characteristics of rights:
i. Rights are the basic conditions of civilized life.
ii. State exercises its power to safeguard human rights. Rights can only be preserved with the help of the state.
iii. Rights are uniform in nature. This implies that all citizens have equal rights.
iv. Rights are inviolable; no citizen can be deprived of his or her fundamental rights unless it is imperative for the fulfillment of a constitutional or legal requirement.
v. Rights and duties are organic to each other; one person's right is another person's duty. 6. Rights are the values, on the basis of which, a society determines its norms of right and wrong, just and unjust.
DUTIES OR RESPONSIBILITIES
'Duties' is the term used very commonly in social sciences. It implies an individual's responsibilities towards other members of the society. 'Duty' has been defined as:
"Something that one does either because it is part of one's
job or because it is morally or legally right that one should do it".
In other words, a rightful claim of 'B' on 'A' is A's duty.
What happens if duties are not fulfilled?
Rights and duties are co-related and interdependent. Every right that we enjoy implies a duty that we must perform. Rights and duties are two faces of the same coin. These are organic to each other and cannot be separated. Failure to understand the inextricable link between rights and duties can bring disaster to a society. This relationship has three different aspects:
i. Rights and duties are social in character, these are reciprocal. A's rights is B's duty and B's right is A's duty. For example, A's right to life imposes upon him a duty that he should protect other's life. If A does not fulfill his duty and takes somebody's life; his own right to life is forfeited and he is sentenced to death.
A social scientist has rightly remarked:
"It is futile to consider whether rights are prior to duties or vice versa. They are the counterparts of each other. If everyone insisted on his rights but neglected his duties towards others there would soon be no rights left for anyone."
ii. Rights not only imply reciprocity, they also demand restraint because "they are not means to satisfy individual caprice and desire alone, they are intended to serve some useful purpose. An individual should exercise his rights in such a way as to secure the greatest good not merely for himself but to the whole community". For instance, my right to freedom of expression does not allow me to preach violence or sectarian hatred.
iii. Rights and duties are not only reciprocal they also have a third party to observe and guarantee their proper implementation. This third party is state. State punishes those who do not perform their duties and it safeguards the right of the citizens.
Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah's saying that
"one should treat his brother (fellow being) in a way as he would like to be treated by him".
It is more valuable than thousands of books written on the relationship of rights and duties. This one simple sentence can serve as a complete and perfect code of human relationship and no human philosophy and social science can stand equal to it.
