| Feature Item |
| Review of 'The Dignity of Man: An Islamic Perspective' Mon 26 Apr 2004 |
We live in a time when, to some sections of our society at least, the notion of the inherent sanctity of human life has become severely eroded. How else can we explain the launching of wars on dubious grounds and the indiscriminate taking of life? But we must always take heart from the knowledge that the vast majority of people, whenever and wherever they have lived, are unshakeable in their resolve that life has an inherent sacred quality and it is this that above all confers on humanity an innate dignity.
Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Professor of Law at the International Islamic University in Malaysia is an internationally acclaimed authority on Islamic Law. This work, the first in the Islamic Text Society's series on 'Fundamental Rights and Liberties Series', represents a welcome contribution to the subject of human dignity.
Divided into 18 clearly-written and well-referenced short chapters, this work explores Islamic understanding on the basis for human dignity and the rights and responsibilities that must necessarily ensue from such an understanding. He thus considers the issues of Man's standing in the cosmological order, his pre-eminence in the world of creation, and the unique nature of our relationship with the Real. The social ramifications of such a world-view are considerable, these including human fraternity, equality and inherent rights and responsibilities to each and every member of God's creation.
The chapter on the Maqasid of Shariah (essential values of Sacred Law) is particularly important, since it emphasises a point often forgotten in contemporary discourses on Shariah that they 'take human welfare as their focus'. Kamali uses this framework to consider the inherent dynamism of Shariah and how this offers the depth and flexibility to consider many of the pressing questions confronting us and our world.
MCBDirect
Mohammad Hashim Kamali. The Dignity of Man: An Islamic Perspective Published by The Islamic Texts Society ISBN 1903682002 Price £24.95 HB, £12.95 PB. |
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