One of the biggest deceptions that America and the West call for and strive to force the world, especially the Muslims, to adopt is ‘human rights’. It is enforced as the standard by which to judge who is humane, civilized and developed, and as an indication of intellectual elevation.
While on the contrary it is nothing more then another tool of exploitation and means of looting nations of their wealth and right to live. Many Muslims are attracted to this slogan because of the oppression, torture, and persecution they suffer from their rulers.
The origin of these rights is the Capitalist ideology’s view of the nature of man, the relationship between the individual and the group, the reality of society, and the function of the state. In its view, the nature of man is inherently good, and any evil that is committed by man is a result of restricting his will. For this reason, the Capitalists call for freeing man’s will in order to express his good nature. From this perspective, the concept of ‘freedom’ emanated and became the most prominent idea in the Capitalist ideology. The Capitalists also claim that the relationship between the individual and the community is incompatible. Hence, the individual must be protected from the community, and his freedoms must be secured and protected.
This is contrary to what prevailed at the time when the Feudal system was in operation. Then the interests of the community were prioritised over the interests of the individual. The Capitalists favour prioritising the interests of the individual and they consider the state’s main function to be securing and protecting these interests.
As to their view of society, the Capitalists said that society consists merely of the group of individuals who live in it. If the interests of the individual were secured, the interests of the society would be naturally secured.
All that the Capitalists claim about man and his nature, about the relationship between the individual and the community, about the reality of the society, and the function of the state, is incorrect. Man is neither inherently good, as the Capitalists claim, nor bad, as the Church used to claim based on the concept of man’s inheritance of Adam’s sin. The correct view of man’s nature is that he has organic needs that have to be satisfied. Owing to the minds bestowed upon them by Allah, humans acquired the will and ability to choose the way by which to satisfy their instincts and organic needs. If one satisfies them correctly, he will have done good, but if he satisfies them incorrectly or abnormally, he will have done bad. Thus man inherently is ready to do both good or bad, and he is the one who chooses the good or bad by his own will.
This is the view that Islam adopts and which Allah ta’ala explained in His words, "And a soul and what made it so. He (Allah) inspired in it its evil and righteousness"
Qur’an 91 : 7-8
"And We guided him to both ways"
Qur’an 90 : 10
"We guided him to the way so he is either thankful or ungrateful."
Qur’an 76 : 3
Also, saying that the relationship between the individual and the community is one of incompatibility and confrontation is an erroneous representation, whether it is claimed by the Capitalists who prioritise the interests of the individual over the interests of the community, or claimed by the Feudalists who called for the dissolution of the interests of the individual in the community, or as presended by the Marxist-Socialists who made the individual nothing more than a spoke in the wheel of the society.
Islam has prescribed the correct relationship between the individual and the community as a symbiotic and fulfilling relation, and not a relation of incoherence. The individual is part of the community as the hand is part of the human body. Just as the body cannot dispense from the hand, so the hand is useless if it is separated from the body.
Islam has assigned rights for the individual as well as for the community. These rights are neither incompatible nor contradictory, but complementary. Islam also assigned certain duties upon each towards the other, and charges the state with the obligation of securing the balance between the two sides to ensure that neither will dominate over the other, so that each side must obtain its rights and accomplish its duties.
The Prophet (saw) magnificently described the relationship between the individual and the community by saying, "The example of a man who watches for the limits of Allah and he who is a transgressor resembles people who boarded a ship; some of them ended up in the upper deck and some in the lower deck. When those in the lower deck want to drink, they would pass by those on the upper deck. Then, the people in the lower deck would say, ‘What if we make a hole in our part of the ship without annoying those above us?’ If the people in the upper deck let them do so, they will all perish, while if they stop them, all will be saved."
Furthermore, the Capitalists claim, that society is composed of nothing more than a summation of individuals who live in it, is by no means correct. The society does not only consist of individuals, but comprises individuals, the thoughts prevailing amongst them, together with the system applied upon them. The correct definition of a society is a group of individuals who share permanent relationships. The passengers in a ship or a train do not form a society, even if they amount to thousands, whereas the inhabitants of a small village constitute a society even if they do not surpass hundreds.
Based on these facts, the view of the Capitalist ideology towards the nature of society, as well as its conception of human nature, and the relationship between the individual and the community, is in error. As for its error in understanding the function of the state, it is even more obvious. The state is not only a tool to secure and protect the interests of the individual, but also the entity that takes care of all of the affairs of the individual, the community, and the society both internally and externally, according to a specific system that determines the rights and duties of all parties. In addition the state carries its message to the entire world if it is built upon an ideology.
In summary the view of the Capitalist ideology towards the nature of the human being, the individual’s relationship with the community which he belongs to and the society in which he lives, and the role of the state in securing and protecting the individuals interests, made it (the Capitalist ideology) call to secure four kinds of individual liberty: freedom of belief, freedom of expression, freedom of ownership, and personal freedom. These freedoms are the basis from which human rights emanate, and they are the components of the tribulations in Capitalist societies, which, as a consequence, have turned into jungles of wild animals in which the strong devours the weak and man degenerates to the level of an animal as a result of unleashing his instincts and organic needs. People in Western societies make the issue of attaining as much physical enjoyment as possible their only concern. The Capitalist ideology considers this as the peak of happiness, despite the fact that these societies know not the taste of happiness. Rather, they are overwhelmed by hardship, disorder and unending anxiety.
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