Published since January 1, 2004

Muslim World Journal of Human Rights

ISSN: 1554-4419

Editor-in-chief: Turan Kayaoglu

Edited by: Mashood A. Baderin, Mahmood Monshipouri, Lynn Welchman

About this journal

Objective
Muslim World Journal of Human Rights promises to serve as a forum in which barriers are bridged (or at least, addressed), and human rights are finally discussed with an eye on the Muslim world, in an open and creative manner. The choice to name the journal, Muslim World Journal of Human Rights reflects a desire to examine human rights issues related not only to Islam and Islamic law, but equally those human rights issues found in Muslim societies that stem from various other sources such as socio-economic and political factors, as well the interaction and intersections of the two areas. MWJHR welcomes submissions that apply the traditional human right framework in their analysis as well as those that transcend the boundaries of contemporary scholarship in this regard. Further, the journal also welcomes inter-disciplinary and/or comparative approaches to the study of human rights in the Muslim world in an effort to encourage the emergence of new methodologies in the field.
Muslim World Journal of Human Rights recognizes that several highly contested debates in the field of human rights have been reflected in the Muslim world but have frequently taken on their own particular manifestation in accordance with the varying contexts of contemporary Muslim societies.

Topics

universalism / relativism
individualism / collectivism
positivism / pluralism
deontology / instrumentalism
internationalism / sovereignty

In addition to the theoretical debates noted above, a sampling of the substantive areas to be addressed by the journal’s articles can be seen in the following:

Civil and political rights (e.g., capital punishment, freedom of expression, unlawful detentions, etc.)
Social, economic and cultural rights (e.g., the right to education, health care, labor rights, etc).
Women’s rights and their sociological, political and cultural contexts (e.g., discrimination in family and criminal law, political participation, domestic violence, etc.)
Religious freedom and the rights of religious minorities living in Muslim states (e.g., dhimmah system, apostasy etc.)
The rule of law, constitutionalism and notions of Islamic constitutionalism
The influence of both political Islam and reformist theological and jurisprudential thought on "Islam and human rights" debates
Refugee rights

Article formats
Research articles, Reviews, Book reviews

> Information for authors

Your Benefits

Your benefits:

The only peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the pressing question of human rights in the Muslim world
Scholarly debate on various aspects of the question of human rights as it relates to the Muslim world
International board of leading Islamic studies, Middle Eastern studies and human rights scholars from around the world
Interdisciplinary approach
Novel methods in the field
Rigorous peer-review

History

Content available since 2004 (Volume 1, Issue 1)

Abstracting and Indexing

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External Links

Volume 19 Issue 1

September 2022

Publicly Available October 11, 2022

Frontmatter

Page range: i-iii

Download PDF

Research Articles

Publicly Available May 26, 2022

Islam and Human Rights: A 50 Year Retrospective

Nader Hashemi, Emran Qureshi

Page range: 1-18

More Download PDF

Abstract

The debate on Islam and human rights is roughly 50 years old. During this time a vast literature has been produced analyzing the relationship between the religion of Islam, Muslims societies and international human rights norms. What have we learned during this time that can further an understanding of this topic among students, scholars and members of the general public? What analytical framework is optimal? Is the crisis of human rights in Muslims societies a function of internal conditions, external factors or are they to be located within the framework of Islamic doctrine, traditions, the shariah in particular? This article grapples with these questions by looking back over the past five decades. The objective of this essay is to advance an objective framework of analysis for understanding the debate on Islam and human rights. A historical and comparative approach is adopted. Key moments that have shaped the debate on Islam and human rights are recalled. Significant political developments that have shaped the contours of the debate are examined such as the legacy of colonialism, the rise of political Islam, the role of Western policy and the failure of the post-colonial state in the Arab-Islamic world. The contributions of influential scholars and activists who have advanced the struggle for human rights in Muslims societies are also recognized in this article.

August 18, 2021

Abortion Laws in Muslim Countries: Modern Reconfiguration of Pre-modern Logic

Amr Osman

Page range: 19-52

Abstract

In most countries where Islam is acknowledged as a, or the , source of legislation, abortion is permitted under certain conditions and at certain stages of pregnancy. This article examines some of these laws and argue that they represent a continuation of the logic that governed the views of pre-modern Muslim jurists on abortion, that is, harm aversion. However, these laws also add a ‘modernist’ twist to that logic – rather than repealing that logic altogether, modernist views on ‘rights’ and the advancement of medical knowledge and technology have influenced the priorities of Muslim jurists and lawmakers as far as abortion and the issues associated with it are concerned. This influence has furthermore been possible by a conscious selection and blending of pre-modern views to serve modern concerns. In all this, however, harm aversion remains the centrifugal principle, even when the abortion discourse in Muslim countries appears couched in the modernist discourse of rights.

May 23, 2022

Arguing against Political and Religious Discriminations: Critical Discourse Analysis of Indonesian Ahmadiyya

Andi Muhammad Irawan, Iskandar Abdul Samad, Sahril Nur, Iskandar Iskandar, Afifuddin Afifuddin, Andi Syurganda

Page range: 53-76

Abstract

This article examines resistance discourses created and disseminated by a religious minority in Indonesia called Gerakan Ahmadiyah Indonesia (GAI) to counter any negative portrayals and religious-based discriminations. Ahmadiyah is a self-defined sect of Islam that has been the target of physical attacks and discursive discrimination in Indonesia. This analysis focuses on identifying discourse topics raised and strategies employed by one of the Ahmadiyya groups in the country called GAI to reveal their resistance and defend their ‘Islamic’ faith. Various texts produced in different genres namely statements and comments published in media, books, speeches and various articles published online in GAI’s official websites are used as the data which were collected during field research in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The analysis found that, in order to counter discriminatory discourses, the GAI Ahmadis present various resistance discourse themes such as distinguishing themselves from Jemaat Ahmadiyah Indonesia , justifying their Islamic understanding by highlighting religious freedom discourse, including themselves as Muslims and presenting themselves as peaceful movement.

August 22, 2022

A UPR Perspective on Capital Punishment and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Amna Nazir

Page range: 77-94

Abstract

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR), established in 2006, has been hailed as an innovative mechanism of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. The peer review mechanism assesses the human rights records of all UN Member States and provides recommendations to further the global promotion and protection of human rights. This article provides an analysis of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s third UPR in 2018 with a specific focus on the State’s use of capital punishment. It explores the challenges faced by the UPR and issues recommendations to foster meaningful discourse, in the international community, to protect the right to life and engender change at the domestic level.

August 23, 2021

Human Rights at the Time of a Global Pandemic: The Case of Muslim Tatars

Renat Shaykhutdinov

Page range: 95-128

Abstract

How are the human rights pertaining to the freedom of conscience/religion, health, and distinct culture intersect in the context of a global pandemic in the Muslim-minority areas? How do Russia’s Muslims make sense of the challenges to those rights caused or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic? In this paper, I focus on diverse Muslim Tatar communities, primarily of the Middle Volga region, who have recently witnessed numerous political and socioeconomic challenges infringing on their human rights. Attending on the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, in this paper I gauge the nature of human rights in the areas of health and religion by interrogating how the general Muslim publics and elites understand, justify, and explain those challenges in an environment of creeping authoritarianism. I call for a conceptual shift from the elite-driven traditional security perspectives to those of human rights as quotidian/everyday experiences while considering these vital issues. I use the Tatar-language Internet forums for the empirical analysis, offering and delineating the discursive repertoires and categorizing the areas of public concern in the new pandemic world.

July 7, 2022

Living with Absence, Missing Migrants and the Red Cross and Red Crescent’s Restoring Family Links Program

Sefa Secen, Mostafa Shalaby

Page range: 129-141

Abstract

The chaos and confusion that accompany war, disaster, and international migration separate families when they need each other most. The Red Cross and Red Crescent join the search across international borders, offering a unique service that allows families to reconnect. This paper examines the role of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and specifically their Restoring Family Links (RFL) program in the search for missing migrants. Based on interviews with the RFL program’s officers and those individuals who have been reconnected with their missing family members, this paper evaluates the results and implications of the RFL program model, draws out lessons and insights (local, regional, or global), and makes policy recommendations. Also, by sharing migrants’ experiences and insights, it aims to raise awareness of the less well-known legal, economic, and social consequences of the displacement crises.

Retraction

September 15, 2022

Retraction of: A UPR Perspective on Capital Punishment and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Amna Nazir

Page range: 143-143

Volume 7 (2011)

Volume 5 (2008)

Issue 1

Volume 4 (2007)

Volume 3 (2006)

Issue 1 Special Issue: Post-September 11th Developments in Human Rights in the Muslim World

Volume 2 (2005)

Issue 1 Special "From the Field" Issue: Islam and Human Rights Advocacy For Social Change In Local Contexts

Volume 1 (2004)

Issue 1

Cite Score	0.2
SCImago Journal Rank	0.141
Source Normalized Impact per Paper	0.857

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Please note that authors from institutions with which we have a transformative agreement can publish open access without paying an article processing charge (APC). More information on the eligible institutions and articles can be found under the "Funding and Support" tab here.

Editorial

Editor in Chief
Turan Kayaoglu, University of Washington Tacoma

Editors
Mashood Baderin, School of Oriental and African Studies
Mahmood Monshipouri, San Francisco State University
Lynn Welchman, School of Oriental and African Studies

Book Review Editor
Chrystie Flournoy Swiney, Georgetown University

Development Editor
Elizabeth Marsch, American University

Advisory Board
Abdullahi An-Na'Im, Emory Law School
Cherif Bassiouni, DePaul Law School
John L. Esposito, Georgetown University
Abdulaziz A. Sachedina, University of Virginia

Associate Editors
Anthony Chase, Occidental College
Jack Donnelly, University of Denver
Nader Hashemi, University of Denver
Ziba Mir-Hosseini, University of London
Tamara Sonn, The College of William and Mary
Anicée Van Engeland-Nourai, University of Exeter

Former Associate Editors
Tony Anghie, University of Utah Law School
Patrice Brodeur, University of Montreal
Annie Bunting, York University
Peter Danchin, University of Maryland Law School
Fawaz Gerges, Sarah Lawrence College
Marc Gopin, Tufts University
Wael Hallaq, McGill University
Maimul Khan, UC Davis Law School
Charles Kurzman, University of North Carolina
Bruce Lawrence, Duke University
Qudsia Mirza, University of East London
Naz Modirzadeh, Harvard University
Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Carrie Rosefsky Wickham, Emory University
Diane Singerman, American University
Madhavi Sunder, UC Davis Law School

(Deutsch)

Online ISSN: 1554-4419
Print ISSN: 2194-6558
Type: Journal
Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
First published: January 1, 2004
Publication Frequency: 1 Issue per Year
Audience: researchers in the field of law, lawyers