Human Responsibilities and Human Rights

HUMAN RESPONSIBILITIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS The fact is that it is not a question of merely balancing the two. Rather, it is a question of opting for a natural strategy that is in harmony with nature. Moreover, it is a question of making the right starting point. You can reach the sought-after end if you begin from the right starting point. However, if you make a false start, you can never reach the end you hope for. The right starting point is to emphasize human duties. In doing so, people’s rights can later be achieved. In other words, the starting point must be inculcating in people the consciousness of the need to perform their duties towards the wider society first. If only rights are focussed on and not duties, nothing can be achieved—neither rights nor duties. Focussing on duties rather than only on rights is not tantamount to ignoring human rights or being indifferent to people’s sufferings. According to the Laws of Nature, no one will give you anything for free. You always only receive that which is by your actions. As the well-known saying puts it: “As you sow, so shall you reap.” This suggests that those who focus on rights and ignore duties are going against the Laws of Nature. In contrast, those who stress duties are by the Laws of Nature. An answer to the issue of rights versus duties is reflected in a Hadith report in the Sahih al-Bukhari, in which the Prophet of Islam is reported to have said, “Give to others what is due to them, and ask your dues from God.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 7052) From this, we learn that living in society; one should perform one’s duties towards the wider society