Human rights in Arab thought / Salma J. Jayyusi.

Pt. 1. The early concept of human rights in Islam -- Pt. 2. Human rights in contemporary Arab-Islamic thought -- Pt. 3. The concept of human rights in modern social and political Arabic thought -- Pt. 4. Human rights in modern Arabic thought : specialized studies.

"While the notion of 'human rights' is sometimes thought to be a product of the Western Enlightenment, human rights as a subject for philosophical enquiry and as the basis for government in fact have a long and rich heritage within Arab thought. In this book, Salma K. Jayyusi brings together a list of distinguished scholars to reflect the range and depth of Arab thinking on this subject. Translated from the best-selling Arabic edition, this work offers English readers a fresh and original insight into the rich, well-established and, nonetheless, contentious literature of human rights. Leading Arab intellectuals such as Muhammad 'Abid al-Jabiri and Muhammad Arkoun have made contributions on topics ranging from the concept of the individual in early Islamic texts to labour laws in the contemporary Middle East. They write from a number of perspectives: Islamic, secular, generalist, regionalist, historical and political, bringing together ideas which will challenge and enlighten anyone interested in human rights and the modern Arab world. From the Medina Charter to the citizenship struggles of Palestinian refugees, Salma K. Jayyusi's book offers the first comprehensive guide to this important and often overlooked aspect of Arab political and intellectual culture."--BOOK JACKET.