Rights:
The word “Right” is a vast term, but when it is used in a specific sense as a concept of social sciences it implies “the power to do or have fun on something which is approved or recognized by the society”. Philosopher H. J Laski has defined Right as: Those conditions of social life without which no man can seek, in general to be his best self”.
The Holy Quran Says that before descending the Adam on the earth Allah gave him “Huda” or the guidance (called Hidayat in urdu) for the right path, this code embodied all fundamental human rights. First comes the right to live, one of the two sons of Adam (Qabeel) murdered his brother (Habeel). In this way he became the first human person to violate the basic human right, right to life.
The people of England got their fundamental human rights recognized known as Megna Carta, but it is the fact that this came six centuries after the Prophet (P.B.U.H) had given his charter of rights at Makkah. The people of France and USA had to wait six centuries more to get their basic human rights.
Basic Charactristics of Rights:
1. Rights are the basic conditions of civilized life.
2. State exercises its power to safeguard human rights, rights can only be preserved by the help of State.
3. Rights are uniform in nature, it means all the citizens have equal rights.
4. No citizen can be deprived of his or her fundamental rights.
5. Rights and Duties are Connected to eachother, one person’s right is another person’s duty.
6. Rights are the basic values of the society, and society determines its norms of right and wrong, just and unjust.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Duties is the term used in social sciences, it implies and indivisual’s responsibility towards other member of the society. Duty has been defined as: “Something that one does either because it is part of one’s work or because it is morally or legally right that one should do it”.
What happens if duties are not fulfilled:
Rights and Duties are correlated and interdependent. Every right that we enjoy implies a duty that we must perform. Duties and rights are two faces of the same coin. Duties and rights can not be separated from eachother. Failure to maintain balance between rights and duties can lead the society to disaster.
Three different aspects of Rights and Duties:
1. Rights and Duties are Social in character, these are reciprocal. A’s right is B’s duty and B’s right is A’s duty. For example A’s right to life imposes upon him a duty that he should protect other’s life, if A does not fulfill his duty and takes somebody’s life, his own right to life is forefeited and he is sentenced to death.
2. Indivisual’s rights and duties are basically to secure the greatest good not only merely for himself but to whole society. 3. Although Rights and Duties are reciprocal yet they require a
third party to observe and guarantee their proper implementation, this third party is State. State punishes those who do not perform their duties and it also safeguards the rights of the Citizens. of Propher Hazrat Muhammad
Saving Prophet’s (PBUH) saying that one should treat his brother in a way, he would like to be treated by them, is more valuable than thousands of books written on the relationship between rights and duties.
