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Researching and Writing about Human Rights in Iran
15th February
By Beth Hearn
Dr Abdulaziz Sachedina, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia and 2005 Carnegie Scholar, stressed the importance of human dignity and moral agency as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) at an event on February 15 organized by the Women’s Foreign Policy Group. “If we do not engage people in the importance of human rights then we are failing as members of the human community,” he said.
In pursuing the development of human rights, he argued that we must not ignore the positive role religion can play. According to Sachedina, the U.S. ignores religious theologians because it assumes that they are too narrow-minded to bring any benefit. “Secular scholars want to deny that there is any role for religion in encouraging human rights,” he said, but this is not in fact the case.
On the other side of the debate, Sachedina recognized that many Muslims do not have sufficient regard for human rights, and that they defy the UDHR as being imperialistic and unnecessary, but stressed the fact that they have misinterpreted the Quran. There is a need to return to foundational issues and consider the existence of natural law, he said.
Sachedina spoke of wanting to break down the barriers between these two seemingly contradictory opinions, repeatedly stressing the importance of dialogue between communities. America must talk to its enemies in order to make any progress in its international relationships, he said, adding that when Islam is properly understood, it will be perfectly compatible with human rights values.
Unfortunately, despite his claim that “the question of human dignity is not academic, it is real,” Sachedina failed to venture beyond rhetoric when questions were raised about the practicalities of development.
Valid questions were raised about the difficulties of dialogue with an Iranian regime that locks up anyone who attempts to speak out, a regime that tortures and executes dissidents. He brushed past one woman’s personal account of being imprisoned due to political dissent, and the ill-treatment she suffered, simply responding with accusations that it is unhelpful to condemn an entire government in this way.
Sachedina quickly turned the discussion around to the issue of clothing, and the importance of dressing in a respectful manner in order to facilitate dialogue, before returning to disconnected sound bites concerning the importance of education, courage and dialogue. |
