International human rights instruments are the treaties and other international texts that serve as legal sources for international human rights law and the protection of human rights in general. There are many varying types, but most can be classified into two broad categories: declarations , adopted by bodies such as the United Nations General Assembly , which are by nature declaratory, so not legally-binding although they may be politically authoritative and very well-respected soft law ;, and often express guiding principles; and conventions that are multi-party treaties that are designed to become legally binding, usually include prescriptive and very specific language, and usually are concluded by a long procedure that frequently requires ratification by each states' legislature. Lesser known are some "recommendations" which are similar to conventions in being multilaterally agreed, yet cannot be ratified, and serve to set common standards. There may also be administrative guidelines that are agreed multilaterally by states, as well as the statutes of tribunals or other institutions. A specific prescription or principle from any of these various international instruments can, over time, attain the status of customary international law whether it is specifically accepted by a state or not, just because it is well-recognized and followed over a sufficiently long time.
42-515: The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa , better known as the Maputo Protocol , is an international human rights instrument established by the African Union that went into effect in 2005. It guarantees comprehensive rights to women including the right to take part in the political process, to social and political equality with men, improved autonomy in their reproductive health decisions, and an end to female genital mutilation . It
84-1003: A monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran , the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraham (or Allah ) as it was revealed to Muhammad , the main Islamic prophet . Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous revelations , such as the Tawrat ( Torah ), the Zabur ( Psalms ), and the Injeel ( Gospel ). These earlier revelations are associated with Judaism and Christianity , which are regarded by Muslims as earlier versions of Islam. The majority of Muslims also follow
126-476: A Muslim is a person who has dedicated his worship exclusively to God, for just as we say in Arabic that something is ‘ salima ’ to a person, meaning that it became solely his own, so in the same way ‘ Islām ’ means making one's religion and faith God's alone. In several places in the Quran , the word muslim conveys a universal meaning, beyond the description of the followers of Muhammad , for example: "Abraham
168-551: A person. Among Asharites , it is also seen as a sign of humility and the individual's longing to improve, because the creature has no assurance of their own state (of belief) until the end of life. The Qur'an describes many prophets and messengers within Judaism and Christianity , and their respective followers, as Muslim. Some of those that were mentioned are: Adam , Noah , Abraham , Ishmael , Jacob , Moses , and Jesus and his apostles are all considered to be Muslims in
210-499: A person. Fellow Muslims can only accept the personal declaration of faith. Only the Khawārij developed an understanding of Muslim identity based mainly on the adherence to liturgical and legal norms. When asked about one's beliefs, it is recommended to say the Istit̲h̲nāʾ , for example, " in-sha'allah I am Muslim a believer" (so God will, I am Muslim), since only God knows the future of
252-685: Is "Muslim". For most of the 20th century, the preferred spelling in English was "Moslem", but this has now fallen into disuse. That spelling and its pronunciation was opposed by many Muslims in English-speaking countries because it resembled the Arabic word aẓ-ẓālim ( الظَّالِم ), meaning "the oppressor". In the United States, the Associated Press instructed news outlets to switch to the spelling "Muslim" in 1991, making it
294-422: Is no god [worthy of worship] except Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." In Sunni Islam , the shahada has two parts: la ilaha illa'llah (there is no god but Allah ), and Muhammadun rasul Allah ( Muhammad is the messenger of God), which are sometimes referred to as the first shahada and the second shahada . The first statement of the shahada is also known as the tahlīl . In Shia Islam ,
336-399: Is the active participle of the same verb of which islām is a verbal noun , based on the triliteral S-L-M "to be whole, intact". A female adherent is a muslima ( Arabic : مسلمة ) (also transliterated as "Muslimah" ). The plural form in Arabic is muslimūn ( مسلمون ) or muslimīn ( مسلمين ), and its feminine equivalent is muslimāt ( مسلمات ). The ordinary word in English
378-585: The Shahada in front of Muslim witnesses, one of the Five Pillars of Islam , a declaration of faith and trust that professes that there is only one God ( Allah ) and that Muhammad is God's messenger. It is a set statement normally recited in Arabic: ašhadu ʾan-lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāhu wa ʾašhadu ʾanna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh ( أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمداً رسول الله ) "I testify that there
420-709: The Americas . Additionally, in subdivided geographical regions, the figure stands at: 91% of the Middle East–North Africa , 90% of Central Asia , 65% of the Caucasus , 42% of Southeast Asia , 32% of South Asia , and 42% of sub-Saharan Africa . While, there are several Islamic schools and branches , as well as non-denominational Muslims , the two largest denominations are Sunni Islam (75–90% of all Muslims) and Shia Islam (10–20% of all Muslims). By sheer numbers, South Asia accounts for
462-401: The Five Pillars of Islam : the declaration of faith ( shahadah ), daily prayers ( salah ), almsgiving ( zakat ), fasting during the month of Ramadan ( sawm ), and the pilgrimage to Mecca ( hajj ) at least once in a lifetime. The majority of theological traditions of Islam accept that works do not determine if someone is a Muslim or not. God alone would know about the belief of
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#1732773128273504-913: The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights together with other international human rights instruments are sometimes referred to as the " International Bill of Human Rights ". International human rights instruments are identified by the OHCHR and most are referenced on the OHCHR website. According to OHCHR, there are 9 core international human rights instruments and several optional protocols. Several more human rights instruments exist. A few examples: Muslims Muslims ( Arabic : المسلمون , romanized : al-Muslimūn , lit. 'submitters [to God ]') are people who adhere to Islam ,
546-511: The Tawrat ( Torah ) to the prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel , the Zabur ( Psalms ) to David and the Injil ( Gospel ) to Jesus, who are all considered important Muslim prophets . The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to 12.7% of the world's Muslims, followed by Pakistan (11.0%), Bangladesh (9.2%), Nigeria (5.3%) and Egypt (4.9%). About 20% of
588-596: The " right to health and control of reproduction". Libya expressed reservations about a point relating to conflicts. The protocol was adopted by the African Union on 11 July 2003 at its second summit in Maputo , Mozambique. On 25 November 2005, having been ratified by the required 15 member nations of the African Union, the protocol entered into force. As of September 2023, out of the 55 member countries in
630-647: The ACHPR in collaboration with the International Commission of Jurists , was submitted to the ACHPR at its 22nd Session in October 1997, and circulated for comments to other NGOs. Revision in co-operation with involved NGOs took place at different sessions from October to January, and in April 1998, the 23rd session of the ACHPR endorsed the appointment of Julienne Ondziel Gnelenga , a Congolese lawyer, as
672-573: The African Union, 49 have signed the protocol and 44 have ratified and deposited the protocol. The AU states that have neither signed nor ratified the Protocol yet are Botswana, Egypt, and Morocco. The states that have signed but not yet ratified are Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Madagascar, Niger, Somalia, and Sudan. The main articles are: There are two particularly contentious factors driving opposition to
714-575: The Americas (5.2 million or 0.6%), Australia (714,000 or 1.9%) and parts of Europe (44 million or 6%). A Pew Center study in 2016 found that Muslims have the highest number of adherents under the age of 15 (34% of the total Muslim population) of any major religion, while only 7% are aged 60+ (the smallest percentage of any major religion). According to the same study, Muslims have the highest fertility rates (3.1) of any major religious group. The study also found that Muslims (tied with Hindus ) have
756-529: The Djibouti Declaration on female genital mutilation was adopted. The document declares that the Koran does not support female genital mutilation, and on the contrary practising genital mutilation on women goes against the precepts of Islam. International human rights instrument International human rights instruments can be divided further into global instruments , to which any state in
798-487: The Maputo Protocol because it defines abortion as a human right. The US-based anti-abortion organisation, Human Life International , describes it as "a Trojan horse for a radical agenda". In Uganda, the powerful Joint Christian Council opposed efforts to ratify the treaty on the grounds that Article 14, in guaranteeing abortion "in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers
840-583: The Protocol are common. Nigerian Muslim women's groups in 2009 gathered in Niamey to protest what they called "the satanic Maputo protocols", specifying limits to marriage age of girls and abortion as objectionable. In Djibouti, however, the Protocol was ratified in February 2005 after a subregional conference on female genital mutilation called by the Djibouti government and No Peace Without Justice , at which
882-500: The Protocol: its article on reproductive health, which is opposed mainly by Catholics and other Christians, and its articles on female genital mutilation, polygamous marriage and other traditional practices, which are opposed mainly by Muslims . Pope Benedict XVI described the reproductive rights granted to women in the Protocol in 2007 as "an attempt to trivialize abortion surreptitiously". The Roman Catholic bishops of Africa oppose
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#1732773128273924-554: The Qur'an. The Qur'an states that these men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached His message and upheld His values, which included praying, charity, fasting and pilgrimage. Thus, in Surah 3:52 of the Qur'an, Jesus' disciples tell him, "We believe in God; and you be our witness that we are Muslims ( wa-shahad be anna muslimūn )." In Islamic belief, before the Qur'an, God had given
966-685: The development of a specific protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights to address the rights of women. The OAU assembly mandated the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) to develop such a protocol at its 31st Ordinary Session in June 1995, in Addis Ababa . A first draft produced by an expert group of members of the ACHPR, representatives of African NGOs and international observers, organised by
1008-625: The first Special Rapporteur on Women's Rights in Africa , mandating her to work towards the adoption of the draft protocol on women's rights. The OAU Secretariat received the completed draft in 1999, and in 2000 at Addis Ababa it was merged with the Draft Convention on Traditional Practices in a joint session of the Inter African Committee and the ACHPR. After further work at experts meetings and conferences during 2001,
1050-522: The largest portion (31%) of the global Muslim population. By country, Indonesia is the largest in the Muslim world , holding around 12% of all Muslims worldwide; outside of the Muslim-majority countries, India and China are home to the largest (11%) and second-largest (2%) Muslim populations, respectively. Due to high Muslim population growth , Islam is the fastest-growing religion in
1092-684: The latter is the European Court of Human Rights . Monitoring mechanisms also vary as to the degree of individual access to expose cases of abuse and plea for remedies. Under some conventions or recommendations – e.g. the European Convention on Human Rights – individuals or states are permitted, subject to certain conditions, to take individual cases to a full-fledged tribunal at international level. Sometimes, this can be done in national courts because of universal jurisdiction . The Universal Declaration of Human Rights ,
1134-469: The lowest average levels of education with an average of 5.6 years of schooling, though both groups have made the largest gains in educational attainment in recent decades among major religions. About 36% of all Muslims have no formal schooling, and Muslims have the lowest average levels of higher education of any major religious group, with only 8% having graduate and post-graduate degrees. Muslim culture or Islamic culture are terms used to describe
1176-512: The majority, while 25.9% of the world's Muslim population lived in countries where Muslims are in the minority. A Pew Center study in 2010 found that 3% of the world's Muslims population live in non-Muslim-majority developed countries . India's Muslim population is the world's largest Muslim-minority population in the world (11% of the world's Muslim population). Followed by Ethiopia (28 million), China (22 million), Russia (16 million) and Tanzania (13 million). Sizable minorities are also found in
1218-726: The mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus," is incompatible with traditional Christian morality. In an open letter to the government and people of Uganda in January 2006, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Uganda set out their opposition to the ratification of the Maputo Protocol. It was nevertheless ratified on 22 July 2010. In Niger, the Parliament voted 42 to 31, with 4 abstentions, against ratifying it in June 2006; in this Muslim-majority country, several traditions banned or deprecated by
1260-665: The most common spelling thereafter. The last major newspaper in the United Kingdom to use the spelling "Moslem" was the Daily Mail , which switched to "Muslim" in 2004. The word Mosalman or Mussulman ( Persian : مسلمان , romanized : mosalmân , alternatively musalmān ) is a common equivalent for Muslim used in Central and South Asia . In English it was sometimes spelled Mussulman and has become archaic in usage; however, cognates of this word remain
1302-480: The population in the Middle East identify as either Sunni or Shi'a, a significant number of Muslims identify as non-denominational . With about 1.8 billion followers (2015), almost a quarter of earth's population , Islam is the second-largest and the fastest-growing religion in the world , primarily due to the young age and high fertility rate of Muslims, with Muslims having a rate of (3.1) compared to
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1344-451: The process stalled and the protocol was not presented at the inaugural summit of the AU in 2002. In early 2003, Equality Now hosted a conference of women's groups, to organise a campaign to lobby the African Union to adopt the protocol, and the protocol's text was brought up to international standards. The lobbying was successful, the African Union resumed the process and the finished document
1386-402: The shahada also has a third part, a phrase concerning Ali , the first Shia Imam and the fourth Rashid caliph of Sunni Islam : وعليٌ وليُّ الله ( wa ʿalīyyun walīyyu-llāh ), which translates to "Ali is the wali of God". In Quranist Islam , the shahada is the testimony that there is no god but Allah ( la ilaha illa'llah ). The religious practices of Muslims are enumerated in
1428-533: The standard term for "Muslim" in various other European languages. Until at least the mid-1960s, many English-language writers used the term Mohammedans or Mahometans . Although such terms were not necessarily intended to be pejorative , Muslims argue that the terms are offensive because they allegedly imply that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. Other obsolete terms include Muslimite and Muslimist . In Medieval Europe, Muslims were commonly called Saracens . The Muslim philologist Ibn al-Anbari said:
1470-463: The teachings and practices attributed to Muhammad ( sunnah ) as recorded in traditional accounts ( hadith ). With an estimated population of almost 1.9 billion followers as of 2020 year estimation, Muslims comprise around 25% of the world's total population. In descending order, the percentage of people who identify as Muslims on each continental landmass stands at: 45% of Africa , 25% of Asia and Oceania collectively, 6% of Europe , and 1% of
1512-432: The world average of (2.5). According to the same study, religious switching has no impact on Muslim population, since the number of people who embrace Islam and those who leave Islam are roughly equal. As of 2010, 49 countries countries in the world had Muslim majorities, in which Muslims comprised more than 50% of the population. In 2010, 74.1% of the world's Muslim population lived in countries where Muslims are in
1554-549: The world can be a party, and regional instruments , which are restricted to states in a particular region of the world. Most conventions and recommendations (but few declarations) establish mechanisms for monitoring and establish bodies to oversee their implementation. In some cases these bodies that may have relatively little political authority or legal means, and may be ignored by member states; in other cases these mechanisms have bodies with great political authority and their decisions are almost always implemented. A good example of
1596-463: The world's Muslims live in the Middle East and North Africa. Non-majority India contains 10.9% of the world's Muslims. Arab Muslims form the largest ethnic group among Muslims in the world, followed by Bengalis , and Punjabis . Over 75–90% of Muslims are Sunni . The second and third largest sects, Shia and Ahmadiyya , make up 10–20%, and 1% respectively. While the majority of
1638-521: The world. Muslims have experienced persecution of varying severity, especially in China, India, some parts of Africa, and Southeast Asia. The word muslim ( Arabic : مسلم , IPA: [ˈmʊslɪm] ; English: / ˈ m ʌ z l ɪ m / , / ˈ m ʊ z l ɪ m / , / ˈ m ʊ s l ɪ m / ( MUZZ -lim, MUUZ -lim, MUUSS -lim ) or moslem / ˈ m ɒ z l ə m / , / ˈ m ɒ s l ə m / ( MOZ -ləm, MOSS -ləm ) )
1680-556: Was adopted by the African Union in Maputo , Mozambique , in 2003 in the form of a protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (adopted in 1981, enacted in 1986). Following on from recognition that women's rights were often marginalised in the context of human rights, a meeting organised by Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) in March 1995, in Lomé , Togo, called for
1722-413: Was not a Jew, nor a Christian, but he was a true Muslim [مُّسۡلِمࣰا], and he was not a polytheist." -- Quran 3:67 "Then when Jesus perceived their disbelief he said, 'Who will be my helpers of God.' The disciples said 'We will be the helpers of God; we believe in God and bear witness that we are Muslims [مُسۡلِمُونَ].'" -- Quran 3:52 To become a Muslim and to convert to Islam, it is essential to utter
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1764-533: Was officially adopted by the section summit of the African Union, on 11 July 2003. At the Maputo Summit, several countries expressed reservations. Tunisia, Sudan, Kenya, Namibia and South Africa recorded reservations about some of the marriage clauses. Egypt, Libya, Sudan, South Africa and Zambia had reservations about "judicial separation, divorce and annulment of marriage". Burundi, Senegal, Sudan, Rwanda and Libya held reservations with Article 14, relating to
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