Kerbela - Cilt - Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi

Çeşitli Yönleriyle Kerbela • 207
Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or
collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the
United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to
maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the
exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the
Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and
responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any
time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore
international peace and security.
This right is an inherent right in human beings. Human beings posses
variety of inherent and natural rights, such as the right of life, the right of
having family, having governmental system, the right of self-defence and so
on. The right of self-defence lets humans to defend their legal rights against
any aggression. Basically, every living being have the right of defence. This
is an essential and crucial law of nature. A leaf of a flower has a defensive
power; animal have the defensive power, the human body has defensive
power like …. Thus living creatures have appropriate defensive instruments
to prevent themselves against any aggression.
"The human rights of every citizen should not only be acknowledged
but also observed in practice. Every citizen, whatever his or her religious
identity, should enjoy freedom of expression. Every citizen, whatever his or
her religious affiliation, should have the opportunity to participate in public
life…It is not just individual rights and liberties that should be guaranteed. In
multi-religious societies where every community is conscious of its identity,
community rights should also be protected. Each community should be
secure in the knowledge that neither the state nor anyone else poses a threat
to its religion, language or culture…. Individual and community rights are
one thing." 9
4. The Nature of war in Islam is defensive
Before The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Islam
acknowledged the same rights 1400 years ago. The primary principle in
Islam is peace and war in Islam is prohibited except defensive wars. This can
be seen clearly in many Qur'anic verses. In other words, the nature of war in
Islam is defensive not aggression. A divine religion should advocate peace.
Islam emphasises on peace in communication with all Muslim and non-
Muslim people in a society, and encourages its adherents to avoid war and
9 Gerrieter Haar and James J. Busuttil , Bridge or Barrier, P.68.