Much of what you have said is correct. Our social behavior lacks so much refinement. The Islamic nation has taught much to the world in this area, but since Islam went on the decline in the Muslim world, so did our social behavior and our respect for other people's rights. Our respect of the law is very much lacking, and this is entrenched in our behavior due to the fact that we, in most areas of the Muslim world, lived under foreign rule. They begin to try to outmaneuver the oppressive authority. With time this develops into a normal attitude of disrespect to the law. Even when they live under the benevolent government, their entrenched attitude often takes the better of them. This is unfortunate, but true.

It is true that we tend to give a great deal of emphasis to worship, and that we do not give due importance to other people's rights. This is due to the fact that we tend to overlook the numerous Hadiths which make it clear that our faith requires us to love for others what we love for ourselves. The Prophet says: "None of you is a true believer unless he loves for his brother what he loves to have himself." Islam does not know the selfish attitude. It inculcates in every Muslim the concept that a Muslim must always be one of a community where mutual love and compassion are paramount characteristics.

I think you are asking parents and teachers a little too much. You cannot get out of anyone something that he has not got himself. All the parents and teachers are in the same boat as the rest of us. How can they inculcate such values in their children or students? The matter requires much more than that. It requires a return to our Islamic values, and this cannot be achieved unless scholars begin to teach people that Islam is much wider in outlook than the whole list of acts of worship. Governments should also give a helping hand by according such values the supremacy they deserve.

Islam lays a very strong emphasis on human rights. It requires a Muslim ruler to make sure that every individual in his community exercises and enjoys full human rights. The basic freedom that are stressed in the constitutions of modern states are all acknowledged by Islam and no one may interfere to deny any individual his or her rights.

When we speak of the due process of law, Islam has been ahead of all contemporary laws in establishing the rights of defendants and ensuring that no one suffers injustice. To start with, Islam makes it clear that every human being is innocent until he is proven guilty. For certain offenses, Islam requires a much stricter evidence for the proof of guilt. For example, the crime of adultery can only be proven by free confession or the testimony of four witnesses who testify under oath that they have seen the offense being committed. If there are only three people that testify to that offense, their testimony is rejected out of hand and they are punished for false accusation. If the offense is proved only through confession, then that confession may be withdrawn by the person concerned at any time. Withdrawal of the confession will cause immediate stoppage of the punishment.

The main concern of the reader in this question is the confession of a person who is accused of committing a certain crime and how such a confession is obtained. Unfortunately, it is often the case in many countries that confession is obtained in many cases through coercion or even torture. In some countries, including Muslim ones, this happens all the time, particularly with regard to political offenses. Under certain governments, torture of the accused to obtain confession is a normal practice. I personally know a country where many cases were brought to court after the death of a particular ruler and interrogators and jailers admitted to torturing people who were arrested in order to obtain confessions that they knew were false. Sentences against such people guilty of torture were passed by the courts of that country in several cases. Similar practices do happen in other countries.

Islam denounces any such practices, whoever is the perpetrator, regardless of who is the victim. Even if torture is inflicted on a person whom the authorities are sure to have committed a crime, torture is unacceptable to Islam. Indeed, Islam lays down that any confession obtained through torture is of no value and cannot be admitted as evidence.

Besides, from the Islamic point of view, those who resort to torture are guilty of assault against the humanity of man and against God's law. They must be punished, because what they do is clearly against God's law. Whoever gives instructions to another person to exercise torture on prisoners or people arrested for suspicion of committing a particular crime is also guilty. Such a person must be punished. If he escapes punishment in this life, then certainly God will make him accountable for his wrong-doing. God will ensure that justice is made because torture, for whatever reason, is an act of injustice.

Moreover, if a sentence is passed on a person on the basis of a confession he made under torture, that sentence is, in God's law, null and void. He remains innocent until he is proven guilty under the normal process of the law. If he is made to serve part or all of his sentence, then he is entitled to compensation which may be both material and moral. What we have to understand is that torture is absolutely repugnant to Islam. It cannot be sanctioned for any reason whatsoever. God does not accept compulsion even to make people Muslims. How would He accept that people are compelled to confess to crimes which they have not committed?

Some people argue that unless suspects are put to some pain or some other sort of difficulty, they will not admit to their crimes. This is a ludicrous argument that cannot be given any value in Islamic law. It is infinitely better that a guilty person should escape punishment than that an innocent person is punished for a crime he has not committed. Some people may argue that by saying so we are giving room to the guilty to escape punishment. They will claim that this will tempt more people to commit offenses, hoping that they can get away with them. Such argument is simply unacceptable.

If we want to stop crime, we have to look at the roots of social problems and try to solve them so that we reduce the factors that lead people to commit crimes. Moreover, torturing people in order to obtain confession is in itself a crime. For this reason, Islamic law has a rule that makes it imperative to give a defendant the benefit of the doubt. The Prophet, peace be upon him, has stated a directive to "stop the enforcement of specified punishment when there is a doubt" that the accused has committed the offense. That is exactly the same as the principle that the benefit of the doubt should be given to the accused [or that a crime is to be proved ['beyond any reasonable doubt.'] Punishment can be inflicted only when there is absolutely no doubt as to the identity of the offender. When doubt exists, then punishment may not be enforced.

You have pointed out a problem which has become highly relevant in the life of Muslim communities of today. Duties toward God are over emphasized while duties toward fellow human beings are given a low position on the list of priorities, both at the individual and community levels. Yet, a good balance is the main characteristic of Islam and its code of living. Hence, a Muslim's responsibilities toward other human beings are indeed given a very strong emphasis in Islam.

The Prophet states that a Muslim has a "sanctity", which means that he must always be respected, well-treated and immune from assault on his person, property and integrity. Hence, the Prophet defines the relationship of brotherhood between Muslims, and what it entails in practical life. He says that a Muslim is a brother to every Muslim: the one never treats the other unjustly, nor lets him down, nor tries to humiliate him." He also tells us that the "sanctity" of a believer is "in God's view, greater than the sanctity of the Ka'aba."

I hasten to state that the word "sanctity" is inadequate to give all the connotations of the Arabic term the Prophet has used. Suffice it to say that the Hadith implies that all rights, minor or major, that belong to a Muslim must be always respected. A person at the receiving end of injustice is sure to have God's help. The Prophet tells that "supplication by a person treated unjustly goes directly to God without any hindrance." This very statement should be sufficient to make anyone who exercises any degree of power to be on his guard lest he should treat anyone unjustly. Moreover, mutual help between members of a Muslim community is highly emphasized. Try to help anyone with something of importance to him or her, and you are certain to receive God's help in accomplishing what you need.

The Prophet says: "Whoever helps his brother with a certain need shall have God helping him in accomplishing his own purpose." The Prophet himself was the best example of extending a helping hand to all and sundry. Even the weakest member of the community could draw on an inexhaustible source of help from the Prophet. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who was also the head of the Muslim state, would let even a slave make any demand on his time and service. We should not forget that the Arabian society in the pre-Islamic days was so unjust to both women and slaves. The Prophet was also the best of neighbors and he emphasized that neighbors have a claim on our kindness. He tells us "The Angel Gabriel has reminded me so often of the rights of a neighbor until I began to think that a neighbor may have a claim to inheritance." This means that the status of a neighbor should be viewed as comparable to that of a family member.

According to Muslim scholars, [being] a neighbor is not [limited to] only the person living next door. The persons living forty houses away in every direction are also your neighbors. On the other hand, when the Prophet heard one of his companions say to Bilal during an argument, "You son of a black woman", he was very angry indeed. He said to that man: "You insult him on account of his mother? You certainly have not purged yourself from the values of an ignorant society." All that gives us just an idea of the sort of emphasis Islam attaches to the rights of individuals, particularly those who are vulnerable in society. We must not forget that the Prophet's conduct serves as an example which we are required to follow. It is important to realize here what sort of example the Prophet sets in respect of family life.

As for the treatment of women, the Prophet says: "The best among you are those who treat their wives best. I am indeed the best of you in the way I treat my wives." We must look at this Hadith from the right angle. The first part of the Hadith lays down a principle which we must implement in our lives, because it is part of the Prophet's guidance. The second tells us of his practical example which we must follow. Therefore, there is a double emphasis here on the importance of treating wives well. When we compare this with the notion that prevails among the overwhelming majority of men in the Muslim world, we conclude that what we do is at variance with the Prophet's instructions.

The letters that I receive from readers asking what they should do because their wives do not obey their instructions are too numerous for comfort. Little do they remember that the kind treatment of wives which the Prophet has encouraged by word and deed is the best way for them to win their wives' respect and a peaceful family life. The Prophet's wives have told us everything about his behavior in the privacy of his own home. There is not a single report that the Prophet ever rebuked any of his wives for any act of commission or omission.

Even with his servants the Prophet was the kindest man. Anas ibn Malik reports: "I served the Prophet for ten years and he never said to me: Why did you do this, or why did you omit that." Visiting delegations to Madinah often thought that Anas and his mother belonged to the Prophet's own family, when they were only in his service. Moreover, we are told in an authentic Hadith that when the Prophet was at home, "he was in the service of his family."

We tend to overlook all this and give little importance to the high-priority objective of Islam, namely, the eliminating of all injustice. People treat their wives unjustly, and they are unjust to people in their employment. Yet voices which speak against that remain faint, particularly of Muslim scholars.

It is a fact of life that contemporary scholars have not addressed this question adequately. On the other hand, we have so much said and written about matters that cannot be described as being of equal importance. Look at the emphasis given to issues like the permissibility or otherwise of music, singing, photography, wearing a long robe that covers a man's ankles, etc. Look at the volume of spoken and written reminders on these and similar issues such as the length of a man's beard, the covering of a woman's face, the joining of people's feet in congregational prayer, etc. Some of these matters have their importance no doubt, but all of them are controversial in the sense that scholars have always had different views concerning each one of them. Moreover, they are far less serious than being unjust to one's wife, servant, employee, neighbor, or indeed fellow human being.