Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam

A 1990 declaration adopted by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation that states human-rights principles within an Islamic framework and subjects them to Islamic law.

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Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: An intergovernmental organization of Muslim-majority states, founded in 1969 to promote cooperation and represent shared interests. The organization’s foreign ministers adopted the declaration in Cairo in 1990.
Sharia: Islamic normative guidance derived from the Quran, the Sunnah, and human interpretation of those sources. The declaration makes Sharia the limit on exercising its stated rights and freedoms.
Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (1990 text): The original 1990 text of the OIC declaration, consisting of a preamble and 25 articles. Its articles show how the declaration frames rights, duties, and permissible limits.
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action: A 1993 United Nations declaration affirming that human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent, and interrelated. It supplies a prominent universalist statement against which the Cairo Declaration’s qualifications are compared.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation human-rights system: The OIC’s institutions and instruments for promoting human rights among its member states. The declaration became a reference point for later OIC human-rights initiatives.
Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers: The OIC’s ministerial body, now called the Council of Foreign Ministers, which coordinates member-state policy. Its nineteenth session adopted the declaration.
Maqasid al-Sharia: A framework of Islamic legal objectives, commonly including the protection of religion, life, intellect, family, and property. These objectives offer one way to interpret the declaration’s account of rights and human welfare.
Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (2020 revision): A revised OIC human-rights declaration adopted in 2020 to replace the 1990 text. The revision updates the instrument and is the relevant text for current OIC policy.
Universalism and cultural relativism: A debate over whether human rights apply universally or should be interpreted through distinct cultural and social contexts. The declaration is frequently discussed as a case in this dispute.
Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission: An OIC body established to promote and protect human rights in member states through research and advice. Its creation reflects the OIC’s later institutional engagement with human-rights questions.