Human Security in Islam

Abstract

Although the Iranian Revolution, in 1979, sparked a debate about the rise of Islam and Islamic fundamentalism, international relations and human security scholars mostly continued to isolate it as a factor in understanding current international and inter-cultural conflicts. Likewise, even though the concept of ‘ummah’ is crucial in Islam, there has been lack of research done to understand it from the Western concept of human security. Nevertheless, the end of the Cold War-first marked by the reunification of Germany in 1989-in addition to longstanding conflicts among ethnic and religious groups in many Muslim countries, the unexpected September 11, 2001 tragedy in the US, and increasing transnational threats-i.e. human, weapons and illicit drug trafficking and smuggling-have together given new impetus for scholars to reexamine how religion, particularly Islam, acts as an ideational factor in humanity's overall quest for peace and security of the region and the world. It is the purpose of the paper to explore how Islam explains and understands human security, in particular the concepts of peace, security, justice, hu                           man rights and development. In order to gain a comprehensive overview of the approach, both secondary and primary data will be collected. In-depth interviews was conducted with scholars in the field of international relations, security and in Islamic studies. By analyzing human security approach from the Islamic perspectives, it is hoped that the research will contribute to the contemporary debates concerning human security, thereby helping to enrich the disciplines and perhaps add to the knowledge base available to address some of today's most serious world conflicts.

Keywords: development; human rights; human security; justice; peace;ummah