INTRODUCTION
Human rights are the basic standards that people need to live in dignity. In addition to the
rights that are available to all people, there are rights that apply only to children. Children
need special rights because of their unique needs; they need additional protection that adults
don’t. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international
document that sets out all of the rights that children have – a child is defined in the
Convention as any person under the age of 18. On the other hand Islam recognises family as
a basic social unit. Along with the husband-wife relationship the Parent-child relationship is
the most important one. To maintain any social relationship both parties must have some
clear-cut Rights as well as obligations. Children are enormous blessings from Allah; at the
same time they are Amanah or trust from Him to us. The ultimate aim of preserving that trust
is to do our best to protect them from hell-fire in the after-life, “O You Who Believe! Protect
yourselves and Your Families from that fire, whose fuel will be humans and stones.” (Al-
Qur'an: 66: 6). All children, not just orphans, come into the category of ‘vulnerable’ – their
parents and society as a whole need to ensure they are looked after, not only because children
have intrinsic rights, but because Muslims have a duty to be charitable. Islam regards
safeguarding children's rights as important because all human life is sacred to Allah.
CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN ISLAM
In the light of Sharia (Islamic Law); some of the rights of the children are as follows:
• The Right to Life As a fundamental principle, Islam has guaranteed the right to live for all
human beings except for clearly defined crimes in the shariah due to which a person loses
his/her right to live
• Children must have the respect, to enjoy love and affection from their parents.
• Children have the right to be treated equally, vis-a-vis their siblings in terms of financial
gifts.
• Children have the right to be fed, clothed, and protected until they reach adulthood.
• Children have the Right to Just and Equal Treatment Children are entitled to just and equal
treatment. No child should be given priority or any type of preference over the others in
terms of gifts, grants, ownership or inheritance.
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal said that preferential treatment of a child is permitted if he or she is
handicapped while others are not. (In Al-Mughni, vol. 5, p. 605, it is stated that special
treatment of a child is permissible due to a need, a handicap, blindness, his or her being from
a large family, being engaged in studies, or something of the sort, as it is also permitted to
withhold from a child who would spend what he is given on sinful or wicked things.)
● The child has the right to be not forced by its step parents or its birth parents.
● Children have the right to education.
● Parents are recommended to provide adequately for children in inheritance.
A Hadith says, “It is better for parents to leave their children well provided (financially) than
to leave them in poverty”.
● Rights of the Unborn Child.
After conception, the rights that Allah has prescribed for unborn children, in the
Islamic Law, then take effect. Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, describes the persons who
kill their children, prior or after their birth, as lost, misguided and ignorant,
● Marrying children when they are old enough to get married.
One of the rights that children have over their parents is to be provided with marriage
when they are old enough, without delaying it. Both the Quran and Muhammed order
that young people and orphans be married when they are old enough.
CONCLUSION
Under Islamic law, it has been demonstrated, it is not only after the child is born that it
begins to acquire legal rights. The law goes further, creating a protective shield around the
unborn child from the time of conception and even investing him or her with the capacity to
acquire additional benefits. Muslim jurists have based their discussion about rights of
children on the general understanding and commandments of the Quran and Sunnah
(traditions of the Prophet Muhammad). In the Islamic faith, all children have various rights.
The rights of the children are well protected in Sharia (Islamic law). Islam not only
designates rights of children after they are born, but also they have rights before their birth.
So far as the rights of orphan children are concerned, Holy Quran makes special reference for
protecting their rights.