The age-old question is how to reconcile human rights and culture. It is not a shock that sometimes human rights collide with culture. The fundamental question is what human rights are, whether they are universal, and what happens when customs seem to prohibit some of the rights for which there is a consensus that they are human rights. Undoubtedly, the widely accepted definition of human rights is a concept of liberal forms of government. At the heart of this topic are pertinent civilizational questions. For this reason, it is essential to highlight that human rights are mainly alluded to in the context of Western civilization. It goes without saying that, therefore, this Western civilization’s definition of human rights will be at loggerheads with other forms of civilizations, such as the Islamic civilization of which Brunei is part. Human rights and culture contradict because of their origins, and for a country like Brunei, Islamic culture will undoubtedly affect the rights of women and LGBT+ people.
The concept of rights needs to be dissected from the most fundamental vantage point. Indeed, an isolated human occupying an area does not need rights since no one can violate them. Likewise, the individual does not need to observe any rules since they have nobody to violate; this is the very definition of anarchy. However, as the number of people living in the area starts to increase, the individual must somehow make concessions along the golden rule that one should treat others as they wish to be treated. The more people, the greater the compromises the individual will have to make, and the more organized the group needs to be to manage their civilization. This is the very definition of a government and the concept of a social contract that stems from the need to eradicate anarchy (Friend). These groups eventually form sovereign states, which could also enter into intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations.
The United Nations is, therefore, the de facto custodian of the definition of what constitutes human rights since Brunei is a signatory. However, Brunei is also an Islamic republic, meaning that as the UN broadens the definition of what constitutes human rights, there are bound to be collisions. The UN defines human rights as the rights of people inherent to humans irrespective of race, nationality, sex, ethnicity, religion, language, or any other status (Human Rights). They include such fundamental rights as the right to life, liberty, freedom from slavery, torture, freedom of speech, and right to education and work, among others.
The rights of women and girls for education and protection from abuse have gained prominence across the globe. In addition, from the United Nations’ definition of human rights, it is clear that some broad definitions will likely collide with Islamic law. Brunei is an absolute monarchy that follows a combination of sharia and English common law. Consequently, in Brunei, women’s rights continue to be a problem. Firstly, even though the law has illegalized assault on women, the law does not cover spousal rape and allows sexual intercourse so long as the female is over 14 years (Brunei 2021; Human Rights). This age of consent is problematic because it provides an avenue for child marriages that directly contradicts the fundamental human right of women’s education.
In addition to women’s rights, homosexuality is illegal in Brunei. This is contrary to the West, where the issue of LGBTQ rights has gained momentum culminating in the legalization of homosexual marriages. The issue of trans rights has especially gained special status, including young children now being allowed to choose to transition. In Brunei, sharia law stipulates that homosexual acts are punishable by stoning. However, the government of Brunei has provided a moratorium against the death penalty for homosexual acts.
The concept of human rights has been examined from a fundamental and foundational point of view. Ideally, human rights have origins of a social contract through the context of a state. Since states must interact with other states, they form intergovernmental organizations such as the UN. Human rights are also a civilizational issue, especially in Brunei’s context because it is an absolute monarchy that follows sharia law. In Islam, Muslim women continue redefining what it means to be a hijabi and refuse to be labeled as oppressed (Majede, 0:0:0-0:3:24). These reasons are breeding grounds for conflict since Islamic culture does not adhere to the same definitions of human rights as the Western-led UN charter. The solution to this conflict is taking the UN incrementalism approach and giving countries time to mature. Brunei may be under an autocratic monarchy, but a rich culture cannot be entirely negated by semantics about what constitutes human rights.
The idea of what supersedes the other between human rights and culture is an age-old question that warrants discussion. Ideally, human rights trump culture because they emerge at earlier stages of being. The United Nations’ definition of human rights has been used as the basis. Brunei, being a signatory to the UN charter, is expected to adhere to these rules to the latter, but it cannot because of the collision with its Islamic culture. The solution proposed for this problem involves giving countries time for organic integration.
Works Cited
Brunei 2021 Human Rights Report. 2021, Web.
Friend, Celeste. Social Contract Theory | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web.
“Human Rights.” United Nations, Web.
Najar Majede. “Majede Najar: Why I wear a hijab” YouTube, Web.