The Third International Conference on Human Rights and Peace & Conflict in

Southeast Asia
Proposed Abstract
Rethinking Governance and Human Rights rom The Perspective of Islam
Ridhwan Mohd Basor
Senior Executive
Office of the Mufti
Islamic Religious Council of Singapore
ridhwan_mohd_basormuis!gov!sg
Abstract
In the past three decades" there has been an upsurge of Islamic movements
launching political revolutions to replace secular regimes of their nation#states! $he
Iranian revolution in %&'& had essentiall( brought hopes to some Muslim across the
world for the plausible return of the Islamic Caliphate s(stem! )evertheless" the path
towards the establishment of an ideal *Islamic State+ has been an arduous process
and hitherto remains a utopian idea! $he concept of an *Islamic State+ ipso facto a
contentious term with endless debate amongst religion scholars and social scientists!
,t the same time" countries that claimed to be an Islamic State li-e Saudi and Iran
and societies that regard the Shariah as the principles of law and governance tend to
be portra(ing the negative image that is pale in comparison with the classical model
of the Islamic State! .iolations of human rights and the authoritarian st(le of
governance placed the idea of an *Islamic State+ and thus *Islamic+ and *Shariah+#
based governance as a draconian s(stem which have no place in the contemporar(
world! $he wa( forward is thus to reconstruct this s(stem of governance and to
rethin- the idea of an *Islamic State+! )evertheless" anti#reform movements and
scholars have argued that Islam and secularism are incompatible and that the human
rights notion of the /est is value#laden which contradict the tradition of Islam! $his
paper posits that the concept of human rights through the discourse of human dignit(
is inherentl( in the tradition of Islam! $he model of governance demonstrated in the
era of classical Islam emphasi0e on the notion of social 1ustice and ethical principle!
$his paper will also addresses to the arguments against an( form of reformation and
reconstruction of Islamic principles of governance and human rights" b( proposing
Usul al-Fiqh as a d(namic methodolog( developed in the traditional fiqh as the
guiding framewor-! $his paper argues that Usul al-Fiqh is essential for an( attempt to
reconstruct the principles of governance and human rights in Islam! 2owever" Usul
al-Fiqh as an influential traditional methodolog( of deriving legal rulings and laws
need to be first and foremost be reformed to ensure it compatibilit( with the realities
of the contemporar( societ(!
Ridhwan Mohd Basor graduated with an 2onours degree from the 3epartment of
4olitical Science" )ational 5niversit( of Singapore 6)5S7! 2e pursued his
postgraduate stud( on contemporar( Muslim world at the International Institute of
Islamic $hought and Civili0ation! 2is research interests include 4olitical Islam"
Muslim Minorities" International relations and 4olitics of communication! 2e was
awarded )on#Resident Research 8ellowship b( the .irginia#based International
Institute of Islamic $hought 6III$7 in 9:%%! 2e currentl( serves as Senior Executive at
the Office of the Mufti" Islamic Religious Council of Singapore!