IV. MA’ASHRAT (WAYS OF INTERACTING W PEOPLE)
Ma’ashrat refers to how we interact with and treat people in the whole society, such as neighbours family members, neighbours, strangers, co-travellers, and even those people we go to war with. Shariah has very clear rules about how we treat all these people, and what rights we owe to everyone around us. However, before getting into details of those rights, one needs to understand a few underlying concepts.
The first point to understand in this context is that Shariah is not a “Rights-based” legislation, it is a “Duty-based” legislation. It becomes much easier to understand this concept if one reflects on how the Noble Qur’an narrates its commandments. If you read the Qur’an, you will not find a single instance where it says, “your RIGHTS are…” whether it is rights of parents, the poor, travellers, employees, etc. In fact, it addresses those people whose duty it is to fulfil those rights, for example, the children, the employers, the affluent, and says, “Your DUTIES are” or “You must do this.”
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