Islamic Human Rights Commission
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| Formation | 1997 |
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| Type | NGO |
| Purpose | Islamic Human Rights |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
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Official language
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English |
| Affiliations | Universal Justice Network, Decoloniality Europe |
| Website | ihrc |
The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) is a non-profit organisation based in London. Its stated mission is to "work with different organisations from Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds, to campaign for justice for all peoples regardless of their racial, confessional or political background." The group is based in London and was established in 1997. The organisation, since 2007, has consultative status with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The IHRC states its philosophy derives from:
Qur'anic injunctions that command believers to rise up in defence of the oppressed. "And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper." Qur’an 4:75
Jytte Klausen of Brandeis University writes that the IHRC forms part of the Muslim Left in Europe.
However, according to the now defunct Awaaz, the IHRC is "a radical Islamist organisation that uses the language of human rights to promote an extremist agenda including the adoption of shariah law". In a report entitled "The Islamist Right – key tendencies", Awaaz also states the IHRC is part of a corpus of right-wing Islamist and neo-Khomeiniist organisations, a charge the IHRC denies. Awaaz's claims were echoed by journalist Melanie Phillips, who stated in The Spectator that the IHRC was, "the most conspicuous promoter of Khomeini jihadism in the UK, ... [and] is said to be close to Iran."
However, public intellectual and journalist Stuart Weir argues that IHRC are amongst the representative voices of Muslims in the UK stating:
…the staff and voluntary workers of the Islamic Human Rights Commission - … put the lie to the common idea that Islam and human rights are irreconcilable.
The organisation states it is a campaign, research and advocacy organisation. It also engages in ad hoc and one-off projects.
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