Child Justice in Contemporary International Law and Islam

Abstract

Children are considered one of the most vulnerable segments of society with regard to protection of their rights. Children are also human beings and possess all the rights which are available for all other human beings. Apart from that children also possess certain rights that are available for children only. Therefore, children are entitled to the protection of their rights at higher level than normal human beings. For instance, apart from protection of the right to life, security, liberty and protection from any harm, children are also entitled to some additional rights like right to maintenance, education and proper care. Almost every legal system of the world provides protection to the rights of children and international law also contains various special laws on the rights of child. Like other rights, Islam also contains special rights for children. The primary sources on the rights of child are the holy Quran and Sunnah of the holy Prophet (ﷺ). Islam has extended rights to the children in a unique way which was and has never been followed by any other legal system of the world. Islam extends rights to children before and after birth. Very few legal systems of the world talk about any right of children before birth. Furthermore, even after birth, most of the legal systems of the world talk about physical normal rights of the children for their protection from physical harm and at the maximum for their physical welfare. Islamic law focuses on the mental, emotional and social well being of the children apart from their protection from physical harm. Moreover, rights attached to the mental, emotional and social well being of the children have never been protected by any other legal system except Islam. For instance, children have the right to be given the best name, shaving his/her head on the seventh day of birth and giving the weight of the hairs in silver as charity and choosing the best spouse for children (with their consent), teachings good manners and characteristics are a few rights which have been provided by Islam exclusively and other legal systems of the world do not emphasize on these rights. Of course, Islam also protects child rights from any physical harm, abuse or maltreatment just like any other legal system, but protection of mental, social and emotional well being of the children makes Islam unique with regard to protection of their rights. In this regard, certain principles have been narrated in the holy Quran, but majority of these rights have been protected by the Sunnah of the holy Prophet (ﷺ). History has witnessed that principles laid down by the Sunnah of the holy Prophet (ﷺ) are proved to be the best for the welfare of children and protection of their rights. These principles, if followed by others, would serve to be the best mechanism for protection of child rights in every society. This paper intends to highlight the key principles for child justice provided under Islam in general and in accordance with Sunnah of the holy Prophet (ﷺ) in particular in comparison with the key principles of international and national laws to establish that the former principles would serve the best practice to deal with the issue of child justice in today’s world.