The Rights of the Child in the Islamic Context: The Challenges of the Local and the Global

Within the Islamic context, it is strongly believed that Islamic principles are fully compatible with the international concepts of human rights. Nevertheless, Islamic Shariah law has been condemned by the widespread secular discourse on universal human rights as a blatant violation of human rights. Carrying out a thematic analysis of the main Islamic Conventions/Declarations on Human Rights and the Rights of the Child, issued and ratified by the largest Islamic inter-governmental body, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), 1 this paper reveals that although the first Islamic Conventions/Declaration on the Rights of the Child (during 1980s) largely reiterated the religious rhetoric of Islam's commitment to children's rights, since then the Islamic states have begun to internalize a more universal understanding of human rights which reflects a change from a mainly ideological, conservative monologue into a more universal dialogue.