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Hosbah, Accountability System in Islam
Hosbah is a voluntary accountability system in Islam. The essential purpose of Hosbah is to establish Shari'ah in the Islamic society. Hosbah uses the method of enjoining good and forbidding evil to enforce Shari'ah. Shari'ah will discipline those who publicly commit shameful practices, immoral activities and the like. Moreover, Hosbah people will monitor any illegal practices, such as cheating, selling, promoting, and pushing illegal or banned items and goods. Hosbah also scrutinizes the monopolization of basic needs of the people. Moreover, Hosbah monitors and follows up on damaged public facilities in order to reconstruct properly and protect the individuals against physical injuries. All these voluntary activities of Hosbah are based on the verse in the Glorious Qur'�n Sura al-Imran 3:110 the meaning of which is translated as:� You are the best of Peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah�.
Hosbah also implies fearing the punishment of Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala). This is based on the verse in the Glorious Qur'�n Sura al-Maidah 5:78-79 the meaning of which is translated as:� Curses were pronounced on those among the Children of Israel who rejected Faith, by the tongue of David and of Jesus, the son of Mary, because they disobeyed and persisted in Excesses. Nor did they (usually) forbid one another the iniquities, which they committed: evil indeed were the deeds, which they did�.
Every individual in the Islamic society should take an active role in Hosbah, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is evil. This role will be assumed according to the individual's ability and position. This is based on the Hadith of Allah's Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):� Whosoever sees an [immorally] unacceptable act being practiced [in the Islamic society] must change it [correct it] by his own hand [by action]. If he could not do so, then let him use his tongue [deny the practice verbally and advise the practicing person, gently, to stop what he/she is doing]. [Finally] if he could not do so, then let him use his heart [despise the practice by heart and declare that he/she hates to see such a wrong practice in the Islamic society]. That is the least [level of] faith�[100].
However, correcting a vice may be restricted if this amounts to worsen the situation and aggravate it.
The religion of Islam, which Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was commissioned with, and the supreme and wise Prophetic sayings articulates the human rights in a single sentence as follows:� Truly, your blood, your wealth and all your protected items are unlawful to one another. All these are as sacred as it of this respected Day, in this Respected Month and in this Respected Town��[101].
Most of the human rights fall under this statement, which was delivered in the Farewell, Pilgrimage speech of Allah's Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Islam, in fact, established all laws and regulations in order to preserve the human rights and defend them. It also issues warning to the violators of these rights of the severest punishment.
The following is the Declaration issued in Cairo about the Human Rights in Islam. It is worth pointing out that the rights listed in this Declaration are only guidelines and general rules. Rights, according to Islam, are interconnected with one another as rings that support one another. The general principles and the rules of the human rights in Islam are divided into other categories. Consequently, these lower categories are also broken down into further sub-categories. This will require a lengthy discourse, if we want to address all the details. Therefore, we will only give hints and clues. For more details, an interested reader may pool pertinent information from literature on human rights in Islam. It is safe to say that, 'Islam came to preserve all the human rights and to make the human beings happier in this life as well as in the Hereafter.