Never Say Never: Searching for Common Ground between Muslim and Western Nations on the Issues of Human Dignity and Human Rights

Travis Weber

Abstract

Travis Weber 3736 Silina Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23452 703-470-5411 tsweber@gmail.com

May 4, 2010

To Whom It May Concern:

Enclosed is an abstract for my article, entitled Never Say Never: Searching for Common Ground Between Muslim and Western Nations on the Issues of Human Dignity and Human Rights.

My article examines the gap between Islamic and Western views of human rights, explores how this gap developed, and briefly reviews how different theories of jurisprudence would approach this gap. Due to the current world-wide increase in religious activity, including the prominence of Islam, and the version of morality that Islam brings to the law, only a theory of jurisprudence containing a moral component, such as natural law, can serve as a platform for building common ground between Muslim and Western nations on the issues of human dignity and human rights. This common ground is not built on any religious texts, but upon the human conscience, which is universally applicable to mankind. The article concludes by offering a model set of human rights based on this common ground of conscience, which grows out of shared ideas on human dignity. Only by focusing on this common ground will there be progress out of the current deadlock between Muslim and Western nations on the issue of human rights.

I hope you see the value in my article’s approach to these issues, and I hope you agree it is worthy of publication. Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Travis Weber