ABSTRACT
The implementation of international human rights norms in any society requires thoughtful and well-informed engagement of religion because of its strong influence on human belief systems and behavior, regardless of the formal characterization of the relationship between religion and the state in any society. This chapter presents the case of Islam and Islamic societies for illustration, while emphasizing that similar issues arise in relation to other religions and societies. It includes the role of local and global social, economic and political factors, instead of focused on purely theological analyses of the relationship between religion and human rights. This approach is more conducive to mediating between the polar extremes of universality and relativity by emphasizing common features of human experience over differences in abstract theological terms. The chapter emphasizes the need for a variety of strategies to enhance the influence of human rights standards in both the domestic and the global context of each society.
