Comparative Analysis of the Mutual Rights of Government and People from the Viewpoints of Islam and Liberalism

Human is, by nature, social; which means that in order to achieve its deserved advancement which he has the skills to reach to, the mankind has social tendency and provides the grounds for collective essence. In spite of accepting the necessity of living in the society and surrendering to social norms and following legal musts, the internal tendency of human to freedom and being free from the obstacles and limitations and enjoying more advantages from life is fundamentally against the limitations and barriers imposed and issued by the governments. Therefore, drawing the distinction line between the rights and freedom of individuals and the power of the government, in other words, clarification of the rights and duties of people against the government, has been one of the main concerns of the thinkers in Law and Politics from the old time. Following that way, this paper comparatively analyzes the mutual rights of people and the government from the viewpoints of Islam and Liberalism. The findings of the paper show that in Liberalism, the rights of people and government have been explained based on the natural rights whose meaning is the priority of human freedom to society, but in the Islamic school, the basis of rights is its adaptability with the divine will which, consequently, sets a balance between individual freedoms and rights of people and the government.