From Brussels: The Islamic Legal Conceptions of Privacy

By: Sonny Zulhuda

Last week (1st February 2019) I concluded the International Conference on Privacy and Data Protection (CPDP2019) in the heart of Europe, City of Brussels. It is organised by a consortium of primary European universities, supported by global companies, and endorsed by the European Union institutions.

It’s the 12th edition of this annual global event on privacy & data protection. 3 days of fascinating and thought-provoking talks, speeches and discussions. Thank you @CPDPconferences for inviting me as a speaker on privacy in Islam.

Thanks to @darahallinan who initiated this panel for the first time. Entitled “Islamic Legal Conceptions of Privacy.” The idea is to understand how privacy is actually a universal value adopted by wide and global communities and traditions.

Being the first speaker, I first introduced that for every Muslim, Islam is the way of life and provides a comprehensive guidelines for both private and public interactions.

Then I spoke mainly on the evidences from the Quran (as the primary source of Islamic law) which provide basis of privacy right and how to implement it in life, starting from early childhood: they should ask parent’s permission before entering their private rooms at three specific times in a day.

I highlighted how important it is to respect others’ dignity by not transgressing their rights, not spying on them, not backbiting, not ridiculing them, and not calling them by undesired labelling/tagging.

Muslims are told to get mutual consent when affecting others’ rights, to record agreements, to enter their houses upon prior consent, and to leave if asked to. Not less importantly a command to investigate information received (verification and authentication).

Those are exactly the rights pertinent to privacy and data protection nowadays.

At the end, I noted that 1. Islam calls for peace, justice and harmony; 2. Privacy is one of important rights to be preserved; and 3. At all time, Muslims will be accountable to God, Society and oneself.

And not forgetting I also shared some updates on the privacy laws and Personal Data Protection laws in both Indonesia and Malaysia. Some good news here and there.

Thank You Chair, moderator and fellow panelists Prof Andrew Adams (Japan), Prof Elizabeth Coombs (Malta), Nighat Dad (Pakistan), Lahoussine Aniss (Marocco), and Patrick Penninckx (EU) for making it a beautiful panel. Looking forward to connecting further. Thank you @CPDPconferences.

#PrivacyinIslam #CPDP2019 #Brussels #Malaysia #Indonesia #PDPA