THE events as they have unfolded in the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israeli genocide in Gaza have forcefully called into question two important and distinct moral ideas simultaneously: the liberal idea of universal human rights and the Islamic notion of ummah-centrism.

The continued hypocritical attitude of the majority of Western governments towards the violations of human rights in Gaza opposed to those in Ukraine has done a tremendous disservice to the notion of universal human rights, irrespective of whether you are for or against it. The West`s general attitude of indifference towards Gaza has undermined confidence in the idea of human rights as a generally acceptable moral concept.

This is because, whereas the discourse of human rights is used as a moral yardstick to chastise Russia and rally support for Ukraine, the same enthusiasm for human rights is found wanting when it comes to chastising Israel and rallying support for Palestine. In essence, the supposed `universal` idea of human rights is subjected to brute exceptionalism when it comes to the Palestinians.

In a similar vein, the notion of the `ummah` resides deep within Islamic thought. It is not a mere positive concept that refers to all Muslims, past, present and future. Instead, it is an idea that has a particular moral character in that it brings with it a sense of collective responsibility, duty and action for those who consider themselves members of the `ummah`.

Being a Muslim makes one part of the ummah, which then entails an association with a collectivity that has moral significance and incurs certain moral obligations. At least, that is the idea in theory.

In practice, Muslims are divided in all ways imaginable. Nevertheless, the inaction and silence thathave beset the governments of Islamic countries since Oct 7, 2023, have triggered new waves of disappointment. It has really thrown the already crumbling sense of cohesiveness of the ummah into a downward spiral.People are frustrated and guilt-ridden, and want their governments to do more than merely proffer official statements.

This has even led to finger-pointing and a mutual blame-game in a bid to release some of the burden of responsibility off one`s shoulders.

On the face of it, things look grim for both moral discourses, and it seems natural for them to recede and lose force as time passes and things do not change for the better. It appears that if the two moral discourses are to stand up to the challenge, we might need a serious effort from governments around the world to restore people`s confidence in these ideas.

However, there is another side to the story that we have so far not touched in our evaluation of the situation; the people.

I believe a strong argument can be made that the moral discourse of human rights and ummah-centrism, despite suffering tremendous setbacks, has also been paradoxically reasserted, perhaps in even stronger terms, especially at social level.

Vocal segments within Western societies have rallied against their governments in protest on the streets, on the news, and on social media, reaffirming a conviction in universal human rights. Similarly, comparable sentiments have been shared on social media, albeit less on the streets, within Islamic countries regarding ummah-centrism, especially with people on the more conservative end of the spectrum. The international movement in favour of boycotting Israeli products seems to be driven strongly by these two discourses as well.

Hence, it remains an interesting question to consider whether the two moral discourses are, indeed, receding and losing ground or whether the two discourses have been democratised to a level where ordinary people within Western and Islamic societies are taking more ownership of these discourses than their governments.

Only time will tell what these developments entail for the future, and whether the public`s confidence in these ideas will persist despite the series ofsetbacks and disappointments that everybody has witnessed, especially since Oct 7, 2023.

Talha jan Sarhandi Rotterdam, the Netherlands