Islam Stands for Justice and Trust
Dr. Syed Hasanuddin Ahmad
Islam is a religion of Truth. It is not
only a religion, but a code of life as well. It teaches its followers how to
lead their lives in this world as a good human being. There is no aspect of
life that remains unguided by Islam, may it be worship, worldly affaires such
as marriage, children, business, social norms, war, peace, food, clothing, etc.
In order to live peacefully in
this world, justice and trust must be the rule of the society. Islam emphasizes
to its followers the importance of justice and trust. The Qur’an says in its
chapter An-Nisa, verse 58, that
Allah does command you to render back your trusts to those to whom they are due; and when you judge between man and man, that you judge with justice: verily how excellent is the teaching which He gives you! For Allah is He who hears and sees all things
Here
one can see that Allah SWT has ordered the believers to assign the trusts to
the competent and honest people, and establish justice in the society.
We shall now, therefore, first
study the traits of trust by dividing it into three sections: The importance of
Trust, the meanings of Trust, and the method of Trust.
We
shall then study in detail its teachings on Justice.
(a) The Importance of Trust
At one place, Allah SWT says that
the believers:
Who faithfully observe their
trusts and covenants are successful (Al-Muminun 23: 8).
The
Prophet SAW has linked the Belief with honesty and trust. He said, “One, who is
dishonest, does not believe. And the one, who breaks his promise, has no
religion” (Anas RA, Baihaqi).
Thus, a person, by committing breach of trust and promise, shows disregard to
his Belief. In another hadith, the Prophet SAW has said, “There are four
manifests (departments) of hypocrisy: telling lies, breaching trust, breaking
promise, and using abusive language in disputes” (Abdullah bin ‘Amar bin
al-‘Aas, Agreed Upon).
(b) The Meanings of Trust
The word trust, here, conveys a vast concept. One meaning is to fulfill duties and obligations. These may be related to God, His servants, or self. These may be related to an individual, or a society. These may be related to friends or foes. These may be financial or political. These may be related to peace or war.
Another meaning is vice-regency of God on this earth. Allah SWT says:
We did indeed offer the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof (Al-Ahzab 27: 72).
Here the word trust is not used for some material thing. Had it been some material thing, the earth and the mountains would not have feared it at all! After all, all matters, such as minerals, treasures, etc., are excavated from the earth and its mountains. This then explains that here the word trust is used for the vice-regency (khilafah or Caliphate) of God. This trust of vice-regency is indeed a great responsibility, as it involves a lot of risks and dangers in fulfilling it. This is why everything of this universe expressed its inability to bear this responsibility.
A third meaning of trust is
to give full rights to others in dealings, such as being honest in business,
etc. The Prophet SAW always showed honesty in his dealings, and business. That
is why the people of Makkah had called him Ameen (trustworthy).
In mutual dealings, a person, who
is assigned a certain mission or duty, becomes a trustee. He should honestly
perform his job and complete his mission. Allah SWT says:
And if one of you deposits a
thing on trust with another, let the trustee discharge his trust, and let him
fear his Lord (Al-Baqarah
2: 283).
To perform duties, assignments,
jobs, missions up to the required level and expectation is fulfilling the
trust. To shirk from such duties, to lighten the required load, to shorten the
time of work, to pay less than agreed upon etc., are all breaches of trust. A
good explanation of this point is given in the Qur’anic story of Moses AS. When
he unintentionally, killed a man in
“O my father! Engage him on
wages: truly the best of men for thee to employ is the (man) who is strong and
trusty”
(Al-Qasas 28: 26).
Here
the girl had mentioned the two traits of Moses AS: strong, and trusty. She had
seen him to be quite healthy. That is why she regarded him strong. But why did
she call him trusty? Was there a treasure entrusted to him, which he had very
honestly returned? Had he ruled or administered a society or territory in a
very honest and able way? None of these was the case. In fact, he had taken a
task upon himself to do, and had performed it in a very admirable way. That is
why the girl had called him trusty.
When someone agrees to convey a
message or a letter to someone else, he becomes a trustee. Such a person should
then communicate the message in full, without any addition, deletion, or
forgetfulness. It is this meaning of trust that the messengers talk about in
the following verse:
I am to you a messenger,
worthy of all trust (Ash-Shu’ara 26: 107).
Similarly,
Allah SWT has called the archangel Gabriel AS the Honest Spirit, who had
communicated the revelations of God to His messengers:
With it came down the
trustworthy Spirit (Ash-Shura 42: 193).
The
archangel never added or deleted a message on his own. Moreover, he had
communicated the messages to the right persons at the right times. The
communications of incomplete or wrong message, or to the wrong person, or at
the wrong time, are all breaches of trusts.
The minutes of meetings and
assemblies are all trusts. These should always be written correctly,
communicated to relevant people, and in time. The entire minutes should never
be communicated to non-concerned and non-relevant people. This act of divulging
the minutes is sheer dishonesty and breach of trust. The Prophet SAW is
reported to have said, “(the minutes of) the meetings are trust” (S, Bukhar). However, if in a meeting, a crime is being planned
or implemented, the minutes are no more trust. A hadith gives yet another
concept of the trust. It says, “The consultant is a trustee”(Bukhari). A believer
must give good advice to another believer, when asked to (Abu Hurairah RA,
Agreed Upon). The adviser should treat his advice a trust, and keep the matter
confidential. However, a believer, who is asked to, can refuse to give advice
if his interest is involved in the matter. He should, however, never give bad
or harmful advice to the person who consults him.
At the time of an election, or a
referendum, or a decision making, vote is a trust. It is a duty of a voter to
cast his vote in favor of a person who is trustworthy and more qualified for
the job. A vote must be cast in favor of a proposal that is better than the
others. If a voter is casting his vote in favor of a less qualified person or a
proposal, on the basis of partisanship, he is committing a breach of trust.
The hidden and confidential
conjugal talks and acts between a husband and his wife are also trusts. These
should never be exposed to others (S, Abu Dawood). Even, the wives are trusts
in the hands of their husbands. They should never be mistreated. Their rights
should be completely given to them. The Prophet SAW has said, “You have taken
women as your wives with promise and trust” (S, Muslim).
If a person looks around to make
sure that none is listening to his talk to another person, his talk becomes a
trust (S, Abu Dawood). This act of looking around makes it unnecessary to
inform a listener that the talk is confidential.
To tell a lie is also a breach of
trust. The Prophet SAW has said, “Telling lies to your brother, while he
believes you, is the worst form of the breach of trust” (Sufiyan
bin Usayed RA, Abu Dawood). The wealth of sustenance,
or ability, or knowledge, given to the people by God, is also a trust. The
peoples are answerable to Him for this wealth:
Then, shall you be
questioned that Day about the favors (At-Takathur 102: 8).
The believers should safeguard the
trusts in all such meanings. They should fear the time when the people would no
more be guarding the trusts. The Prophet SAW has said, “There will be a time
when the trait of honesty will be very rare. The people will call a person very
honest, who will not have the honesty even equal to a particle of rye” (Huzaifah RA, Agreed Upon).
Justice
in Islam
Next, in the same verse, Allah SWT
orders for justice. He says, that when you judge among the people, do justice.
Allah has ordered the believers not to compromise justice for the sake of their
personal or national objectives. Here Allah SWT has used the world people for
doing justice to. This signifies that at the time of justice no consideration
should be given to the race, religion, nationality, language, blood, or color.
All such distinctions or discriminations are totally forbidden. Such
consideration should never hinder justice. Allah SWT categorically orders:
And
let not hatred of any people provoke you to turn away from justice (Al-Maidah 5:8).
The
believers have been given the Book and the Wisdom to lead the human race. They
are entrusted with the rights of people. They are thus ordered to do justice
and fulfill the rights of people. Thus the first and the foremost
responsibility of an honest ruler is to establish justice among his ruled. We
shall here, then, study the importance and concept of justice, keeping in mind
the best model of the Messenger SAW.
(a) The Importance of
Justice
Allah SWT will give a big reward
to a just ruler. Similarly, the punishment to an unjust ruler will also be very
severe. The Messenger SAW has said, “The first one to come under the shadow of
Allah’s Throne will be a just ruler” (Abu Sa’eed Khudri RA, Muslim). Allah SWT Himself, at many places, has
emphasized the importance of justice. At one place, He has asked the Prophet
SAW to declare:
And I am commanded to judge
justly between you (Ash-Shura 42: 15).
At
another place, He says:
Allah commands justice, the
doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin (An-Nahl
16: 90).
The mission of all the messengers
sent by God was to establish justice in the society. All the books were sent
down to teach people to do justice in their society. The balance is created to
impart fairness among the people. Allah has mentioned all these in the
following verse:
We sent aforetime our
messengers with clear sign, and sent down with them the Book, and the Balance,
that men may stand forth in justice (Al-Hadeed 57: 25).
In
dealings and business, Allah orders:
Establish weight with
justice, and fall not short in the balance (Ar-Rahman 59: 5).
The
Justice is one of the attributes of God:
And Allah will judge with
Truth (Al-Momin 40: 20).
Allah orders that in all aspect of
life justice should be done. For example,
For you should stand firm
for justice to orphans (An-Nisa
Similarly,
He orders to be fair and just among the wives. He knows that the man is unable
to do justice among all his wives. He therefore advises the man not to lean too
much towards one, and leave the others hanging.
At
another place, He advises scribes to write texts of agreements justly i.e.
fairly:
Let a scribe write down
faithfully as between the parties (Al-Baqarah 2: 282).
In
the same verse, He has ordered guardians, of insane and immature people, to
dictate that is just.
In short, in all respect, Allah SWT
has ordered the believers to be torch -bearers of justice:
O you who believe! Standout
firmly for justice as witnesses to Allah (An-Nisa 4: 135).
The
believers should then witness or seek justice even against themselves, or their
parents, or the relatives, or the rich or the poor. They should never ignore
justice against their desires, or sympathy. God is more sympathetic to needy
than the people themselves. Allah rewards just people:
For Allah loves those who
are just (Al-Mumtahenah 60: 8).
Indeed,
Allah’s love is the real reward and success. On the other hand
For
Allah does not love the unjust people (Ale-Imran 3: 140)
By
advising the trust and justice together, Allah has ordered the believers to
choose such rulers who are honest and just. If a ruler establishes justice, the
believers must obey him. A person, who is incapable of maintaining justice,
should not be a leader or a judge, as rule by justice is also a trust.
(b) The Concept of Justice
The Arabic word a'dl
means balance or equality. Loads are put on the two sides of the back of a
camel to balance each other so that she can carry them easily. This loading of
a camel is called ‘adl. ‘Adl
also means balance and right proportion. Thus ‘adl
means justice. A person does justice when he gives due rights, without any
reservation and favor, to poor or rich, strong or weak, friend or foe. However,
one should note that the concept of justice or equality changes due to some
relationship. For example, the justice between a soul and its Creator is that
the pleasure or command of its Creator be given preference. Whereas, the
justice to a soul is not to put too much load, physical or spiritual, on it to
bear. A load on a soul, which causes some sort of damage or injury or loss to
it, is against the justice. Thus, a believer should be just between the rights
of God and His servants. Though, all the souls need sympathy and equal
treatments, however, in certain circumstances such as between the parents and their
children, equality among the souls is against the principle of justice.
Similarly, equal payments to people, who perform duties of different nature, is
also against justice.
(c) Some Shining Examples of
Justice
1. Once a rich and respectable
woman of Banu Makhzoum
tribe committed a theft. The case was brought to the Prophet SAW. He sentenced
to cut her hand off. This sentence was very astonishing to the people of the Quraish. They could not think of cutting a hand of a woman
of high stature in their society. The Prophet SAW had an adopted son called
Zaid RA. Zaid RA had a son called Osama RA. The Prophet SAW loved Osama RA very
much. The elders of the Quraish sent Osama RA to him
to plead on their behalf to spare the woman. The Prophet SAW said, “The earlier
nations perished because they used to punish the poor and spare the rich. By
God! I would even cut the hand of my daughter Fatimah
had she committed the theft” (‘Aisha RA, Agreed Upon).
2. A companion RA of the Aslami tribe had taken some loan from a Jew. He was unable to pay back the loan in time. The Jew was continuously asking him to give back his loan. The companion wanted to delay the payment till the improvement of his situation. The Jew did not want to grant him more time. The case was presented to the Prophet SAW. He ordered his companion to pay back the loan. The companion told him that he had nothing, except the dress on his body. The Prophet SAW ordered him to give his leg wrapper to the Jew and use his turban as a wrapper of his loin (S, Ahmad).
3. Once the Prophet SAW was
distributing charity among the people. A man, in trying to get something, fell
upon him. The Prophet SAW poked at his face with his cane. This caused a
scratch on his face. The Prophet SAW at once rose up from his seat, gave his
cane to the man, and asked him to poke it at his face in return. He forgave the
Prophet SAW (S, Abu Dawood).
4. A Muslim, named Bishar, had a dispute with a Jew. The Muslim asked the Jew
to go to a Jewish Chief, K’ab bin Ashraf,
to settle the matter. The Jew refused to go to his own chief, and brought him
to the Prophet SAW because he believed him to be just. After hearing their
case, the Prophet SAW decided in favor of the Jew (Abdullah bin Abbas RA, Abu
Dawood).
At the end, Allah SWT says that He
had advised the believers of good and useful qualities. He further said that He
is listening and seeing the words and deeds of all the believers and their
rulers. This implies He is keeping a watch on the conduct of trust and justice.
He is watching who is honest and just, and who is dishonest and unjust. This in
turn means that all the people will have to account for their dishonest and
unjust conduct on the Day of Recompense.
May Allah help us in fulfilling the trust,
and being just in our lives, Amen!
(Extracted from the
author’s book Moral and Social Life in Islam, published by Islamic Publications
Lahore, available at ICNA Bookstore