The kind of individuals Islam wants to develop and the society that Islam wants
to establish is summarized in one verse of the Holy Qur-aan forming the basis of
a person’s attitude and paradigm of one’s lifestyle as well as a society’s
mission statement or statement of objectives:
“Verily, Allaah commands ‘Adl (fairness, equity,
justice) Ihsaan (excellence in servitude to Allaah, benevolence towards people,
graciousness in dealings) and giving to those close to you, while He forbids Fahshaa
(lewdness, indecency, licentiousness, immorality), Munkar (bad actions,
undesirable activities, generally unaccepted behaviour, not fulfilling one’s
obligations), and Baghy (rebellion, transgressing limits, exploiting or
violating others’ rights, abuse of authority or freedom). He admonishes you so
that you heed the advice.” An-Nahl 16:90 Let us explore each of three “do’s” and
three “don’ts” one byone:
‘Adl
‘Adl represents fairness, equity, justice and balance.
The Islamic concept of ‘Adl is very comprehensive and implies fairness and
equity in every thing a person says or does. It covers the comments we make,
the judgements we pass, the way we handle our
responsibilities and obligations to others, the way we deal with people, the
way we handle differences, the way we treat others whether they are members of
our family, friends, relatives, strangers or enemies. Fairness, equity and
justice must be a hallmark of our behaviour in all of these areas.
While reiterating His commands that He had always
commanded the followers of earlier prophets, Allaah says in the Holy Qur-aan:
“And when you speak, be just, even if it concerns a close relative.” Al-An’aam
6:152
He especially commands God-fearing people to watch
what they say:
“O believers! Have Taqwa and say only the words that are appropriate.” Al-Ahzaab
33:70
Those who deride, ridicule or insult others or use
offensive names and epithets for others, they were
told:
“So, those who do not repent, they indeed are the
Zhaalimeen (unjust, wrongdoers, inequitable,
transgressors).” Al-Hujuraat 49:11
In a detailed advice that the Prophet gave to Mu’aadz, he ended with the
following words:
“Should I inform you of something on which everything else depends?” Then, he
held his tongue out and said, “Control it!” Mu’aadz wondered if we would be
held accountable for what we say. Then addressing him in a frank, loving words
of Arabic idiom, he replied, “It is the harvests of their tongues that will
cause people to be dragged on their faces or noses into the fire.” Reported in
Musnad Ahmad, At-Tirmidzee and Ibn Maajah
The Messenger of Allaah also said:
“The fair and just people who are equitable: in
passing judgements, in dealing with their family
members and in using the authority delegated to them, will be on the pulpits of
Noor in the audience of
Allaah SWT.” ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar in Muslim
“The most dear to Allaah SWT and closest to Him on the Day of Judgement will be
the person in authority who was fair and equitable. The most disliked and the
most severely punished will be the person in authority who was unjust.” Aboo
Saeed in At-Tirmidzee
Even in the treatment of the children there must be fairness and justice,
regardless of who their mother is and regardless if they are males or females.
The Messenger of Allaah said:
“Treat your children equally when gifting or giving things. Were I ever to
suggest giving preference to anyone, I would have suggested it to be given to
the daughters.” Reported from Ibn ‘Abbaas by Sa’eed Ibn Mansoor in his Sunan and
by At-Tabaraani in Mu’jam Kabeer.
Nu’maan Ibn Basheer mentioned in one of his sermons that:
“Once my father gave me a gift. My mother, ‘Amrah Bint Rawaahah, told him that
she would not approve of this gift unless it was witnessed and approved by
the Messenger of Allaah. My father reported it to the Prophet and said, “I have
given my son from ‘Amrah a gift which she is not approving until you become
a witness to it.” The Messenger asked, “Have you given similar gifts to your
other children?” When he replied in negative, the Messenger of Allaah said,
“Fear Allaah and treat all your children with equity.” According to other
reports, he also said, “ Do not make me witness as I cannot be witness to
injustice.” He came back and took his gift back. Reported in Bukhaari and Muslim
Whether we are judging among people informally,
settling disputes among the people around us or
formally in the court as a judge or jury, we must
practice justice. Even evaluating people to pick up the best candidate for our
voting or for hiring to fill a position, must be done fairly without any
biases. This is not only a requisite for being just, but also for rendering
trust to those who truly deserve it. Rendering trusts to the most deserving
and being just are so closely related that Allaah SWT commands us to practice
these virtues as a package:
“Verily, Allaah commands that you render back the
trust to whom they are due, and when you judge between people, judge with
justice. Surely, excellent is what Allaah instructs you.” An-Nisaa 4:58
The Messenger of Allaah in this regard said:
“Those who practise justice in this world will be
seated on the pulpits of pearls in the audience of
Allaah SWT. This will be because they continued to be equitable throughout
their life.” Hadeeth 6485 in
Musnad Ahmad.
“Judges are of three types, one of which will enter Jannah and other two will
end up in the Fire. He who grasps the truth and judges by it, will go to Jannah.
The one who sees the truth but decides unjustly or the one who judges despite
lack of knowledge will both end up in the Fire.” Reported from ‘Abdullaah Ibn
‘Amr in Aboo Dawood and in Ibn Maajah; from Aboo Hurairah in At-Tirmidzee
Practice of justice is such an important Islamic
requirement that the Messenger of Allaah gave detailed instructions on how to
ensure that justice is carried out. There are many other Ahaadeeth in which
the prophet emphasized: the need to listen to both parties properly before
arriving at a decision; basing the decision on evidence, not on claim; not
giving a verdict or passing a judgement when angry; etc. Justice is not possible
without credible witnesses, hence he emphasized on the need of giving true
witness as well as provided guidelines for accepting witnesses
and oaths. For example:
“The witness from the following is not acceptable: A dishonest man or woman, a
fornicator males or female, and a person who has animosity against the
accused brother. Similarly, a witness of a dependent in favour of his provider
will also be rejected.” ‘Amr Ibn Shu’aib in Aboo Dawood
As mentioned in the section about speaking the truth, he taught people that
giving false witness is as grave and unforgivable a sin as Shirk (equating
others with
Allaah). He also said:
“The gravest of the grave sins are: Equating others with Allaah, disobeying
parents and taking a false oath. When a person takes an oath and adulterates
it with as little a falsehood as the wing of a mosquito, it keeps his heart
stained until the day of Judgement.” ‘Abdullaah Ibn Unais in At-Tirmidzee
He not only taught about justice, he demonstrated it by practice and lived it.
Nowhere were people
accustomed to see justice being done so seriously as to judge against one’s
own. He surprised everyone when he judged in favour of a Jew of an enemy tribe
against his own follower. He would even present himself for justice:
The Messenger of Allaah was distributing things among people, a person rushed
in and bent upon the prophet (instead of waiting for his turn gracefully).
The Prophet poked him with a palm stick he had with him. The poking caused a
laceration on his face. The Prophet immediately presented himself to that
person so that he could avenge. The person responded by saying, “I forgave you,
O Messenger of Allaah.” Aboo Saeed in Aboo Dawood and Nisaai ustice is
compromised when the powerful, rich and famous of the society are treated
leniently by the law enforcement authorities. He set the example of applying law
equally and seriously to everyone who violated it. A woman named Faatimah, of a
respectable family of Banoo Makzoom, committed theft and was to punished. The
dearest people to the prophet were persuaded to seek pardon from the prophet for
that woman. It made him angry and he said, “O people! Those before you went
astray because they let go the influential while he common folks were punished.
By Allaah, had it been my own daughter, Faatimah, I would have cut her hand as
well.” Reported in Bukhaari and Muslim.
That is why Muslims became the exemplary enforcers of Justice in this world. In
fact, they were so
distinguished in establishing justice that many people become Muslims when they
saw the immaculate justice of the Muslims when there was injustice all around in
the world.
Justice the goal of Islamic society
Allaah SWT is Just, deals with people justly, and
loves those who establish, maintain or stand up for Justice. He has also
created human beings with a propensity and liking for justice. Normally
people like to be fair and equitable unless their innate tendency towards
justice is overshadowed by their own
self interest, their love of their own, their
loyalties, their biases, their prejudices, their
arrogance of power, their anger or hate towards some people, their desire for
revenge, etc.
One of the primary goals of Islam
being the
establishment of an ideal peaceful and fair society, justice has been extremely
emphasized in the Holy Qur-aan. Knowing how people drift towards injustice, the
Holy Qur-aan advises Muslims to let justice triumph over all other emotions,
feelings and attitudes. Muslims are told:
“O believers, be the enforcers/establishers of
justice, giving witness for the sake of Allaah, even if it is against
yourselves, your parents or your kith and kin. Whether they are rich or poor,
Allaah has more rights than any on them. Do not let pursuing you desires come in
the way of being just.” An-Nisaa 4:135
“O believers, be the enforcers/establishers of
justice, giving witness for the sake of Allaah, and do not let your animosity
towards any people incite you against practicing justice. Be just! That is the
pious
way.” Al-Maaidah 5:8
Justice is the first victim when an individual, a
community or a state is overtaken by self interest, favouritism for their own
or by anger, revenge or hate against others. When that happens, the party on
the receiving side of injustice, reacts with similar attitude, perhaps even more
strongly. Each party’s effort to get back moreforcefully grows into a spiralling
cycle of olence and terrorism. This ends up making the peace and security of
humanity the ultimate victim of injustice. That is why there can be no peace in
this world without justice.
As there can be no peace in the world without justice, it is in humanity’s own
self interest to establish justice so that everyone can live in peace. Fear
of the powerful or terror from the powerful can accomplish temporary peace, but
sooner or later the pent up feelings of the aggrieved explode shattering the
façade of peace out of fear. Permanent peace can be accomplished only through
justice. That is why justice and fairness have been given crucial importance in
Islam. Even when reconciling two parties Allaah wants the reconciliation to take
place in such a just way so that the wronged party is duly compensated by the
aggressive party so both parties feel that it has been a fair deal. Often, when
reconciling among people, people pressure the weaker party to forgive and forget
without doing justice. That is not acceptable to Allaah SWT. He commands:
“Then make reconciliation between them with justice, and be equitable. Indeed
Allaah loves those who are equitable.” Al-Hujuraat 49:9
