Justice

Justice

Justice is from the characteristics of The Most Glorious and Reverent God. The scholars have dedicated a special study for it due to its importance where certain creeds, like the resurrection and the account on the Day of Judgment, are related to it.

What Is Meant by Justice
What is meant by justice is the consideration of the rights of the others and giving each one his due. Opposite to it is the injustice which means taking the rights of the others without having the right to, as when one usurps someone else’s money, punishes the good doer for his good doing, or rewards the bad doer for his bad doing. Every rational one, and mostly the Creator of reason and the rational beings, is far above such usurpation of the money of the others, punishing the good doer, or rewarding the bad doer which is an act of abomination and injustice.

Justice is also used in another context i.e. putting everything in its place. This means to have every being in this universe and every affair in the place which suits its characteristics and in which it is fruitful. Probably the following narrative which is ascribed to God’s prophet (God’s prayers and peace bestowed upon him and his Household) indicates this: “It is by justice that the skies and the earth were erected.”

Likewise, if you irrigate the flower with water, then you will have poured the water in its proper place. On the other hand, if you pour it too tingly, then you will not have poured it in its proper place: And this is contrary to justice.

The Most Glorious and Reverent God Is Just and Far Above Injustice
The Most Glorified and High God does not put things out of their places and does not deprive mankind of their rights, He is far above this. Both issues are impossible with The Most Glorified and High God: He, The Most Glorious and Most Reverent, rewards the obedient; is rightful of punishing the criminals; does not ask mankind more than what they are able to do; and does not punish them more than they deserve. He created the creatures with justice and according to the best and perfect order. He, as well, does not do what is abominable, for He does only what is good, all in accordance to wisdom and in coordination with the most complete order.

The Difference between Justice and Equity
It is indispensable to differentiate between the meaning of “Justice” and the meaning of “Equity”, for it is incorrect to mix them. Justice is putting things in their places or paying each one his due. Equity is the distribution of a certain thing or a certain right equally. Had one teacher given the same grade for all his students without taking into consideration the students’ levels and efforts, he would have equated among his students yet would not have been just; he would have done an injustice.

Likewise, had one doctor prescribed the same medicine for all his patients and given them all the same kind and average of medicine, this sort of equality would have absolutely been an injustice as regards some of the patients.

Similarly, creating all the creatures according to one order and equally as regards some pictures is injustice. Had the heart of the whale which is one ton in weight been equal to the weight of the heart of the bird, would that have been just? Or had the roots of a small plant been equal to the roots of a huge tree, would this have been just? Therefore, creating such things equally is injustice in itself, The Most High God is far above this. The evidence for this.

The conclusion at which we arrive is that the equity in some of its aspects may be unjust because there is a difference between equity and justice.

The Evidence for the Justice of The Most Glorious and Reverent God
The causes of injustice can be limited to three causes, once they are missed, then there is no possibility of injustice in the one in which they are missed. These causes are:
1- Ignoring the abomination of injustice
2- Knowing the abomination of injustice yet being obliged to do it
3- Knowing the abomination of injustice and not being obliged to do it, yet committing it frivolously

All these causes are impossible with respect to The Most Glorified and High God because He is All-Knowing, All-Rich, and All-Wise. This implies that He is just and far above every injustice and abomination.

The first cause as regards The Most High God is abolished due to that He, The Most Glorious and Most Reverent is far above ignorance. This universe which, along with the involved extremely precise and coordinated order, we can get acquainted with only little of the aspects of greatness in it is the truest witness for the existence of an All- Knowing Creator Who has the highest levels of knowledge towards which ignorance can not reach.

This meaning is confirmed by blessed Quranic verses which indicate that He knows everything and shows His various spiritual and mental graces:

* The Saying of The Most High God: ﴾He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. Then turned He to heaven and fashioned it as seven heavens. And He is Knower of all things﴿1

* The Saying of The Most High God: ﴾Unto Allah belong the East and the West, and whithersoever ye turn, there is Allah’s Countenance. Lo! Allah is All- Embracing, All- Knowing!﴿2

* The Saying of The Most High God: ﴾Observe your duty to Allah and know that Allah is Aware of all things﴿3

* The Saying of The Most High God: ﴾Observe your duty to Allah. Allah is teaching you. And Allah is Knower of all things﴿4

* The Saying of The Most High God: ﴾That ye may know that Allah hath knowledge of what is in the heavens and on earth and that Allah is well acquainted with all things﴿5

The second cause as regards The Most Glorified God is abolished due to that He is Rich and He needs nobody. Had He been in need to somebody rather than Himself, this somebody would have been either a creator or a creature, and both assumptions are abolished because:

* As regards the existence of another creator, we have proved the abolishment of this suggestion in a previous lesson.

* As regards God’s need to a creature, this is more obvious in the abolishment itself because it can not be that a creator is in need of his creature.

Several verses in The Book of The Most Glorious and Reverent God indicate that He is Rich with nothing obliging Him, with Him needing nobody, with no creature benefiting or hurting Him. He, therefore, gets neither benefit from the obedience of the creatures nor hurt from their disobedience; all the benefit is to the obedient and all the hurt is to the disobedient. These verses are many, from which we are going to mention the following:

* The Saying of The Most Glorified and High God: ﴾O ye who believe! Spend of the good things which ye have earned, and of that which We bring forth from the earth for you, and seek not the bad (with intent) to spend thereof (in charity) when ye would not take it for yourselves save with disdain; and know that Allah is Absolute, Owner of Praise﴿6

* The Saying of The Most High God: ﴾And verily We gave Luqman wisdom, saying, “Give thanks unto Allah; and whosoever giveth thanks, he giveth thanks for (the good of) his soul. And whosoever refuseth, Lo! Allah is Absolute, Owner of Praise﴿7

* The Saying of The Most High God: ﴾That was because their messengers (from Allah) kept coming unto them with clear proofs (of Allah’s Sovereignty), but they said, “Shall mere mortals guide us?” So they disbelieved and turned away, and Allah was independent (of them). Allah is Absolute, Owner of Praise﴿8

The third assumption as regards The Most Glorious and Reverent God is abolished due to that He is far above nonsense and frivolity and due to that He is Wise. Let us scan this extremely exact and harmonious universe along with what is in it from the little and large creatures which are completely managed by their Creator. Are they created in vain?! Also, is the human being, in which The All- Kind The All- Expert deposited the great secrets, created in vain? There is no wakeful rational person who attributes nonsense and frivolity to God since His deeds absolutely imply an aim and wisdom. Henceforth, the nonsense and frivolity are impossible as regards God; thus, the third assumption gets abolished.

The Noble Qur'an is filled with the verses which guide us to The Most Glorious and Reverent God’s wisdom in His creatures, legislations, management, and manifestation of greatness and power. These verses are many, from which we are going to mention the following verses:

* The Saying of The Most Glorified and High God: ﴾Allah would explain to you and guide you by the examples of those who were before you, and would turn to you in mercy. Allah is Knower, Wise﴿9

* The Saying of The Most Glorious and Reverent God: ﴾That is Our argument. We gave it unto Abraham against his folk. We raise unto degrees of wisdom whom We will. Lo! Thy Lord is Wise, Aware﴿10

* The Saying of The Most Glorified God: ﴾And (as for the believers) hath attained their hearts. If thou hadst spent all that is in the earth thou couldst not have attuned their hearts, but Allah attuned them. Lo! He is Mighty, Wise﴿11

*The Saying of The Most High God: ﴾Falsehood can not come at it from behind it. (It is) a revelation from the Wise, the Owner of Praise﴿12

* The Saying of The Most Glorious and Reverent God: ﴾And if all the trees in the earth were pens, and the sea, with seven more seas to help it, (were ink), the words of Allah could not be exhausted. Lo! Allah is Mighty, Wise﴿13

We have abolished whatever may stand as a cause for injustice, it is clarified that God is Just. Glorified be God, The Best of Creators!

For Reading

The Contentment with the Fate
During the time of God’s prophet (God’s prayers and peace bestowed upon him and his Household), there was a man, named “Thou Al-Nomra”, who was from the ugliest people; he was called “Thou Al-Nomra” because of his ugliness. He went to The Prophet (God’s prayers and peace bestowed upon him and his Household) and said to him, “O God’s prophet! Tell me what The Most Glorious and Reverent God imposed upon me as a duty!” God’s prophet (God’s prayers and peace bestowed upon him and his Household) said to him, “God imposed upon you seventeen bows a day and night; fasting Ramadan if you reach it; performing pilgrimage when you are capable to; and the almsgiving (he explained it to him).”

At that, he [Thou Al-Nomra] said, “By Him Who truly sent you as a prophet! I will do nothing in addition to what He imposed upon me.” The Prophet (God’s prayers and peace bestowed upon him and his Household) asked him, “Why, Thou Al-Nomra?” He answered, “It is because He created me ugly so.”

At that, Jibrael (God’s peace bestowed upon him) came down to The Prophet (God’s prayers and peace bestowed upon him and his Household) and said to him, “O God’s prophet! Your God orders you to tell Thou Al-Nomra on His Behalf that He bestows His peace upon him and to tell him, ‘Your Most Glorified and High God says to you, ‘Won’t you be content that I group you on the Day of Judgment with you having the beauty of Jibrael (God’s peace bestowed upon him)?’’”

God’s prophet (God’s prayers and peace bestowed upon him and his Household) said to him, “O Thou Al-Nomra! Here is Jibrael ordering me to notify you of God’s salutation. And your God says to you, ‘Won’t you be content that I group you with you having the beauty of Jibrael?’” At that, Thou Al-Nomra said, “I am content, O God! By Your Glory! I will [add to what You imposed upon me] till You are pleased.”

* Qasas Al-Abrar, [The Stories of the Righteous], The Martyr Al-Moutahhari

1- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Baqara [The Cow] Chapter/ Verse 29
2- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Baqara Chapter/ Verse 115
3- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Baqara [The Cow] Chapter/ Verse 231
4- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Baqara Chapter/ Verse 282
5- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Ma’ida [The Table] Chapter/ Verse 97
6- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Baqara Chapter/ Verse 267
7- The Noble Qur'an/ Luqman Chapter/ Verse 12
8- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Taghabon [Mutual Loss and Gain] Chapter/ Verse 6
9- The Noble Qur'an. Al-Nisaa [The Women] Chapter/ Verse 26
10- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Anaam [The Cattle] Chapter/ Verse 83
11- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Anfal [The Spoils of War] Chapter/ Verse 63
12- The Noble Qur'an/ Fossilat [Explained in Details] Chapter/ Verse 42
13- The Noble Qur'an/ Luqman Chapter/ Verse 27