Saturday, January 23, 2021

THE SECOND ROOT OF ISLAM - JUSTICE (ADL)

 

To have the full comprehension of Justice, it is imperative to understand Injustice. The causes of Injustice are Ignorance, Fear, Needs or Wants, Meanness. Sometimes ignorance becomes the cause of Injustice. But how the Almighty Allah Who is above all defects such as ignorance and Whose Knowledge is infinite, can do an act of oppression! Likewise, fear is the cause of oppression, but the Almighty Allah has no one as His rival to indulge in oppression. Also, a sense of deprivation forces one to oppress others to fulfill his wants, but Almighty Allah is “Samad” needless. Inner meanness makes someone to oppress others as they take pleasure in committing such acts. These examples relate to the Creatures of the Almighty Allah. Ayah 108 of Surah al-Imran, “Allah does not wish injustice for any of His creatures.” Similarly, Ayah 90 of Surah al-Nahl says, “Allah commands people to maintain justice, kindness and proper relations with their relative.”

Shias consider Allah’s Justice as one of the cardinal principles of their faith and according to Qur’anic reasoning and common sense, they emphasize that all the acts of Almighty Allah are based on Justice and Wisdom and that Allah does not commit any act of cruelty or does anything wrong.

There are advantages of believing in the Justice of Allah; self-restraint, cheerful outlook and Justice plays its role in individual and collective life.

Allah is just and never deprived anyone of his rights, Allah bestows His Kindness on all His creatures and never does Allah oppresses anyone. Allah, the All-Wise, has created all His creatures with difference when none of them existed beforehand, or had any claim or right. Allah established a system of life cycle with cause and effect and set a particular line of action for every creature. He never makes discrimination between two creatures or in two nations in expectation from them are concerned regarding their obligations and responsibilities. Similarly, His reward or punishment is also based on Justice for all. He has taken into consideration the respective capabilities and capacities of each creature in His commands and accordingly He has fixed proportionate punishment for each so that there is no partiality or injustice done to anyone of His creatures.

At every place and every occasion, the concept of justice is not equality. Objections to the Justice of Allah are made by hasty decisions. In Islam, despite the importance of individual rights, the overall rights of the society have been greatly emphasized. Sometimes, man wants something which is harmful for him and vice versa. Ayah 19 of Surah al-Nisa says, “It may be that you dislike a thing though Allah has placed abundant good in it.” While counting our troubles we altogether ignore our own doings and blame Allah for all that. Surah al-Shura Ayah 30 says, “Whatever misfortune befalls you is a consequence of your own deeds.” Surah al-Rum Ayah 36 which says, “When We let people taste mercy, they rejoice in it, but when some misfortune befalls them because of their own doings they at once become desperate.” When wealth does not guarantee everlasting happiness then why do we not honor the orphans and urge one another to feed the destitute? Thus, our carelessness results in Allah’s wrath.    

However, it is seen that people indulged in misdeeds, cruelties and oppressions leading a very prosperous life. Why it is so? In the eyes of Allah, all the people are not accounted for in the same way, because Allah punishes some people or a nation at once, Allah gives some time to some people or a nation, Allah does not punish a certain group or a nation at all despite their misdeeds they lead a comfortable life until the Day of Resurrection. Surah al-Kahf Ayah 59 which says, “We destroyed the inhabitants of certain towns only when they transgressed and did not repent before Our deadline.” Surah ale-Imran Ayah 178 says, “The unbelievers must not think that our respite is for their good. We only give them time to let them indulge in their sins and suffer an ignominious doom. For them there will be a humiliating torment.”

 

                Source: Lessons from Qur’an by Ayatullah Muhsin Qara’ti

No comments:

Post a Comment