I'm inspired, excited, challenged and fascinated by the concept and practice of justice and fairness because it is fundamental in solving the problems of society (Shafi'i Bello, Dec 1, 2012). Thus, it becomes necessary to examine the roles and conception of justice be it in Islam or under western theory or philosophy, for example by David Hume, Aristotle, Jeremy Bentham etc. There can be no peace without the firm grounding of justice, (IslamiCity, Hesba Chouddhry, Mubashir Hussain, 2018). In Surah An-Nahl: 90 "Allah commands justice". Establishing justice in many Chapters and verses of the Quran we are continuously reminded of Allah's command to practice balance and justice for individuals and society. Thus, the term and concept of justice in the Quran is the central theme to be practiced in the conduct and relationship with others. It forms part of human law and obligations, (Surah Ar-Rahman 7-9).
In this context, Allah has commanded that balance must be present in order to uphold justice. Justice in the Quran is defined by directing mankind to behave in a fair and just manner, not to discriminate among people because of their race, gender, or socio-economic status. There are explicit commands for believers to protect the rights of others, to be fair and just with people including their enemies.
In the Quran 5:8 it is stated that to be just as being closest to God's conscious. Muslims are asked not to deviate from justice due to hatred against anyone. In fact, Muslims are even encouraged to forgive wrongdoings ( Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2017).
Therefore, the idea of justice occupies centre stage both in ethics, legal and political philosophy. Individual actions on laws and justice or ad'l literally means placing things in their rightful place and affording equal treatment to others. That's how a just society can be established.
Being an idealist myself I keep on asking amidst the imperfections of mankind as an individual and part of the bigger community in a society and nation state, I insist in my ambition to see everyone behaving fairly and justly.
Before we go deeper into the subject, there is a need to examine the definition of justice from its various perspectives and meanings. After which, to proceed to the question of what is justice in order to understand the connotation of the term. Everyone should strive in life to be just and fair. In Macmillan Thesaurus the term justice is defined as the treatment of people that is fair and morally right, while fairness as the behaviour that is reasonable and right. Both these definitions capture the essence of the meaning of the terms, which demands humanity to act reasonably and morally in the relationships with each other. This distinguishes human beings from other species of creation. The American Heritage Dictionary has given a wider and expanded meaning of justice by explaining it from the perspectives of what its contents should be:
1. The quality of being just, fairness,
2. The principle of moral rightness, equity.
Conformity to moral rightness in action and attitude, righteousness.
The upholding of what is just, especially giving fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honour, standards, or law.
Law, the administration and procedure of law.
A Judge's role:
3. Conformity to truth, fact, or reason. In other words to act reasonably, without bias and independently.
The comprehensive definition in the dictionaries are in line with the commands of Allah in the Quran and Sunna. It is explicitly described- acting fairly and justly means to fulfil your duties and obligations to Allah, fellow beings and the state. Legitimacy of any action therefore, can only be justified if it is undertaken in a balanced, fair and reasonable manner. Of course, in reality this is easier said than done as states and individuals often ignore the divine commands.
The fundamental question is why justice plays a significant role in the continued existence of mankind and its environment. The short answer of this is that the concept of justice will incorporate adherence to proper ethical values and morality which will enable the sustainability of mankind and the law itself. When people behave and act in a fair, equal and balanced manner in their engagements and interactions with others they are in compliance to the dictates of one true God for the creation of harmony and equilibrium in the global order.
The Oxford dictionary describes the act of doing justice as acting in a just, righteous, equitable or morally right manner. In the Quran it is emphasised that Prophets and Messengers are sent to help people establish justice (57: 25).
In this context, Allah has commanded that balance must be present in order to uphold justice. Justice in the Quran is defined by directing mankind to behave in a fair and just manner, not to discriminate among people because of their race, gender, or socio-economic status. There are explicit commands for believers to protect the rights of others, to be fair and just with people including their enemies.
In the Quran 5:8 it is stated that to be just as being closest to God's conscious. Muslims are asked not to deviate from justice due to hatred against anyone. In fact, Muslims are even encouraged to forgive wrongdoings ( Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2017).
Therefore, the idea of justice occupies centre stage both in ethics, legal and political philosophy. Individual actions on laws and justice or ad'l literally means placing things in their rightful place and affording equal treatment to others. That's how a just society can be established.
Being an idealist myself I keep on asking amidst the imperfections of mankind as an individual and part of the bigger community in a society and nation state, I insist in my ambition to see everyone behaving fairly and justly.
Before we go deeper into the subject, there is a need to examine the definition of justice from its various perspectives and meanings. After which, to proceed to the question of what is justice in order to understand the connotation of the term. Everyone should strive in life to be just and fair. In Macmillan Thesaurus the term justice is defined as the treatment of people that is fair and morally right, while fairness as the behaviour that is reasonable and right. Both these definitions capture the essence of the meaning of the terms, which demands humanity to act reasonably and morally in the relationships with each other. This distinguishes human beings from other species of creation. The American Heritage Dictionary has given a wider and expanded meaning of justice by explaining it from the perspectives of what its contents should be:
1. The quality of being just, fairness,
2. The principle of moral rightness, equity.
Conformity to moral rightness in action and attitude, righteousness.
The upholding of what is just, especially giving fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honour, standards, or law.
Law, the administration and procedure of law.
A Judge's role:
3. Conformity to truth, fact, or reason. In other words to act reasonably, without bias and independently.
The comprehensive definition in the dictionaries are in line with the commands of Allah in the Quran and Sunna. It is explicitly described- acting fairly and justly means to fulfil your duties and obligations to Allah, fellow beings and the state. Legitimacy of any action therefore, can only be justified if it is undertaken in a balanced, fair and reasonable manner. Of course, in reality this is easier said than done as states and individuals often ignore the divine commands.
The fundamental question is why justice plays a significant role in the continued existence of mankind and its environment. The short answer of this is that the concept of justice will incorporate adherence to proper ethical values and morality which will enable the sustainability of mankind and the law itself. When people behave and act in a fair, equal and balanced manner in their engagements and interactions with others they are in compliance to the dictates of one true God for the creation of harmony and equilibrium in the global order.
The Oxford dictionary describes the act of doing justice as acting in a just, righteous, equitable or morally right manner. In the Quran it is emphasised that Prophets and Messengers are sent to help people establish justice (57: 25).
John Bordley Rawls (1921-2002), an American moral and political philosopher in the liberal tradition who influenced Immanuel Kant, John Locke, Thomas Hobbs, Stuart Mills, Karl Marx, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and others focus on justice as the virtue of a society's distributional institutions. Some scholars described justice as a principle or criterion. Plato and other Platonic Muslim scholars consider a just society as enlightened and collectively ruled by philosopher kings ( Hussain Askari Abbas, Miraichor, (2019).
While Zarathustra considered a just society as a system, which needs to be anchored on just governance. Similarly, in Islam a just society is a society that revolves around the axis of just governance (Ibid). Islam does not consider a just society is borne out of a theory, so long as there is compliance with the edicts of the Quran. In this way a just society will emerge as a natural outcome of following the commands as laid out in the Quran and be said to be the establishment of a compliant society. In the book Justice in Islam Collection, Yasin Mohamed said that the western and Islamic worlds tend to focus on the juridical and political aspects of justice. The current thinking amongst the European Enlightenment philosophers is not to view justice in terms of classical philosophical conception, but from the perspective of individualistic conception of human nature especially on human rights.
For justice to prevail, it is insufficient just to have laws of justice but must also be supported by people of justice in order to ascertain its implementation. For this reason, the political institutions to establish justice should be governed and managed by people who are virtuous in character. For justice to operate effectively the political system and institutions under it must accept that to practice justice and fairness is a virtue. For virtue to be achieved the elements of wisdom, temperance and courage become imperative. Fundamentally, justice and virtuous acts are inseparable core traits required to reflect the quality of the soul and society whether inwardly or outwardly. Albeit we should be able in our actions not only to ourselves but in everything we do and to everyone around us. With the bestowment of Muhammad (PBUH) as a Messenger and Prophet of Allah to continue the teachings of the monotheistic Abrahamic faith, the Quran was sent through the angel Gabriel to reinstate the message of submission to Allah and transform the tribal society's loyalty to a personal level of morality and justice to comply with the commands of Allah and his Prophet ( Q- 13: 89, Q- 31: 32 ). There're 200 verses in the Quran that deal with those who are guilty of committing injustice and oppression.
We can conclude that justice being a central theme in the Quran dictates the traditions of law and how they should be applied. Further, justice operates in a legal and divine sense. In the legal sense justice covers the subject of how we conduct ourselves as well as our relationships with others.
