Today in our weekly prayer the Imam (the lecturer, the one who gives the lecture and leads the prayer-please notice he was wearing a football shirt) talked about one of my favorite topics JUSTICE.
He started by stating basic facts such are there is only one God ..... and strait to the topic by stating the definition of justice (in Islam style):
"In the Islamic worldview, justice denotes placing things in their rightful place. It also means giving others equal treatment. In Islam, justice is also a moral virtue and an attribute of human personality, as it is in the Western tradition. Justice is close to equality in the sense that it creates a state of equilibrium in the distribution of rights and duties, but they are not identical. Sometimes, justice is achieved through inequality, like in unequal distribution of wealth"
Thats good, but this needs some foundation, well here it is what God declares in the Quran:
“God commands justice and fair dealing...” (Quran 16:90)
“O you who believe, be upright for God, and (be) bearers of witness with justice!...” (Quran 5:8)
Therefore, one may conclude that justice is an obligation of Islam and injustice is forbidden. The centrality of justice to the Quranic value system is displayed by the following verse:
“We sent Our Messengers with clear signs and sent down with them the Book and the Measure in order to establish justice among the people…” (Quran 57:25)
“And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can change His Words.” (Quran 6:115)
“Let not the hatred of a people swerve you away from justice. Be just, for this is closest to righteousness…” (Quran 5:8)
“God does not forbid you from doing good and being just to those who have neither fought you over your faith nor evicted you from your homes...” (Quran 60:8)
“…If you judge, judge between them with justice…” (Quran 5:42)
So based in what is said above being just is very important. Therefore it can be said that there is no excuse to be unjust to anyone or in any situation. Of course sometimes it can be hard since it may, in some way, contradict our momentous interests (we are humans=mistakes are taken to be a normal thing in our life, of course one needs to repent for his\her mistakes).
But we can not (well, we should not) allow that to happen ( let those self-centred interests get in our way of being just).
Here is how the Quran puts it:
“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even if it be against yourselves, your parents, and your relatives, or whether it is against the rich or the poor...” (Quran 4:135)
“…When you speak, speak with justice, even if it is against someone close to you…” (Quran 6:152)
OK now this is clear, be fair, be just to anyone ...... but why am mentioning it here (when we take for granted that everybody knows this)!
Well, it's good to remind to ourselves things that are important ( and if I ever was unjust to anyone in any way, I am sorry).
One questions sometimes raises in my head, if God is just ( and there is no doubt that He is), how comes He allows for children to be killed, defenceless women, children and old people to be abused and persecuted ,...............,?
OK let's make an attempt to explain why this is the way it is with an example ( I have a history of choosing bad examples, but lets give it a go, since it's for a good cause).
To play a football match players need to agree with the rules of the game. Whats the point of the game? Well some play for the pleasure of scoring goals, others for money, so they can be with friends, be healthy........ and many other reasons. But to be able to do that they need accept the rules, so players do know that they can get injured but they still play because they believe that it is worth bearing that risk in order to enjoy the pleasure of scoring goals or whatever.
So whenever you are in a difficulty just remember that it's worth going through some difficulties in order to live some really great moments that are waiting for you (even if those moments are very short ahhahhahaha).
It's like, in a month you have had 20 bad days and about 10 other days just the routine life, but in the last day of the month you get a visit from someone you love and you forget all those bad days. Sorry, I am deviating from the topic a bit but what I really am trying to say is live your life, make the most of it.
After all tomorrow is Saturday, it will be a boring day for me (just the routine) but I am sure it will be A GREAT DAY at least for someone I know hahahhahhaha.
I wish you all the best.......
