Feb 20 2024 36 mins
In this episode we talk about the idea of Justice. Among other things we discuss:
- Justice in the western and Islamic tradition
- Adler’s Syntopicon ( Dictionary of Ideas)
- 102 greatest ideas, boiled to 6 great ideas, Justice being one of them
- Justice as an unlimited good
- Justice for all oppressed peoples of the world - Palestine, Kashmir etc.
- Name of Allah : Al-’Adl العدل
- Name of Allah : Al-Muqsit المقسط
- O you who believe! Be those standing firm for justice, witnesses for God; even if it be against yourselves, your parents, or your relatives––regardless of [any party] being rich or poor, God more rightly knows their case [than you do]. Do not follow your vain desire, leading you to swerve from justice. If you swerve or turn away from the truth, God is well-informed concerning all that you do. (Quran 4:135)
- O you who believe! Be those standing firm for God, witnesses for justice, and do not allow the hatred of a people to prevent you from being just. Be just, for that is closer to God-consciousness. Fear God. Verily, God knows well all that you do. (Quran 5:8)
- The methods proposed by Kant and Rawls to arrive at their abstract ideal of justice are too abstruse to produce a shared value system
- Prophetic Hadith: Umm Salama ( RA) reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: "I am human. You bring your disputes to me. One of you is more persuasive than another, and I [may] rule in his favor on the basis of what I hear from him. Therefore, for the one I have ruled in favor of concerning something rightfully belonging to his brother, let him not take it. Rather, I have portioned off for him a piece of hellfire" [Sahih Muslim]
- In our religious life, balance is maintained when we avoid the extremes of atheism and of being so engaged in worship that we fail to fulfill our obligations to our fellow humans
- Human act of justice is putting things in their proper places
- The Qur’anic law holds a middle position between the strict Mosaic law that mandates capital punishment in Deuteronomy 19:21 and the Gospel principle to “turn the other cheek” in Matthew 5:39
- Prophetic Hadith : On the authority of Abu Sa`eed al-Khudree (RA ) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say, “Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.” [Sahih Muslim]
- The fact that there are so many injustices in the world, is a proof that there IS a Hereafter where Ultimate Justice will be delivered by the Almighty
- Islamic view of justice involves relations between friends and enemies and between the strong and the weak, and in some contexts is a utilitarian calculation. It is the gift of revelation, yet it benefits from reason. It accommodates morality. It addresses the soul, the individual, and society. In that it originates with God, it exists as a transcendental ideal. Yet it is an ideal that humans are enjoined to actualize in our lives
- https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/article/things-in-their-proper-places
- https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/the-idea-of-justice-in-the-quran
- The Islamic vision of the human is of a creature ennobled by God (17:70), possessing self-esteem (63:7), pursuing strength, recognizing self-interest, crowned by intellect, and reminded to not forget one’s share of the world (28:77). These qualities, however, are balanced by humility (28:83), compassion for the weak (4:75), and acknowledgment of the rig