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Injustice

Living Up To Justice

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Justice is a foundational principle upon which our religion is built. It maintains the balance of all things in our lives. As Muslims we are taught to be just in all affairs of our lives. Discrimination or any other form of injustice is forbidden in Islam. Allāh subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) commands the believers, in Sūrat’l-Nisā’, āyah 135, to stand for justice in any and every way possible. Not only are we told to rudimentarily demonstrate it, but we are to do whatever it takes to stand up for truth at all times. Instead of saying, “stand” (قُمْ), the Qur’ān commands the believers to “be of those who deliver justice” (كونوا قوّامِيْنَ). Allāh subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) is not asking us to do an action once; He is commanding the believers to mold their lives around justice and make it their motto to live and die.

Allāh subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) uses the word قوّام—the hyperbolized version of قُم— to make us understand how far we need to go to establish justice. Stand up, go out of your way, take all necessary means to stand for justice! Allāh subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) ends the verse with “even if it be against yourselves, your parents, or your relatives.” No one is exempt. Justice must be done in every scope of life.

To drive the message home, directly after this verse, Allāh subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) commands the believers to believe! We may think our faith is complete, but Allāh subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) is telling us that there is a deficiency in our faith if we lack the spirit of justice.

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We may seek to restore or preserve our own rights, but there’s a problem if we are not concerned for the rights of others. Allāh subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) clearly outlines that our faith has not fully matured if we have not prioritized and implemented justice in our lives. Whether it is as mere as replacing a borrowed item if we broke it or rallying for a person wrongfully imprisoned, we need to stand up for each other and give what is due.

Recently many of us were upset with the verdict in the Trayvon Martin case. Though proper justice may not have been served, it behooves us to ask ourselves if the ‘not guilty’ verdict against George Zimmerman is a reflection of our own situation. We purposely cheat in our business dealings, lie on our resumés, wrong each other, and hide behind our power and wealth on a daily basis, and then suddenly have our social media outlets flaring with “Justice for Trayvon.”

What can we expect from our society if we ourselves are not just? Our fad-following, sensationalized Facebook statuses and tweets would be better matched if we sought to be just with the everyday people in our lives through the best manner that Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) and His messenger ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) have taught us. I am not seeking to antagonize or blame anyone, I simply want to open up a way through which we can think at a more holistic level about the concept of justice and how we can implement it in our lives daily.

May we be given the ability to be agents of justice in all scopes of our lives. Ameen.

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Nihal Ahmad Khan is currently a student of Islamic Law and Theology at Nadwatul 'Ulama in Lucknow, India. He was born and raised in New Jersey and holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a minor in Business from Montclair State University and a diploma in Arabic from Bayyinah Institute's Dream Program. He began memorizing the Qur’an at Darul Uloom New York and finished at the age of seventeen at the Saut al-Furqan Academy in Teaneck, New Jersey. He went on to lead taraweeh every year since then. Along with his education, Nihal has worked in various capacities in the Muslim community as an assistant Imam, youth director, and a Muslim Chaplain at correctional facilities and social service organizations. Nihal is also an MA candidate in Islamic Studies from the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. ruba

    August 31, 2013 at 10:42 AM

    jazakALLAH khair!

  2. Anisa

    September 2, 2013 at 12:49 AM

    “And how many a community revolted against the ordinance of its Lord and His messengers, and We called it to a stern account and punished it with dire punishment,” (65 Surat-ut-Tallaq . Aayat8)

  3. Nadiyah

    September 14, 2013 at 11:22 PM

    Quran 2:30 …”Will You place upon it ine who will make mischief and shed blood while we sing Your praises and glorify Your name?”
    If humanity unified and lived according to the message delivered by the seal of Prophets (pbuh), by submitting our will to Allah there would be peace since a muslim’s wealth, honour and blood are sacred. There would be no murder, slander or usurping.

    • MuFu

      September 13, 2015 at 9:25 AM

      ”Quran 2:30 …”Will You place upon it ine who will make mischief and shed blood while we sing Your praises and glorify Your name?”
      If humanity unified and lived according to the message delivered by the seal of Prophets (pbuh), by submitting our will to Allah there would be peace since a muslim’s wealth, honour and blood are sacred. There would be no murder, slander or usurping.”

      Talk about justice and discrimination, let us define discrimination:

      ”The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex:” – I would add more grounds to it, but that are some main grounds that often accure.
      Men have more rights than womans, it doesnt matter how you interpret it or how slightly it is, it is. Therfore by definition of discrimination that is discrimination, because a difference is been made, reasond or not doesnt matter to that fact.

      I am an ”infidel” by your definition, I am not allowed doing many things with you (even if you wanted) as a human with a muslim faith therefore you make a differnce between me and a human with your faith, thats discrimination.

      ”muslim’s… blood are sacred”, again, I am discriminated since I am not a ”muslim”, it doesnt matter who is speaking out discrimination, if it is a god or a human, it stays discrimination.

      If I am all wrong about it then you might argue with your definition of ”discrimination”.

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