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‘Adalah - Justice

Belief In The Justice Of God

This is the belief in the truism that the 'self-consciousness’ in the Essence of Godhead manifests in His Essence of ‘self-love’, which again manifests in the love for ‘self-expression’. The love for self-expression means ‘the will to act’. Being Absolute, identified with all excellence and perfection, 'He' has the means for self-expression within 'Himself: this is the might or power.

The will (love for self-expression) means creation. Hence, creation is the manifestation of 'His' love and might. Thus, the purpose of action is self-expression. Therefore, it necessarily is in complete accord and harmony with the purpose. This harmonious arrangement and accordant synchronization of 'His' action with His power is His justice. It is the positioning of everything in its precise point in order to create unity through harmony and to achieve the purpose. Hence, justice is the necessary qualification of 'His' action. That is to say that His action and justice are inseparable.

His ‘action’, or ‘creation’, being the outcome of love, is the manifestation of 'His' grace but not with the expectation of any return for 'Himself'. Therefore, 'His' grace pervades the realm of creation, which is presented in the term ‘all-pervading grace’. But each creature receives of 'His' grace as much as its capacity allows it to.

This is termed as “His specific and particular grace” as the specific grant of grace is in accordance with the capacity or merit of the 'recipient'. This is called justice. Therefore, here again, His grace and justice arc inseparable.

Whatever 'He' grants, 'He' grants out of pure love, with no expectation of any return for it. Hence, 'His' grace is grace in its true sense, and as He grants precisely in accordance with the merit or capacity of the recipient - nothing more and nothing less - this is Justice. Taking Considering both these aspects, grace and justice as inseparable principles of 'His' action, His attribute of 'cherishing' (for this is the nearest English language equivalent for 'Rububiyyah') is manifested and “He” is frequently mentioned in the Qur'an as the ‘Lord Cherisher of the Worlds’.

Of His relative attributes, grace and justice as presented above are two principles, one manifested by the other. Grace implies justice, and justice implies grace. They in turn are manifestations of His relative real attributes, which are the manifestations of His real attributes, and the very idea of oneness implies them in all.

Thus, justice is the most comprehensive attribute of God through which all His attributes are manifested, as it has been emphasized upon as a fundamental principle of faith, next to the belief in His oneness. The same comprehensive excellence, Justice, has been made the ultimate object of human life. It is for the achievement of this Godly excellence that God has established His vicegerency on earth and continued to commission prophets after prophets and accompanied them with Books and Wisdom, i.e. Balancing Power.

لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلَنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَنْزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ وَأَنْزَلْنَا الْحَدِيدَ فِيهِ بَأْسٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَنْصُرُهُ وَرُسُلَهُ بِالْغَيْبِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ

“Indeed, sent We our apostles with clear proofs, and sent We down with them the Book and the Scale that people may establish themselves in justice; and sent We down Iron wherein is latent (in its use) mighty power and also benefits for mankind and that God may prove who helpeth Him and His apostles in secret: Verily God is All-Strong the Ever-Prevalent” (57:25)

Justice and injustice are presented in the Qur'an in various other verses as the principal standards by which human virtues and vices are to be judged by God and man himself, here and in the hereafter:

وَكُلَّ إِنْسَانٍ أَلْزَمْنَاهُ طَائِرَهُ فِي عُنُقِهِ وَنُخْرِجُ لَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ كِتَابًا يَلْقَاهُ مَنْشُورًا

“We have tied the actions of every man to his neck;1which we will bring forth unto him on the day of resurrection in the form of an unfolded book.” (17:13)

اقْرَأْ كِتَابَكَ كَفَىٰ بِنَفْسِكَ الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكَ حَسِيبًا

“(It will be said unto him): Read thou thy book; Sufficeth thine own self today, as reckoner against thee.” (17:14)

  • 1. It means that man’s action, which is nothing but a fleeting occurrence, has been folded around the neck of the doer which will be brought forth for him on the Day of Resurrection in the form of an unfolded book. The Qur’an says that as the characteristic of a bird (طائر) is to fly away, similarly the characteristic of the action is to be forgotten as soon as it is committed.