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The importance of justice is manifested in being one of God's names in Islam. It is considered among the most important values underlined by the Quran and repeated in a number of its verses.
Islam attaches the highest importance to justice. In fact, Divine Justice is the backbone of the whole act of creation. The balance and the due proportion evident in the heavens and the earth are a manifestation of Allah’s (God’s) Justice.
GOD says:"We sent our messengers with clear signs, and sent down with them the Book and the Balance so that men may conduct themselves with justice’ (al-Hadid 57:25)
GOD says:, “…and He has established the scale, therefore, do not transgress in the scale [of justice]. Undertake the measuring with justice and do not cheat concerning the scale.”
Justice is the supreme purpose and ruling spirit of the Shari’ah. It provides the framework for the entire corpus of Islam, shaping and moulding its beautiful configurations. The paramount purpose for which the Prophets were sent and struggled all their lives was to guide man to achieve justice.
“God enjoins on you that you deliver the Trusts to their rightful possessors. And when you rule over [or judge between] people, that you do so with justice…”
Indeed, no conception of Islam and Muslim should be possible without justice. Justice, in Islam, lends meaning and colour to all human endaevours, both on an individual level and as a societal ideal, extending from now into eternity. It servers as the ultimate criterion for the internal ordering of the soul and the external regulation of relationships.
If we study the cause of the ruin of many past civilizations, we find at the root the neglect of justice.
Allah commands us in the Qur’an to do good and to avoid shameful deeds, injustice, and rebellion. He commands us to be just, even if we hate a people.
God says in that regard, “O, You who believe! Be upright for God, witnesses to justice; and do not let your hatred of a people move you to a position where you are unjust. Be just, that is closer to piety. Be mindful of God! Verily God is well-informed concerning all that you do.”
the Qur'an holds out the promise of reward for one's deeds. It also informs us that a complete record is constantly being made of human actions. After death, everyone will find himself standing in God's court, where he will receive his just deserts. No perpetrator of cruelty will escape God's punishment. That time has to come when man will suffer the consequences of his deeds. 'On that day mankind will come, divided in terms of vice and virtue, into groups to be shown their labors. Whoever does an atom's weight of good shall see it and whoever does an atom's weight of evil shall see it also.' (99:6-8)
This concept of accountability alerts man to the necessity of being extremely punctilious in his dealings with others. He then sees how essential it is to be just to everyone, if he is to save his own self. He avoids wronging others so that he may not be punished by God.
The concept of accountability is such a strong check that it restrains one not just from oppression, but from even any semblance of it.
Slavery
Islam has emphasized on numerous principles that organize relationships among members of the society. One of the most important principles is social justice with all important values that it involves like peace, love, brotherhood, and prosperity. Justice in Islam is not only practiced on Muslims. Rather, it is practiced on every human being regardless to his/her beliefs or religion.
Human beings are all Slaves of God. In Islam, no superiority, no distinction and no pre-eminence can be lawfully claimed by one over the other except by virtue of piety. All people are equal in their social status and this is fully manifested in the congregational prayers where there is no room for rank and special privilege. All are equal in the sight of God whether he be a caliph or a slave.
The Prophet Muhammade p.b.u.h. said that individuals were all equal like the teeth of a comb.
As for the treatment of slaves, let's survey here some of the rules laid down by Islam to ensure a decent and kind treatment for them.
1/ Giving them the same food and clothing as taken by their masters
Hadith - Sahih Al-Bukhari 3.721, Narrated Al Marur bin Suwaid
I saw Abu Dhar Al-Ghifari wearing a cloak, and his slave, too, was wearing a cloak. We asked him about that (i.e. how both were wearing similar cloaks). He replied, "Once I abused a man and he complained of me to the Prophet. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked me, 'Did you abuse him by slighting his mother?' He added, 'Your slaves are your brethren upon whom Allah has given you authority. So, if one has one's brethren under one's control, one should feed them with the like of what one eats and clothe them with the like of what one wears. You should not overburden them with what they cannot bear, and if you do so, help them (in their hard job).' "
2/ Recognizing their dignity
Abu Hurairah narrates that the Prophet of Repentance (i.e. Prophet Muhammad) said :
" Any one who slanders his slave with adultery, and it is a false charge, will receive on the Day of Resurrection the same punishment his slave would have received in the world had the charge been true." [8]
Abdul-Lah bin 'Umar freed a slave of his then picked a twig from the ground and said:
" I shall not receive for freeing him the worth of this in the Hereafter. I heard the Messenger of Allah say : ' If a man hits or beats his slave, his atonement is the freeing of that slave."[9]
3/ A slave is given the lead in religious or mundane matters which he is skilful at.
He can be imam (i.e. to lead the prayer). Aishah had a slave who led her prayer. The believers are even ordered to heed and obey if a slave becomes their ruler, so long as he proves to be better qualified than others.
4/treating slaves in a just and merciful manner
Hadith - Al-Muwatta 54.41, Kindness to Slaves
Malik related to me that he heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab went to the villages every Saturday. If he found a slave doing work which he was not capable of doing, he lightened it for him.
Hadith - Sahih Muslim, #2182, Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar
Khaythamah reported: While we were sitting in the company of Abdullah ibn Umar there came in his steward. He (Ibn Umar) said: Have you supplied the provision to the slaves? He said: No. Upon this he said: Go and give (the provision) to them, for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has said: This sin is enough for a man that he withholds the subsistence from one whose master he is.
In the first clash between Muslims and their enemies, the Battle of Badr, the Muslims won, and a number of the noblest Arabs fell captives in the hands of Muslims. If such dignitaries were punished severely they would have deserved such punishment - they had done so much harm to Muslims at the early stage of Islamic da'wah (call to Islam). Nevertheless, the Sacred Qur'an directs the Prophet and his companions in these words :
"O Apostle ! say to those who are captives in your hands : 'If God findeth any good in your hearts, He will give you something better than what has been taken from you, and He will forgive you : for God is oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. But if they have treacherous designs against thee (O Apostle), they have already been in treason against God, And God is He who hath (full) knowledge and wisdom." (8, 70-71).
marrying slaves:
The Noble Qur'ân An-Nur 4:32-33
32. And marry those among you who are single (i.e. a man who has no wife and the woman who has no husband) and (also marry) the Sâlihûn (pious, fit and capable ones) of your (male) slaves and maid-servants (female slaves). If they be poor, Allâh will enrich them out of His Bounty. And Allâh is All-Sufficent for His creatures' needs, All-Knowing (about the state of the people).
33. And let those who find not the financial means for marriage keep themselves chaste, until Allâh enriches them of His Bounty. And such of your slaves as seek a writing (of emancipation), give them such writing, if you know that they are good and trustworthy. And give them something yourselves out of the wealth of Allâh which He has bestowed upon you. And force not your maids to prostitution, if they desire chastity, in order that you may make a gain in the (perishable) goods of this worldly life. But if anyone compels them (to prostitution), then after such compulsion, Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (to those women, i.e. He will forgive them because they have been forced to do this evil action unwillingly).
It is interesting to note that there is no statement in Al-Qur'an or sunnah ordering a Muslim to enslave, while statements abound in the hundreds which urge the setting free of slaves.
The Noble Qur'ân Al-Baqarah 2:177
It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and every act of obedience to Allâh, etc.) that you turn your faces towards east and (or) west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes in Allâh, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives his wealth, in spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans, and to Al-Masâkin (the poor), and to the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and to set slaves free, performs As-Salât (Iqâmat-as-Salât), and gives the Zakât, and who fulfill their covenant when they make it, and who are As-Sâbirin (the patient ones, etc.) in extreme poverty and ailment (disease) and at the time of fighting (during the battles). Such are the people of the truth and they are AlMuttaqûn (pious).
The Noble Qur'ân Al-Balad 90:1-15
1. I swear by this city (Makkah);
2. And you are free (from sin, to punish the enemies of Islâm on the Day of the conquest) in this city (Makkah),
4. Verily, We have created man in toil.
5. Thinks he that none can overcome him?
6. He says (boastfully): "I have wasted wealth in abundance!"
7. Thinks he that none sees him?
8. Have We not made for him a pair of eyes?
9. And a tongue and a pair of lips?
10. And shown him the two ways (good and evil)?
11. But he has made no effort to pass on the path that is steep.
12. And what will make you know the path that is steep?
13. (It is) Freeing a neck (slave, etc.)
14. Or giving food in a day of hunger (famine),
15. To an orphan near of kin.
the Prophet's, peace be upon him, exhorting noble conduct :
"Visit the sick, feed the hungry, and set free the captives'
“Three types of people will stand apart on the day of Resurrection as My enemies - and an enemy of Mine will be doomed; a man who vowed in My name then betrayed, a man who sold a free person as a slave and appropriated his price, and a man who employed a worker and had him do the assigned work then failed to pay him his wages."
Let's just mention some of the ways of freeing slaves : A share of zakat (i.e. the enjoined charity) is allotted to the freeing of slaves, the atonement for unintended killing, the vow of thihar, atonement for broken oaths, for breaking the fast during the day of Ramadan. There is besides this a general appeal to the human sentiment of Muslims to set slaves free for the pleasure of God.
Muslims can take just pride in the fact that from the beginning their judicial system was placed on lines that in substance are no different from those of the best systems of today. Let us take a brief look at some of the main features of administration of justice in Islam.
1. Supremacy of law: In Islamic legal system, no ruler and no official can claim to be above the law. No acts, procedures, and decisions of any authority, howsoever high it may be, can be valid and binding as to the people they affect, save to the extent they are in consonance with the law.
2. Equality before law: The Quran and the Sunnah, which are the primary sources of Islamic law, put great emphasis on equality. Consequently, in Islamic legal system there cannot be one law for the ruler and another for the subject; one for the powerful and another for the weak; one for the rich and another for the poor. Government authorities enjoy no special privileges or immunities from the application of law. Even the Holy Prophet (PBUH) did not consider himself or his family above the law. Instead of claiming any immunity from the law, he laid down the rule that even the head of the state may be challenged, in both official and private capacity, in the court.
The following statement of the Prophet, which he made while deciding the case of a noble woman who had committed theft, demonstrates it all: “Verily those who were before you were destroyed because when a noble man from among them committed theft, they passed no sentence on him. By Allah, had Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, committed theft, I would have cut off her hand.”
Also, during the course of his last sermon, the Prophet publicly offered to the community that if he owed anything to anyone, or had done any harm to anyone’s life or property, he was available to answer for it. One person came forward and demanded some money which was immediately paid.
3. Judicial impartiality: The Quran says: “Surely We have revealed the Book to thee with truth that thou may judge between people by means of what Allah has taught thee. And be not one pleading the cause of the dishonest.” (4: 105)
It is agreed that the occasion of the revelation of the above-given verse was a dispute between a Jew and a Muslim, in which the Prophet decided against the Muslim. The Muslim, supported by his tribe, had falsely accused the Jew of theft. At a time when help was sorely needed for the defence of Islam, a verdict against a man supported by his tribe meant the loss of that tribe. But such considerations did not carry any weight with the Prophet and he cleared the Jew of the charge. Thus, the verse lays down that dishonesty must be punished, and the balance of justice must be held equal between friends and foes and between Muslims and non-Muslims.
The Prophet was known for his fair and impartial administration of justice. Along with Muslims, non-Muslims would also come to him for settlement of their disputes and he would adjudicate in accordance with their laws. He strictly observed the Quranic instructions regarding equality before law, and never made any distinction between litigants on the basis of religion or relations.
The Quran says: “O you, who believe, be maintainers of justice, bearers of witness for Allah, even though it be against your own selves or (your) parents or near relatives—- whether he be rich or poor .... And if you distort or turn away (from truth), surely Allah is ever Aware of what you do.” (4: 135) “O you who believe, be upright for Allah, bearers of witness with justice; and not let hatred of a people incite you not to act equitably. Be just; that is nearer to observance of duty. And keep your duty to Allah. Surely Allah is aware of what you do.” (5: 8)
The extent to which impartiality is expected of a judge is also well illustrated in the story concerning Caliph Umar. He once had a lawsuit against a Jew. When both parties went before the judge, the latter rose in his seat out of deference to Umar. Umar looked upon this act of deference to one party as an unpardonable judicial weakness and dismissed the judge at once.
4. Judicial independence: In Islamic legal system, judiciary is independent of executive control. Judges can perform their functions without any interference and none can influence the course of justice with his authority or wealth. The following portion of a letter that was written by Caliph Ali to one of his governors, excellently explains the notion of independence of judiciary in Islam:
“Select for your Chief Judge one from the people who by far is the best among them; one who is not obsessed with domestic worries; one who cannot be intimidated; one who does not err too often; one who does not turn back from the right path once he finds it; one who is not self centred or avaricious; one who will not decide before knowing full facts; one who will weigh with care every attendant doubt and pronounce a clear verdict after taking everything into full consideration; one who will not grow restive over the arguments of advocates; one who will examine with patience every new disclosure of facts; one who will be strictly impartial in his decision; one whom flattery cannot mislead; one who does not exult over his position. But it is not easy to find such men...
Once you have selected the right man for the office, pay him handsomely enough to let him live in comfort and in keeping with his position, enough to keep him above temptations. Give him a position in your court so high that none can even dream of coveting it, and so high that neither backbiting nor intrigue can touch him.”
Since law, in Islam, stands at the apex of social organisation, those who administer the law must likewise be elevated and kept free of all executive control.
5. Free administration of justice: In Islamic legal system, justice is administered free of cost. All citizens, regardless of their financial status, can get justice without incurring any expenses in the form of court fee, stamp duty, etc.
Conclusion: In Islam, the concept of justice is more comprehensive, vital, and sacred than in any other system. It is one of the fundamental objectives of the Islamic state to provide justice. Not only justice is considered to be a trust, a sacred responsibility, which is to be performed in conformity with the provisions of the Quran and the Sunnah; but the dispensation of justice also constitutes one of the most important acts of devotion.
Changes in human understanding, progress in standards of civilization, which is considered to be linear in time, and advances in technology are all supposed to generate genuine pressures on the Shari’ah to change or to give up those parts which do not seem to rhyme with the late twentieth century time. But what has really changed? Has man changed? Essential human nature, its motives and drives, its emotions and desires have remained virtually unchanged throughout the ages. Technology has certainly advanced and some ways of looking at the world have altered but no new definitions of concepts like ‘cruelty’, ‘civilized’, ‘justice’, ‘equality’ have emerged to command universal adherence. Man’s lusts and fears, hopes and anxieties, loves and hates, aspirations, yearnings and longings remain what they have always been. Similarly, the idea that something which evolves later in time is necessarily superior to that which preceded it is also untenable. The only absolute and universal criteria can be those given by God, the All-knowing, whose words are above any change.
