Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Quran verses on Justice

The following verses from Qur’an strongly recommend one to be just

4:58 (Asad) BEHOLD, God bids you to deliver all that you have been entrusted with unto those who are entitled thereto, and whenever you judge between people, to judge with justice.   Verily, most excellent is what God exhorts you to do: verily, God is all-hearing, all-seeing!

5:8 (Asad) O YOU who have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in your devotion to God, bearing witness to the truth in all equity; and never let hatred of any-one lead you into the sin of deviating from justice. Be just: this is closest to being God-conscious. And remain conscious of God: verily, God is aware of all that you do

16:90 (Asad) BEHOLD, God enjoins justice, and the doing of good, and generosity towards [one's] fellow-men;  and He forbids all that is shameful and all that runs counter to reason,  as well as envy; [and] He exhorts you [repeatedly] so that you might bear [all this] in mind.


34:26 (Asad) Say: “Our Sustainer will bring us all together [on Judgment Day], and then He will lay open the truth between us, in justice - for He alone is the One who opens all truth, the All-Knowing!”

38:26 (Asad) [And We said:] “O David! Behold, We have made thee a [prophet and, thus, Our] vicegerent on earth: judge, then, between men with justice, and do not follow vain desire, lest it lead thee astray from the path of God: verily, for those who go astray from the path of God there is suffering severe in store for having forgotten the Day of Reckoning!”

49:9 (Asad) Hence, if two groups of believers fall to fighting,  make peace between them; but then, if one of the two [groups] goes on acting wrongfully towards the other, fight against the one that acts wrongfully until it reverts to God’s commandment;  and if they revert, make peace between them with justice, and deal equitably [with them]: for verily, God loves those who act equitably! 


Death Penalty is indeed a primitive form of justice where the state deliberately and intentionally kills the bad guy as horribly as the criminal had committed those crimes on innocent civilians. The death penalty is still prevalent in most of the United States, South Asia, Middle East and many a Muslim majority nations.

Death penalty needs to go, but we cannot let go of justice.

Islam to most Muslims is justice and accountability of one’s actions. God declares in Quran that the best ones among you are those who take the time to know each other. When you do that, conflicts fade and solutions emerge to live in harmony with fellow humans. A Muslim is someone who seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill.

I will not consider myself a Muslim if I did not stand up for the rights of another human being, Muslim or not, period.