The Essence Of Islam:
Righteousness
And Justice
(M. Javed Naseem)
What is Islam? Islam is
righteousness and justice! As a matter of fact, social justice is a part of
righteousness. You can’t be a pious or a righteous person without being just
and fair in your dealings. You must be an honest and just person in every walk
of life to be rightly called ‘righteous’. The best definition of
‘righteousness’ comes directly from the Almighty God in the Holy Quran. Allah
says:
“It is not
righteousness that you turn your faces
towards east or west;
but the righteousness is to
believe in Allah and
the Last Day, and the Angels,
and the Books, and
the Messengers; to spend of
your substance, out
of love for Him, for your kin,
for orphans, for the
needy, for the wayfarer, for
those who ask, and
for the ransom of slaves; to
be steadfast in
prayer, and practice regular charity;
to fulfill the
contracts which you have made; and
to be firm and
patient, in pain (or suffering) and
adversity, and
throughout all periods of panic.
Such are the people
of truth, the Allah-fearing.”
(al-Quran 2:177)
God is gracious! You take care of
people around you and God will take care of you! What a beautiful bargain, only
win/win situation!
Allah commands the believers in
the Holy Quran to be just, honest and kind to others so that there is no
injustice, inequality and indecency.
“Allah commands
justice, the doing of good,
and liberality to
kith and kin, and He forbids all
shameful deeds, and
injustice and rebellion. He
instructs you that
you may receive admonition.”
(al-Quran 16:90)
The Bible Says:
“But let
justice roll on like a river,
Righteousness like a
never-failing stream!”
(Amos 5:24)
A society based on social justice
and equality is a peaceful and happy society. But we need to train ourselves to
be content with whatever we have earned honestly and legally. No greed, no injustice!
“O you who believe!
Stand out firmly for justice, as
witnesses to Allah,
even as against yourselves, or your
parents, or your kin,
and whether it be (against) rich or
poor; for Allah can
best protect both. Follow not the
lusts (of your
hearts), lest you swerve, and if you
distort (justice) or
decline to do justice, verily Allah
is well-acquainted
with all that you do.”
(al-Quran 4:135)
You see the level of piety and
righteousness in the above command of God about justice! The words “even as against
yourselves” or against your family, would take you to another level of moral
achievement which is rarely seen in today’s material world. That’s true justice
and that’s true Islam!
It is not easy to deliver justice
or to maintain justice in a fast changing society where interests always clash,
even in the family. With so much crime and injustice around us; with so much
corruption in the society, with so much selfishness, we have lost confidence in
people. We don’t trust people easily. There is always suspicion. The irony is
that we are suspicious about others because we are judging them by our own
yardstick and not by universal standards. At the same time, we don’t like to be
judged by the same yardstick. We easily find faults in others but see no fault in
ourselves. We criticize others but hate it when others criticize us as we feel
insulted.
Here’s what the Bible says:
“Judge not, that you
be not judged. For with the
judgment you
pronounce you will be judged, and
with the measure you
use it will be measured to you.
Why do you see the
speck that is in your brother's
eye, but do not
notice the log that is in your own eye?
Or how can you say to
your brother, ‘Let me take
the speck out of your
eye,’ when there is the log in
your own eye? You
hypocrite, first take the log out
of your own eye, and
then you will see clearly to
take the speck out of
your brother's eye. ...”
(Matthew 7:1-29,
ESV)
“Do not pervert justice; do not show
partiality
to the poor or
favoritism to the great,
but judge your
neighbor fairly.”
(Leviticus
19:15)
The Quran says:
"But whoever
believes, and works righteousness,
he shall have a
goodly reward, and easy will be his
task as We order it
by our Command."
(al-Quran 18:88)
God, the Almighty, wants a just
and peaceful society on Earth that’s why He commands believers to consult the
Book, the ‘How To’ manual in the discharge of their daily affairs. And social
justice is one of the most important field.
“We have sent down to
you the Book in
truth, that you may
judge between men,
as guided by Allah …”
(al-Quran 4:105)
“Except those who
repent and believe, and work
Righteousness, for
these will enter the Garden and
will not be wronged
in the least.”
(al-Quran 19:60)
The Bible says:
“The Lord loves righteousness and justice,
the earth is full of
his unfailing love.”
(Psalms 33:5)
Those people are blessed who get
righteous leaders and rulers. Such rulers existed in every era. In the early
age of Islam, the rulers were exemplary. They were the best role-models for
anybody who wanted to serve his people and establish the rule of law.
The Western world considers the
famous Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, as the most influential personality of
the twentieth century. In some quarters he is treated like a saint. Indians, in
general, and Hindus in particular, claim Gandhi as the greatest ‘son of India’.
He always preached righteousness through modesty and non-violence. In 1937,
while addressing the Indian Congress government’s cabinet of ministers, Gandhi
advised all cabinet members to lead simple life. He said:
“I cannot give you the examples
of Ram Chandra and Krishna, because they were not the historical personalities.
I have no other choice to give you the examples of Abu Bakr and Umar (bin al-Khattab)
– the first two Caliphs of Islam – as symbols of modesty and simple life. They
were the rulers of a great empire but all their lives they lived like beggars.”
(Quote from ‘Hareejan’, dated 27th
July, 1937).
Amazing, isn’t it? The funny
thing is that non-Muslims appreciate the teachings of Islam, whereas we Muslims
don’t even care about it. As Muslims, we are terrible role models for others.
It is time to get up and play the role we are supposed to play for the sake of
our future generations. We should act with care and responsibility.
Now, the question is: Why would
Gandhi refer to the Caliphs of Islam (Umar and Abu Bakr)? What did he see in
their characters that convinced him that they were the best role-models as
rulers and governors? It was their righteousness and modest living; their fear
of God and their sense of responsibility in promoting justice; their
obligations towards community to guarantee the rights of the poor.
Let’s see how Abu Bakr fared in
his life and during his short tenure as the 1st Caliph of Islam.
He was the first free and
independent (not a slave) mature man who accepted Islam the very moment Prophet
Muhammad (s.a.w.) invited him to the Truth. (But he was not the first PERSON
who accepted Islam, the first person being Khadija, Prophet’s wife).
He was given the title “Siddique”
by the Prophet (s.a.w.) himself. Siddique means ‘the true friend’, the one who
‘embraces the Truth’. His obedience to Allah and loyalty to the Prophet
(s.a.w.) were exemplary. The stories of his righteousness and piety are
numerous. According to a Hadith (sayings of the Prophet, s.a.w.) quoted by
Tirmidhi (and Ahmad), the Prophet (s.a.w.) said about Abu Bakr:
"If the Iman (faith)
of Abu Bakr was put
on one side of the
scale and the faith of the
entire nation of
Muslims on the other, the faith
of Abu Bakr would
outweigh the others."
Abu Bakr was a businessman, one
of the richest in Makkah. But after accepting Islam, he devoted all his money,
efforts, labor and resources to the service of mankind just to please Allah. He
used to buy slaves from the pagans and set them free. He would help the needy,
the widows, the poor and the victims of injustice. He would sacrifice all his
wealth for the cause of Allah.
Once, people of the area suffered from drought and then famine struck. People started suffering, so they came to Abu Bakr, who was the Caliph of the Muslims at that time. They said: O’ Caliph of the Messenger of Allah, the sky no longer brings down rain and the land no longer brings up crops or plants, and people fear a disaster. What are you going to do?
Abu Bakr replied, “Go now and be
patient. I hope that Allah will bring His subsistence by the evening.”
When they went down the road,
they saw one thousand camels laden with corn, oil and flour, standing near the
house of Othman (r.a.a.), who was taking care of the supplies. When the
merchants of the area heard of the food convoy, they came to see Othman
(r.a.a.) for buying goods.
“What are you looking for?” He
asked them.
“You know what we want,” they answered.
Othman (r.a.a.) asked them: ‘How
much profit will you give me?’
“Two Dirham of profit.”
“I was offered more than that”,
said Othman (r.a.a.).
“Well, four Dirham.”
“I was offered more.”
“Then five Dirham.”
“I was offered more than that”,
declared Othman (r.a.a.).
“We are the only merchants in
town, so who offered you more than we did?”
Othman (r.a.a.) replied, “Allah
offered me ten Dirham for every single Dirham; do you offer more than that?”
“No”, the merchants answered.
“Then you bear witness that I
give away all these camels along with the goods in charity in the cause of
Allah for the sake of the poor and the needy.”
Now, that’s righteousness and
piety! That’s charity; and that’s caring and sharing. In fact, that’s Islam.
(From my latest book, "Remember Me, I'll Remember You!")
(From my latest book, "Remember Me, I'll Remember You!")
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