THE ESSENCE OF ISLAM: Righteousness And Justice.

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 1^st 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!")

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