Fezia Haq, London
“…This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed My favour upon you and have chosen for you Islam as religion…” Our faith is one which has thoroughly guided us in all aspects of life. This by no means excludes the concept of fairness and justice. In fact, Islam has incorporated teachings on this matter from the minutest level.
From the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), we see many astonishing examples of how he maintained fairness in the smallest of matters. A Companion narrates such an incident. A father came to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and asked him to be a witness when he would be gifting wealth and goods to one of his sons. Upon asking whether he had gifted all his children in a similar manner, the father replied in the negative. The Prophet declined to be a witness, and said: “Would you prefer that all your children treat you with equal kindness?” The father replied that, yes, he wished so. The Prophet continued: “Then such discrimination among them is not appropriate while distributing wealth.”
When this is the kind of justice required at home, one can only imagine what this would mean at a bigger level. Here, too, we find that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) set the standard. It is narrated that the Holy Prophet once owed money to a Jew. The man accused the Prophet of being late in his payment. Such lack of respect angered the Companion Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), who uttered a few harsh words. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) explained to Umar that he should have first reminded him to pay, and then requested the man to be kind in his demand. He then told his Companions: “I know the limit is not yet over, but pay him whatever I owe and add some more because of the harsh attitude of Umar”. This is the supreme sense of justice taught by the Prophet, that even when he was not in the wrong, he gave more than what was due.
In our society – where lack of justice is prevalent in all sectors – there is an urgent need for these divine teachings from over 1400 years ago to be applied. For many years, this has been the message which the current head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah be his Helper), has delivering across the globe.
On one occasion, His Holiness articulately stated: “If we truly want peace in our time then we must act with justice. We must value equality and fairness. As the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) so beautifully stated, we must love for others, what we love for ourselves. We must pursue the rights of others with the same zeal and determination that we pursue our own rights. We should broaden our horizons and look at what is right for the world, rather than what is only right for us. These are the means for peace in our age.”
As is apparent, justice starts from home and stretches all the way to transnational relations. In doing so, we will be abiding by the universal teaching of the Holy Quran, that: “Verily, Allah requires you to abide by justice, and to treat with grace; and give like the giving of kin to kin…”
References:
https://www.alislam.org/quran/5:4
‘Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship’ by Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IV(rh)
‘The Seal of Prophets – His Personality and Character’ by Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad
‘Muhammad (saw) – The Perfect Man’ by Hafiz Muzaffar Ahmad
Voice of British Muslim Women 
Leave a comment