Those who enquire about the basics of Islam are usually told about the “Five Pillars” of the religion. These relate to faith and to practice, but at a deeper level it might be said that there are two great pillars which support the whole edifice argues Charles Le Gai Eaton. These are Peace and Justice.
The two are clearly connected since there can be no enduring peace without justice. The very word “Islam” comes from the same verbal root as salaam meaning “peace” and, since the religion is based upon total submission to the will of God, Muslims believe that real peace is out of reach unless it is based upon this submission within the universal order. They believe equally that there can be no real justice except as an aspect of submission to the source of all that is just and well ordered. Although God in Himself is beyond comprehension or analysis, the Qur’an gives us hints as to His true nature through what are sometimes called “the 99 names” and one of these is al-‘Adl, “the Just”. Another of these names is al-Muqsid, “the Dispenser of Justice” or “He who gives to each thing its due”.
The Qur’an praises those who always act “in the light of truth” and tells us: “Perfected are the words of your Lord in truth and justice”. It tells us also: “Behold, God enjoins justice and good actions and generosity to our fellows….”, and it commands us never to let hatred lead us into deviating from justice: “Be just! That is closest to God consciousness”. This, of course, applies to all believers who must fear divine justice if subjective factors or personal emotions lead them to deviate from the path of justice which is also the path of Islam, but it weighs heavily upon those who are required to adjudicate in disputes or to give judgment in criminal cases. There were cases in the early history of the religion when men whom the Ruler intended to appoint as judges fled from Court rather than assume this terrifying responsibility and we read of one who did accept the burden that his whole body trembled when he was called upon to give judgment, believing that a single mistake might carry with it the threat of damnation. The divine Judge stands over the human judge, observing all that he does, and human justice, even at its best, can never be more than a poor imitation of divine Justice.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace and blessings, himself when he was called upon to adjudicate in civil actions warned the litigants that one of them might be more eloquent in putting his case than the other and thereby achieve an unjust settlement. “In such a case,” said Muhammad, “I will have given him a portion of hellfire”. This is clearly a grave matter indicating that those who seek justice must themselves practice it without deviation even to their own hurt. Under all and any circumstances a victory which is contrary to justice is a poisoned chalice.
Of special significance too is the relationship between justice and wisdom in the Arabic language. The words hukm, “judgment”, and hikmah, “wisdom” come from the same root, and al-Hakim (the “All-Wise”) is another of the names of God in the Qur’an.
In the Christian tradition St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that, among all human pursuits, “the pursuit of wisdom is more perfect, more noble, more full of joy” than any other human enterprise. The Muslim might amend this slightly by emphasizing that one cannot “pursue” wisdom as one might a rare butterfly since it is a divine quality and out of reach of the human seeker as such. It is for us to lay ourselves open to this gracious gift by making ourselves fit and ready to receive it.
It is commonly said that Justice is or should be “blind”, in other words rigidly objective, but a Judge is required to possess the quality of insight in the most profound sense and can deserve no higher praise than to be described as “wise”, participating, as it were, in “the wisdom of Solomon”. Wisdom is as much a quality of character as an attribute of the mind. It has nothing to do with erudition which, however extensive, is necessarily limited in scope. A learned man can still be a fool when he steps outside the area of his expertise. The wise man is protected by his insight from folly – although not always from minor errors in the worldly context – because he possesses an inner yardstick by which to assess the situations he encounters. For the Muslim this yardstick is the Qur’an together with the example of the Prophet and their reflection in the human heart. There is no higher aim for the Muslim than the cultivation of what is described as a “sound heart”. From the sound heart comes sound judgment. The same is true of sound governance and, in Islam, this implies “ruling between” in accordance with wisdom rather than “ruling over”.
The Qur’an always emphasizes that Muhammad, though endowed with the fullness of wisdom, was only “flesh and blood”, capable like other men of error except when inspired from above, but it was his mission not only to convey with meticulous accuracy the revelation which descended upon him but also to offer the supreme example of what it meant to follow in his personal and his public life the full implications of the revelation no less meticulously. When he was dying and came for the last time to the mosque in Medina he said to the assembled people: “If there is anyone among you whom I have caused to be flogged unjustly, here is my back. Strike in your turn. If I have damaged the reputation of any among you, let him do the same to mine. To any I may have injured, here is my purse… It is better to blush in this world than in the hereafter”. A man claimed a small debt and was promptly paid.
Why is justice so important in Islam? The core article of faith is the oneness of God, reflected in the unity of His creation in its totality. This unity is reflected in harmony and balance. Injustice destroys harmony and upsets balance thereby provoking disorder. The Muslim is commanded to give primacy to prayer throughout his life and, in all that he does, to remember God. It is true that people can maintain prayer and remembrance under all conditions, even in the midst of chaos, but the fact remains that spiritual life prospers and flourishes when it has a stable base, a firm platform from which the ascent to the knowledge of God and the love of God can, as it were, take off. A disordered society compounded of danger and distractions, unjust and troubled, provides no such security. The man who has to watch his back all the time is diverted from the remembrance of God as is the one who has suffered injustice and must struggle to eliminate feelings of anger and resentment. Moreover injustice fractures the brotherhood and sisterhood of the believers which is an essential element in an Islamic society. Above and beyond this is the simple fact that He who is called “the Just” commands justice both in society and in every aspect of human relations. Since, in Islam, all things are inter-connected – this is an aspect of unity – it might even be said that every act of injustice jars on the cosmos as a whole like a discordant note in a piece of music.
Islam is a very realistic religion and the Qur’an itself recognizes the reality of human weakness. Those who are injured are permitted to take retaliation but they are reminded at every turn that it is better to forgive and to seek reconciliation. Muslims are commanded to return good for evil, thus breaking the vicious circle of animosity; “to do good to those who have injured us” in the words of one of the classical commentators on the Qur’an, but this requires human qualities which are by no means universal although they were characteristic of Muhammad. In his dealings with the pagans who tried by every means to destroy him and his community he exemplified the rule of forgiveness and reconciliation, forgiving even the most vicious of his enemies when he finally re-entered Mecca in triumph, providing them with gifts so that their hard hearts might be softened and peace prevail after the years of conflict. Justice might have required their punishment, but there is no contradiction here since there is more than one way to achieve balance which, after all, is the ultimate objective of justice. Islam describes itself as “the middle way”, a religion of moderation in everything except the love and worship of God. Muhammad condemned extremism with the greatest severity and today’s Muslims have a greater need to be reminded of this than ever before as they do of his saying that “anger burns up good deeds just as fire burns up dry wood”.
Charles Le Gai Eaton was born in Switzerland and educated at Charterhouse at King’s College, Cambridge. He worked for many years as a teacher and journalist in Jamaica and Egypt before joining the British Diplomatic Service. He was consultant to the Islamic Cultural Centre in London. Among his published books are ‘Islam and the Destiny of Man’, ‘King of the Castle’ and ‘Remembering God’.