prophet muhammad (pbuh), the just

8/14/2019 Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), The Just

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Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) The justAli Zohery, Ph. D.By reading closely the Prophet Muhammads speeches, it isapparent that he believed in justice for all humanity. Heembodied the commandment of the Quran:

0 you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and letnot the hatred and enmity of others make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: andfear Allah. (Quran, 5:9).

Textual analysis of his speeches also revealed he did noteven discriminate between a near relative and a stranger inthese matters; if the stranger was in the right, he decreed againsthis relative and in favor of the stranger.

Once a noble woman of the Quraishcommitted theft. Her relatives tried tointercede on her behalf. The Prophet calledthe people and addressed them in thesewords: What destroyed your predecessorswas just that when a person of rank amongthem committed a theft (or any crime),they left him alone, but when a weak oneof their number committed a theft (or anycrime), they inflicted the prescribedpunishment on him. I swear by Allah that ifFatimah, daughter of Muhammad, shouldsteal. I would have her hand cut off.(Bukhari, 6787)

This strict fairness of the Prophet in matters of disputes and

crimes was in line with the commandment of the Quran not todistinguish between a relative and a stranger in matters ofjustice: Whenever you speak, speak justly and fairly, even if anear relative is concerned; and fulfill the Covenant of Allah. Thus,does Allah Command you that you may remember and heed(Quran 6: 152). And again, in Surah Nisa we read:

O you who believe! Stand out firmly for


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justice as witnesses to Allah, even asagainst yourselves, or your parents, or youre near relatives, and whether it beagainst rich or poor. For Allah can bestprotect both. Follow not the lusts (of yourhearts), lest you swerve (from doing justice), and if you distort (justice) ordecline to do justice, surely Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do. Quran,4:135)

The Prophet firmly established the rule of justice among hispeople by his own example and practice. When he was on hisdeathbed, just a few moments before he breathed his last breath,he had it publicly announced:

Is there anyone among you whom I havestricken? Here is my back, let him strike mein return. Is there anyone whose characterI have defamed or insulted? Let him nowcast reproach upon me. Is there anyonefrom whom I have taken anythingunjustly? Let him now come forward andbe indemnified. (Rahaman, Encyclopaediaof Seerah, Vol.III, London, 1994, P.164)

Such was his consciousness and understanding of therights of other people, and of the need to dispense them withabsolute fairness and justice that he did not forget it even at thetime of his last breath. This is an ever-living reminder to theMuslims of the great importance of fairness and justice. It is anobligation of the Muslims first to Allah, who gave them a Code ofLaw concerning the determining of the rights of the people withfull justice, and second to the Prophet, who, by his strictadherence to the rule of law, firmly established this principleamong them and warned them never to relax its enforcement.

The analysis demonstrates that he was a very fair and justman and succeeded not only in establishing a very high standardof justice but also in setting a code of law that helped to establishand strengthen the rule of law in a country wherein before therehad been neither any rule of law nor any respect for law orjustice. He so firmly established a system of justice in the countryand so firmly and deeply engraved it in the hearts of his people


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that they truly became the messengers of justice for theoppressed people of the world. Their quality of fairness andgoodness is mentioned by the Quran in these words: You arethe best of peoples, raised for mankind, enjoining what is rightand fair, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah(Quran 3:110). This goes to prove the point that the Prophet didnot welcome discrimination of any kind.

The standard of the Prophets concept of justice was soexalted that he could not tolerate any kind of discriminationbetween man and man on the basis of color, creed, race,nationality, language, birth or status where it came to judgingdisputes between them. It was a universal code of law thatexceeded the barriers of time and space and applied equally toall races and all nations. As time went by people unconsciously

welcomed this code of law not knowing that it was ProphetMuhammad who gave it birth.

The Quran laid the fundamental basis of human honor andstatus in these words:

0 mankind! We created you from a single(pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you mayknow each other (not that you may despiseeach other). Surely the most honored ofyou in the Sight of Allah is (he who is) themost righteous of you. (Quran, 49:13)

The following sayings of Prophet Muhammad show howdedicated he was to justice: No judge should give judgmentbetween two people when he is angry. (Bukhari, 6158). Thismeans that it was practically impossible to bring about justice ina mindset where emotions override ones reason.

If anyone seeks the office of judge amongthe Muslims and when he gets it and if hisjustice prevails over his tyranny, he will go

to Paradise; but the man whose tyrannyprevails over his justice will go to Hell. (AbuDawud, 3575)

This can clearly be understood as paying the rightful debt whenone fails to allow reason to govern his/her decision. Tyrannicalruling is synonymous to emotional ruling. He emphasized theidea of going to hell when one wrongfully decides:


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Judges are of three types, one of which willgo to Paradise and two to Hell. The typethat will go to Paradise is the man whoknows what is the right (verdict) and gives judgment accordingly. But a man whoknows what is the right (verdict) but actstyrannically (i.e., unjustly) in his judgments,will go to Hell; and the man who gives judgments when he is Gracious Conductand Charming Manners ignorant of thefacts will go to Hell. (Abu Dawud, 3573)

Hell now becomes a symbol of retribution. If anyone wantsto escape the wrath of Allah, he has to take rightful decision andnot by a tyrant as Tirmidhi (2000) confirms:

Allah is with the judge as long as he is not tyrannical, but whenhe is tyrannical, Allah departs from him and the devil attacheshimself to him (Tirmidhi, 1330).

The seriousness of the functions of a judge and wrongnessof submitting false evidence is shown by the following hadith ofthe Prophet. It is reported that two men brought a disputebefore the Prophet about inheritance, but neither of them hadany proof beyond their claim. The Prophet, while givingjudgment in this case, said:

If I give a judgment in favor of onerespecting what is rightly his brothers, Iam allotting him only a portion of Hell.Thereupon, both the persons said:Messenger of Allah, this right of mine maygo to my brother but he replied: No,rather go and divide it up, aiming at whatis right; then draw lots, and let each of youconsider the other to have what islegitimately his. ( Bukhari, 6967)

The Quran refers to bringing false evidence before the judgein these words: Do not usurp one anothers property by unjustmeans, nor offer it to the judges, so that you may devour,knowingly and unjustly, a portion of the goods of others(Quran, 2:188). It was by means of these severe restrictionsand warnings of the Quran regarding false evidence andbribery and the very clear, fair and just treatment of the


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Prophet that the people came to respect the law of Islam. Thismeans that Prophet Muhammad was not ready to discriminate.He treated everyone as equally important as any other. Hewas only ready to be an impartial judge in the face of disputesbut this did not mean that anyone was allowed to being falsein denial before him and expected to get a good judgment.Prophet Muhammad always decided each case on the basis ofthe evidence, or, in the absence of evidence, the parties wereasked to take an oath. Then he gave his judgment accordingto the Commandment of Allah in that respect:

I am only a human being and you bring your disputes to me, some perhaps beingmore eloquent in their arguments thanothers, so that I may give judgment ontheir behalf it is what I hear from them.Therefore, Whatever I decide for anyonewhich by right belongs to his brother, hemust not take it, for I am granting him onlya portion of hell. (Bukhari, 7181)

By doing this, Prophet Muhammad was interested in striking abalance. He did not see himself trying to favor one party asagainst the other. Equality of humankind was one of his primeobjectives.

prophet muhammad (pbuh), the just

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