Justice as the Ultimate Goal of Syari`ah

C. Justice as the Ultimate Goal of Syari`ah

Doing justice is a teaching of Islam. According to the Qur’an, justice is closer to taqwa (piety), the highest level in one’s faith. Allâh not only orders human to do justice, but also to fight for its implementation, like Allâh commands people not only to pray but also to enforce it. People who uphold justice have a very high position in Islam; they are called the people with the straight road ( shirath mustaqim). The Qur’an repeatedly declares that the doers of justice are the people whom He loves. In fact, the Qur’an insists that people who kill the callers for justice are equal in sin to those who disbelieve the verses of Allâh, and the same as the person who killed the prophets. The Qur’an, Ali Imran/3: 21-22 says:

“ Verily! Those who disbelieve in the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allâh and kill the Prophets without right, and kill those men who order just dealings, announce to them a painful torment. They are those whose works will be lost in this world and in the Hereafter, and they will have no helpers. ”

The words al-adl and al-qisth which means justice are mentioned many times in the verses of the Qur’an. According to the science of Islamic jurisprudence ( Usul Fiqh), the repeated mentioning of a concept shows that the concept contains convincing instruction ( qhat’iyy al-dalalah), that is, universal teaching of absolute truth. The command to do justice thus should not be treated as mere recommendation ( al-irshad) or suggestion (al-Nadb), but as mandatory in nature ( li al-wujub). The command to do justice is not equivalent to the command to get married, eat-and-drink, or to wear certain costume on a certain occasion. All these last mentioned commands are only suggestions ( li an-Nadb). The importance of command to do justice is also indicated by the statement expressed in every Friday sermon: “Allâh commands you to do justice, do good deed and give the relatives their rights, and (He also) prohibits the contrary (to those mentioned).”

Commands justice is not only at the individual level, but also the level of the family, and the general public. Justice and testimony should be upheld in spite of ourselves as God commands in QUR’ANIC VERSE. An-Nisa,

“ O ye who believe! Be ye people who truly uphold justice, as witnesses to Allâh even though incriminate yourself or your parents or your kin. If he is rich or poor , then God knows better both. So do not follow your own desires and deviate from the truth.”

Justice should also be enforced in the family sphere where injustice may often occur without notice, to especially the children and women (Qur’anic verse An-Nahl, 16:90). In the context of the family, the Qur’an prefers monogamy than otherwise because polygamy has a high potential for injustice and tend to lead into ill-treatment (Qur’anic verse An-Nisa, 4:

3 and 129).

Justice should also be the center of the attention when the government adopts whatever policy, when peacemakers reconcile, when secretary puts numbers, when someone has a word, when traders weigh and measure, when Muslims build relationships with non-Muslims, when a person or institution takes care of orphans, when a witness testifies and when a judge makes law and punishment. Fair treatment in the entire regions of human activities might prevent unjust, arbitrary, and repressive acts, as well as violent and unnecessary coercions.

Justice will bring love, and love gets all efforts closer to embodiment of justice. The Qur’an forbids hatred, because it would create a barrier to justice, as defined in the Qur’anic VerseE. al-Maidah/5: 8 as follows:

O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allâh and be just witnesses and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety, and fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is Well-Acquainted with what you do.

This verse is related to the attitude of Jews whose opposition to the Prophet was harsh. Despite the heat which escalated, the Qur’an reminded Muslims not to treat others unfairly. Hatred against others, either because of personal, political, economic, cultural, and religious factors, often leads someone to act inappropriately. This verse is often recited in many occasions but its instruction is rarely implemented. Based on the verse, people who are able to consistently do justice, either in hatred or love, happy and grieved, to themselves or others, would likely be loved by Allâh.

Justice should be the center, root, or the bases of decisions and policies of law because justice is the purpose of the enactment of laws ( tasyri ‘al- hukm) and among the objectives of Syari`ah (maqhashid ash-Syari`ah). In Justice should be the center, root, or the bases of decisions and policies of law because justice is the purpose of the enactment of laws ( tasyri ‘al- hukm) and among the objectives of Syari`ah (maqhashid ash-Syari`ah). In

Indeed, the foothold and bases of Syari’ah are the wisdom and benefit of all the people in the world and in the hereafter. Syari’ah is justice itself, mercy, benefit, and wisdom. Therefore, any legal matters which change from just into unjust, from mercy into malediction, from benefitial (maslahat) into destructive (mafsadat), from wise into futile, are not part of Syari`ah, eventhough they are being forced to be regarded as part of Islamic Syari’ah through interpretation. Syari’ah is the justice of God for all His people, sign of His compassion for all His creatures, His protection He made on earth. 38

The scholars agreed that Syari`ah is justice, mercy, welfare, and wise. The problem lies precisely in the interpretation of those phrases. Therefore, it is necessary to do consensus ( ijma’ or ittifaq), either domestically, nationally or internationally, to formulate what is meant by justice, mercy, benefit, wisdom, and in which context legal decision will be applied, in a certain time and space, in all levels, in person, family, or society, and how to do ijtihad bi tahqiqi al-manath as in the science of Islamic Jurisprudence (Ushul Fiqh) they term it. The so-called fair in space and time is not necessarily fair in a different space and time. Therefore, it is necessary to reinterpret constantly, both in micro and macro scope, the core concepts of Islamic teachings. For instance, justice in the case of polygamy: what does a husband think of it, also in the perspective of the wife, the children, the extended family, or the society, what do they all believe in common? Everyone must have their share in opinions. This should also be applicable to the meaning of justice in the context of Hudūd.

38 Ibnu Qayyim al-Jauziyyah, I’lam al-Muwaqqi’in (Kairo: Mathabi’ al-Islam,1980), v.3, h. 3.