Library Islam Philosophy of Islam chapter 10 - Islam Advocates Justice Doctrine of Justice
Doctrine of Justice
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Doctrine of Justice
This is the real Shi'ah doctrine based on the moderate views of Islam.
Imam Jafar al Sadiq (P) has said:
"There is no predestination nor absolute human discretion. The truth lies between the two extremes".
To understand this view fully, careful attention should be paid to the following points:
(1) We believe in the Unity of Allah in all its dimensions and acknowledge His absolute authority. Everything in the world is subject to His will. His dominion includes the entire heavens and the earth.
(2) His command in the form of established norms governs nature and man as well as all causes, factors and natural relationships in the world.
(3) The conduct of man is a phenomenon caused by many factors including man's will, which is also a norm established by Allah. In other words, it is the will of Allah that man should make his own decisions.
As man's free will is also an outcome of the command of Allah; therefore Allah alone is the Sovereign Lord of the whole universe including man.
(4) It is evident that man's free will does not amount to absolute freedom. It has many limitations; natural, environmental, hereditary, innate etc. Therefore man does not enjoy absolute discretion especially in view of the following:
(5) The existence of revelation and Divine message, the religious laws and commandments and lastly the belief in the Hereafter and practical recompense, place limitations on him. The legal and doctrinal restrictions affect the free choice of man.
(6) It is man himself who by the misuse of his choice brings about evils and vices. If there exists any unrighteousness and corruption in society, that is the result of man's own actions and is not the creation of Allah's will, for He is far above any vice and evil.
It may be asked why Allah created those people who make mischief? Was it not better that He would have created only those who could do no wrong and would have been all good and virtuous?
The answer is that had He created such people, they would have had no will or power. Man is a free being. He sometimes does what is good and sometimes what is bad. Some individuals go to the right direction and some go astray. That is the characteristic of freedom. Hence the question should be put this way:
Was it better to create man as a being having no will and choice or to create him as a free being having the power to choose and decide, as he is?
The answer is obvious. A free and conscious being is better.
Now as you have chosen this answer, you will have to accept its consequences also, which area world mixed of virtue and vice, justice and injustice, truth and falsehood, freedom and subjugation, conflict and clashes, and a man ready to play a free and conscious role in it.
(7) But here a question arises: the Qur'an says: "Say: O 'Allah Owner of Sovereignty! You bestow sovereigntyon whomever You will and You withdraw sovereignty from whomever You will. You exalt whomever You will and You abase whomever You will. In Your Hand is all that is good". (Surah Ale Imran, 3: 26).
Again the Qur'an says: "You who guide aright and it is You who lead astray ". There are many other similar verses mentioned in the Qur'an.
Now if people are free and masters of their own destiny, how is it that honor and dishonor is not in their own hands?
The answer is that all phenomena of the world follow certain norms and rules. These norms also have been framed and established by Allah.
Honor and dishonor, wealth and poverty, success and failure, guidance and misguidance, life and death, power and a lack of it and all other things are phenomena, and as such they cannot be haphazard and accidental. They are all governed by certain laws, rules and norms. No individual or nation is exalted without any reason. Economic progress does not come about without any cause. Defeat in a clash, or for that matter victory must have some reason. As we have said previously, these norms and rules should be discovered, and one should follow the right direction by properly using the knowledge of them.
No doubt it is Allah who exalts, but He exalts those who know how to better their position and strive for that. Allah enabled the Muslims to conquer Mecca and granted them victory. But that happened only in the eighth year after hegira after a long struggle of years of blood‑shed, during which the Muslims underwent so many tribulation, had to employ all their forces and take all sorts of appropriate measures. In other words they utilized all the natural laws and norms necessary to gain a victory till it was granted by Allah.
No doubt it is Allah who produces the ears of wheat. But still wheat grows only in the farm of an industrious cultivator, who takes all the steps necessary for its growth and protects it from the pests.
