Dire Consequences of Injustice (II)

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(continued from last week)

Causes of Injustice The devil:

Allah The Almighty Says (what means): “O you who have believed, enter into Islam completely [and perfectly] and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.” [Quran 2:208]. “Satan has overcome them and made them forget the remembrance of Allah. Those are the party of Satan. Unquestionably, the party of Satan - they will be the losers.” [Quran 58:19]

A persistent evil-enjoining soul:

Allah The Almighty Says (what means): “Indeed, the soul is a persistent enjoiner of evil.” [Quran 12:53]

Personal inclination:

Allah The Almighty Says (what means): “So follow not [personal] inclination, lest you not be just.” [Quran 4:135]. “But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination, then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge.” [Quran 79:40, 41]. “…and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire.” [Quran 18:28]. There many other similar verses.

Curing and Giving Up Injustice

Remembering that Allah The Almighty never does injustice:

He Says (what means): “Whoever does righteousness - it is for his [own] soul; and whoever does evil [does so] against it. And your Lord is not ever unjust to [His] servants.” [Quran 41:46]. “Indeed, Allah does not do injustice, [even] as much as an atom’s weight” [Quran 4:40]. “Allah wants no injustice to the worlds.” [Quran 3:108].

Considering the fateful destiny of unjust people:

Allah The Almighty Says (what means): “And decidedly not one of you [there is], except that he will go [herded] down to it; that, for your Lord, has been a thing decreed, a must. Thereafter, We will safely deliver the ones who were pious and leave behind the unjust [ones], [abjectly] kneeling.” [Quran 19:71, 72]. “And your Lord would not have destroyed the cities unjustly while their people were reformers.” [Quran 11:117]. “Say, “Have you seen for yourselves? In case the torment of Allah comes up to you suddenly or openly, will any be perished except the unjust people?” [Quran 6:47].

Not to despair of the Mercy of Allah The Almighty:

He Says (what means): “Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people.” [Quran 12:87]. It was narrated on the authority of Safwan ibn Muhriz that a man asked Ibn Umar (RA) “What did you hear the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) say in private?” Ibn ‘Umar replied, “I heard the Prophet (PBUH) say:

A believer will be brought extremely close to his Lord on the Day of Resurrection. Enveloping him in His Mercy; He will make him confess to his sins by asking him: “Do you remember doing this sin and that sin?” He will reply: “Yes, my Lord, I remember.” Then Allah The Almighty will Say, “I covered it up for you in the worldly life, and I forgive you for it today.” Then the record of his good deeds will be handed to him. As for the disbelievers and hypocrites, their evil acts will be exposed publicly “…and the witnesses will say, “These are the ones who lied against their Lord.” Unquestionably, the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers...” [Quran 11:18]” [Muslim]

Moreover, the Hadeeth about the story of the man who killed ninety-nine people, as well as the one who said: “By Allah, if my Lord takes hold of me, He would torment me as He has not tormented anyone else.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim], support the same meaning that a believer must not despair of the mercy of Allah The Almighty.

Imagining the predicament of reckoning and judgment on the Day of Judgment:

Allah The Almighty Says (what means): “And the earth will shine with the light of its Lord, and the record [of deeds] will be placed, and the prophets and the witnesses will be brought, and it will be judged between them in truth, and they will not be wronged. And every soul will be fully compensated [for] what it did; and He is most knowing of what they do.” [Quran 39:68-70]

Remembrance and mentioning of Allah The Almighty and seeking His forgiveness:

Allah The Almighty Says (what means): “And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves [by transgression], remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah? - and [who] do not persist in what they have done while they know.” [Quran 3:135]

Restraining oneself from doing injustice and returning rights to their owners:

Sincere repentance is to feel remorse in the heart, to restrain oneself from disobeying Allah The Exalted, to ask Him for forgiveness by the tongue, and endeavor to return rights to their owners. Consequently, whoever has transgressed against his brother’s honor, property or anything else, then let him ask for his forgiveness today before the time (the Day of Resurrection) when there will not be any dinars or dirhams and there will only be good deeds and evil deeds, as mentioned in the authentic Hadeeth.

Consequences and Harms of Injustice

Injustice incurs the anger of Allah The Exalted. Allah The Almighty makes an unjust person suffer all types of torment. Injustice destroys families and states. An unjust person will be deprived of all forms of the intercession of the Prophet (PBUH).

Letting unjust people go unpunished corrupts the entire Ummah (Nation)

Injustice is a sign of the hardness and darkness of the heart.

An unjust person is low and mean in the sight of Allah The Exalted.

Injustice causes one to lose the blessings of Allah The Almighty. The Quran tells us the story of the man who lost his two gardens because of his injustice: Allah The Almighty Says (what means): “And he entered his garden while he was unjust to himself. He said, “I do not think that this will perish - ever. And I do not think the Hour will occur. And even if I should be brought back to my Lord, I will surely find better than this as a return.” [Quran 18:35, 36]

Injustice was the only cause of the destruction of previous kingdoms: “So the people that committed wrong were eliminated. And praise to Allah, Lord of the worlds.” [Quran 6:45]. “So We took him [Pharaoh] and his soldiers and threw them into the sea. So see how was the end of the wrongdoers.” [Quran 28: 40]

Allah The Almighty also tells us about the people of Loote (Lut) AS: Saying (What means): “So when Our command came, We made the highest part [of the city] its lowest and rained upon them stones of layered hard clay, [which were] marked from your Lord. And Allah’s punishment is not from the wrongdoers [very] far.” [Quran 11:82, 83]

Similarly, Allah The Exalted destroyed the people of Nooh (Noah) AS, Thamood, ‘Aad and the Companions of the Thicket. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): “So each We seized for his sin; and among them were those upon whom We sent a storm of stones, and among them were those who were seized by the blast [from the sky], and among them were those whom We caused the earth to swallow, and among them were those whom We drowned. And Allah would not have wronged them, but it was they who were wronging themselves.” [Quran 29:40]

The remorse of unjust people is useless if it comes too late: “And the Day that the unjust [person] will bite at both his hands, [and] say, “Oh, would that I had taken to myself a way along with the Messenger.” [Quran 25:27]

Injustice is one of the sins that cause one to be punished in this world and in the Hereafter because it affects others. This is no surprise, as the wronged person humbly and bitterly supplicates against the person who did injustice to him, and Allah The Exalted answers his supplication, Saying: “By My Might and Exaltedness, I shall rescue you, even if it be after some time.”

Hence, fear Allah The Almighty; be just and return the rights to whom they are due, before there comes a day when there will be no repelling.