Islam Beyond the Five Pillars – 2

Extremism and anger are both of them ugly in their manifestations. In one of his inspired sayings (these are quite separate from the revealed text of the Quran) the Prophet said: “God is beautiful; He loves beauty”. It is significant that the Arabic word Aasan means both “good” and “beautiful”. The connection is clear since a good action or, for that matter, a good character has a quality of beauty which, in its turn, is related to the idea of harmony, just proportion and therefore of justice as such. It is worth noting that the English word “fair” means both just and beautiful. The Arabic verb adala, from the same root as adl (Justice), is usually translated as “to proportion”, “to create in symmetry” or “to be equitable”. Here again we have the idea of harmony which is dependent upon justice.

Muslim thinkers have always been interested in the science of numbers and their significance, and each letter of the Arabic alphabet has a particular number attached to it. Words derived from the root ‘DL, including adl, occur 28 times in the Quran, and, as it happens, there are 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet. These are related to the 28 “mansions of the moon” which determine the Muslim calendar. This may seem somewhat esoteric but, in the Islamic perspective, there are no chance coincidences and, for Muslims, it is further proof of the universal harmony which is the pattern of creation and a sign that everything makes sense when it is closely examined.

In the Quran, which is for all Muslims the directly revealed Word of God, He says: “We sent down the Book and the Balance so that mankind might uphold justice”. Here again the idea of balance occurs, linked directly with the revelation itself. The “scales of justice” are set up and our actions are to be weighed in perfect equity. Regarding the Last Judgment, we read in the Quran: “That day mankind will issue forth in scattered groups to be shown their deeds, and whoso does an atom’s weight of good will see it then and whoso does an atom’s weight of ill will see it then”.

Actions which may appear to us completely trivial are cast into the balance, but good and ill are not alike in weight. The Quran tells us also that a good action, however small in itself, will be rewarded many times its own weight whereas the crimes or sins we may have committed will weigh no more and no less than what they are as such. It might even be said that the scales are themselves weighted in favor of the good and since God is the source of all that is good, all that is beautiful, all that is harmonious, this is in the nature of things. So far as human justice is concerned, the Prophet counseled all those who are obliged to sit in judgment over their fellows to “avert penalties by doubts” and this is clearly in accordance with the requirement of the British legal system that guilt must be proved “beyond reasonable doubt”.

In the present age, at least in the West, the notion of justice and, in particular, of rights has taken on a coloring that is specifically modern. People are unwilling to accept that misfortunes are a part of life and not necessarily the fault of someone else or of the system. Earlier generations in the West were taught the virtue of resignation, as are Muslims still to this day. The cry “It’s so unfair!” is heard now on every side and the subjective conviction that one has suffered injustice or that one’s rights have been infringed is a source of bitterness and unhappiness. The Muslim, while he must uphold justice so far as he can, has no right to such self-indulgence or to suppose that he can be judge in his own case. To complain against destiny is, in effect, to enter a complaint against Him who holds all destinies in His hand and whose justice is beyond questioning. Here certain Quranic verses are particularly apposite: “And surely We will try you with something of fear and hunger and the loss of wealth and lives and crops. But give good news to the steadfast who say, when misfortune strikes them: ‘Truly we belong to God and truly to Him we return’. These are they upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. Such are the rightly guided”. Life’s vicissitudes test our metal and reveal what we truly are in ourselves. The notion of “fair shares” can be dangerous since few people today are ready to accept that what life has given them is indeed fair. In the Islamic perspective ultimate justice puts everything in its appropriate place, whether high or low, and this is to be accepted since there is no place from which the ascent to the Creator - “seeking the Face of his Lord Most High” - may not be undertaken. This, rather than wealth or good fortune, is the priority of the Muslim who aims to fulfill the purpose of his life.

Clearly the question of balance arises once again: on the one hand the obligation to strive for justice in this world, on the other to accept the injustices which are woven into our earthly life in a spirit of resignation. Circumstances dictate which of these alternatives is appropriate. The story is told of a merchant in Muslim Spain who, when told that his ship had sunk with all his goods aboard, looked down for a moment before exclaiming: “Praise be to God!”. Later a man came to tell him that the ship had been saved. Once again he looked down before exclaiming: “Praise be to God!”. He was asked why he had looked down. “I wanted,” he said, “to be sure that my heart was untroubled”. Equanimity is a basic virtue in Islam. Here, perhaps, there is a clue to the reconciliation of the alternatives with which we are so often faced - to take up arms against the injustice we have suffered or to accept it with resignation. The right choice can only be made if we detach ourselves from our emotions and from all subjectivism.

This, of course, is an ideal not easily attainable but what matters is that the ideal stands clear of personal entanglements, is respected and is seen as the goal for which the good man should aim. History recounts that, during one of the battles in defense of the Muslim community in Medina, the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali, engaged in combat with one of the pagans, brought his enemy to his knees and was about to strike the killing blow when the man spat in his face. Ali sheathed his sword, knowing that to strike out of personal anger rather than as an act of dispassionate justice would be a sin.

So justice is a basic principle of Islam since it has its roots in God Himself. To the secular jurist who sees it as an end in itself this may seem an alien concept but Islam is a God-centered Faith which never permits anything to be detached from its divine source, al-Aaqq, one of the “99 Names”, which means “The Truth” but can also be translated as “The Real”, ultimate Reality itself. There is therefore a principle which over-masters justice and this is RaAmah, Mercy. According to another of the Prophet’s inspired sayings: “When God completed the creation He wrote the following, which is with Him above His Throne - My Mercy takes precedence over my Wrath”. Justice is, in a sense, a manifestation of Wrath unless it is tempered by Mercy. All but one of the chapters of the Quran opens with the words: “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Dispenser of Mercy”, and, among Muslims, these same words initiate all human actions. It is said that the instrument of creation was the “breath of the Merciful” and therefore that existence itself is a mercy for which we have a duty to be grateful. Indeed, ingratitude and unbelief are almost synonymous in the Islamic perspective. Believers are warned again and again that if they hope for mercy from their Lord - as all must - then they have to show mercy to their fellows and to “every creature that has a living heart” including the beasts and the birds. “God gives a reward for gentleness which He will never give for harshness”, said the Prophet. It is clear that, for the Muslim, there is a powerful restraint upon justice if justice is understood merely as a weighing of relevant facts and that is why the human judge, fallible and himself in need of mercy, trembles when he gives judgment.

In Islam mercy always has the last word.