Fiqh [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Fundamentals of Islam

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Roots of Religion

Tawheed

- (Oneness of Allah)
'Adl

- (Justice of Allah)
Nubuwwat

- (Prophethood)
Imamat

- (Guidance)
Qiyaamat

- (Resurrection)

Branches of Religion

'Adl

Belief that Allah is Just. He will reward or punish any person according to his deeds and thus the notion of predestination (where all decisions are Allah's and not any one else's) in one's deeds does not exist.

The word Adl was originally coined to convey the idea of "making two things equal," and "distributing equally."

The same is the case with "insaaf" which literally means, "dividing in two halves."

The idea of equal distribution naturally leads to "Equity" or "Justice." And, as a result, "Adl" came to denote "Justice," "Equity" "To be on straight path" "Straight-forwardness," "To be of exact standard neither less nor more," and "To keep everything in its proper place."

The opposite words are "Jaur" and "Dhulm."

"Jaur" means, "to be inclined to one side," which consequently means, "not to be impartial in Justice," "to be biased for or against one party."

"Dhulm" means "to put a thing in a wrong place", as an unjust judge misplaces his judgement by not giving the aggrieved party his due, he is called Dhulm.

"Adl" is one of the most important attributes of Allah, according to the Shia faith. So far as the existence and Oneness of Allah is concerned it comes under the first root of religion "Tawheed" as explained above. But the Actions of Allah come under this Second Root, i.e., "Adl".

Allah does no wrong

"Allah does no wrong" means that He is active and powerful but He can do no wrong. Anybody who commits wrong or injustice does so either because he does not know that it is wrong, (but Allah knows every thing) or because he needs something which cannot be obtained without wrongdoing, (but Allah has no need) or because he has been compelled by somebody else to commit that wrong, (but Allah is Omnipotent and nobody can compel Him to do anything). So logically it is impossible for Allah to do any injustice, or wrong.

Abu Hanifa asked Imam Musa bin Jaffer: From who is the action of man? Imam replied:
"there are only 3 imaginable sources.

1) Either Allah is the doer of that action; or

2) Both together are the companions of that action; or

3) The man himself is the originator of his actions.

If Allah is the doer of the actions of man, why does he inflict punishment on man for the sins? Is it not injustice? And if both man and Allah are partners in that crime, then is it not gross injustice that the powerful partners (i.e. Allah) punishes the weaker partner (i.e. man) for an action which both of them performed together? And as these two alternatives are proved to be illogical and impossible, the 3rd theory is proved to be correct that man does his actions by his own power and will."
"Whatever benefit comes to you (O man!), it is from Allah, and whatever misfortune befalls you, it is from yourself, and We have sent you (O Prophet!), to mankind as a messenger; and Allah is sufficient as a witness." (Quran 4:79)

Injustice And Its Negative Effects:-

Reasons of Injustice:

Supposing, Allah was not just and treats a creature with cruelty or commits an evil; then it
must be because of one of four reasons:-

i) He is ignorant of the action, and does not know that it is evil,

ii) He knows what He does, but He has been compelled to do it, and is
unable to desist from it;

iii) It is necessary for him to do it, although He is aware that it is
evil, but He is not compelled to do it;

iv) He does it at his pleasure, without cause, or as an amusement although, He is neither ignorant of it, nor constrained to do it, and neither is it necessary for Him to do it.

Each of these is an impossibility for Allah, as each one entails a deficiency in Him. But He is Absolute perfection; therefore we must say that He is glorified from oppression and from doing what is evil.

(Adapted from: Justice of God. By Seyyid Saeed Akhter Rizvi)

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