In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

 

JUSTICE

 

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord and Cherisher of the Universe. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our beloved prophet, Muhammad (PBUH), his household, companions and all followers of right guidance till the Day of Judgment.

 

Justice has many meanings; these include righteousness, fairness, equity, standards or law, etc. It is very important in the life of a person and a nation to avoid chaos and the spread of evil. Any individual or nation that does not practice justice is ruined. It is so important that Allah, the Exalted, relates it closely with piety.

 

"O you who believe!  Stand out firmly for Allah as witnesses to fair dealing and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. BE JUST THAT IS NEXT TO PIETY: and fear Allah for Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do." Q5:8 (see also Q4:58)

 

"O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice as witnesses to Allah even though it be against yourselves or your parents or your kin and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts) lest you swerve and if you distort (justice) or decline to do justice verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do. " Q4:135

 

"Allah commands justice, the doing of good and liberality to kith and kin and He forbids all shameful deeds and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you that you may receive admonition." Q16:90

 

We should do our best to be just in everything we do and at any position or place we find ourselves. Certainly, we will be questioned on the Day of Judgment on everything and whoever oppresses another person in this world will regret it on the Day of Judgment. Those of us who are privileged to be in places of authority should be careful.  Our beloved prophet, Muhammad (PBUH) said:

 

"Whoever has oppressed another person concerning his reputation or anything else, he should beg him to forgive him before the Day of Resurrection when there will be no money (to compensate for wrong deeds), but if he has good deeds, those good deeds will be taken from him according to his oppression which he has done, and if he has no good deeds, the sins of the oppressed person will be loaded on him." (Sahih Al-Bukhari. Hadith  3.629. Narrated by Abu Huraira)

 

"Any man whom Allah has given the authority of ruling some people and he does not look after them in an honest manner, will never have even the smell of Paradise."(Al-Bukhari).

 

"Behold! The Dispensers of Justice will be seated on the pulpits of light beside God, on the right side of the Merciful, Exalted and Glorious. Either side of the Being is the right side both being equally meritorious. (The Dispensers of Justice are) those who do justice in their rules, in matters relating to their families and in all that they undertake to do."

(Sahih Muslim Hadith 4493.Narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar)

 

"If anyone seeks the office of judge among Muslims till he gets it and his justice prevails over his tyranny, he will go to Paradise; but the man whose tyranny prevails over his justice will go to Hell." (Sunan of Abu-Dawood. Hadith 3568. Narrated by Abu Hurayrah)

 

"The best fighting (jihad) in the path of Allah is (to speak) a word of justice to an oppressive ruler". (Sunan of Abu-Dawood. Hadith 4330. Narrated by AbuSa'id al-Khudri)

 

Allah says: "You have indeed in the Apostle of Allah a beautiful pattern of (conduct) for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day and who engages much in the praise of Allah."  Q33:21. There are lessons to learn from the narration below.

 

“The Quraish (the tribe of our beloved prophet) people became very worried about the Makhzumiya lady who had committed theft. They said, "Nobody can speak (in favor of the lady) to Allah's Apostle and nobody dares do that except Usama who is the favorite of Allah's Apostle." When Usama spoke to Allah's Apostle about that matter, Allah's Apostle said, "Do you intercede (with me) to violate one of the legal punishment of Allah?" Then he got up and addressed the people, saying, "O people! The nations before you went astray because if a noble person committed theft, they used to leave him, but if a weak person among them committed theft, they used to inflict the legal punishment on him. By Allah, if Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad committed theft, Muhammad will cut off her hand!"” (Sahih Al-Bukhari. Hadith 8.779. Narrated by Aisha)

 

May Allah make justice easy for us to practice, have mercy on Nigeria and us.

 

Ma salam.