Justice

It is an accusation of theft and carries a tough penalty under the laws of the time. The accused is a woman. Well connected family. These connections are trying to influence the Judge to let the matter slide or perhaps be lenient. The tribe is powerful, influential and hold prestige among the whole of Arab world and beyond. The accused and the Judge both belong to the Quraish. The Judge is Muhammad and the accused is Fatima from the powerful Makhzoom clan. But all this hustle and bustle by the relatives is brushed aside as the Prophet refuses to condone the crime and expresses his displeasure saying, "Many a community ruined itself in the past as they only punished the poor and ignored the offences of the exalted. By Allah, if Muhammad's (my) daughter Fatima would have committed theft, her hand would have been severed." (Bukhari, Sahh Bukhari, Chapter "al-hudûd")

And then there was the second Caliph, Umar. Regarded by many a historian as the greatest administrator there ever was. Even though his decade long reign stretched and encompassed the great vastness of the Arabian Peninsula, the Persian Gulf, the North Africa, and Middle East including Jerusalem Syria and beyond. But the people lived in harmony even though the Christians had been dispossessed from the control of Jerusalem; they were free to remain in the city and retain the churches. The Jews, excluded by the Christians were allowed as well. The kingdoms were shaken, the empires shattered but it all brought peace and prosperity to the people in a remarkable short time. Looking closely, what was so amazing and powerful at the heart of this revolution was not the message that there was only one God. This proclamation was not new to the Jews and Christians and a small but sure presence of Hanafis who were all living in the length and breadth of the Khilafah along with the ever increasing number of Muslims.
The real ground breaking message was the equality and the all enveloping Justice that followed Muslim rule in all its vastness. Umar once proclaimed, "If Allah had only revealed one word, "e-de-Lu" (do Justice) instead of the whole Quran. The shape of the religion could not have been much different."
So, in his words, the divine order to “Do Justice” or “Be Just” encompasses the whole encompassing message of Islam.

If we look at the situation in the so called Muslim world today, with its sixty odd countries, we cannot find a single country that fits the bill. And one must wonder why it is. The fact of the matter is, these are all countries with Muslims in Majority but not a single Islamic country.

By definition, an Islamic country must be one applying all of the basic Islamic Laws. Here I must differentiate between the basic Islamic laws from Shariah.

The basic Islamic laws for a state guarantee a society where everyone is equal before Law, a state must protect its week against the strong, stop the wrong and encourage the right, ensure the safety of the citizens’ life, property and honour and defend its citizens from external threats. Shariah, on the other hand is an interpretation of the individual laws regulating lives of Muslims and others living in a society and may vary significantly depending upon the interpretation of each individual source of inspiration be it Quran, Hadeeth or historical precedence.

The notion of Basic Law is not uncommon in modern western constitutions where it is present in some name or other be it Magna Carta, The basic Law, Bill of rights and so on. The Basic laws are therefore to define the responsibility of the State to its People and the responsibility of the People to the State. The basic responsibilities of a State include defending the citizens’ life, property and rights. These are supplemented by the state providing the infrastructure and the basic building blocks for the society to function. The citizens must follow the Laws of the land and strive to achieve betterment for them thus contributing to collective betterment. This can only be achieved if both parties stay with in limits. For the state to stay in limits, the citizens are able to elect their representatives who would thereafter oversee the matters of the state and ensure the wellbeing of the common man is at heart. For the individuals to stay in limits, the rule of law must be enforced by the state. In a representative society (democracy, in any form), the actions of those in charge are driven by those who elected them to these places of authority. Apart from the position or office these individuals hold, they are merely individuals, every single one of them equal to every single one in the public. It is this basic principle that is the fundament of the modern democracies the world over. Interestingly, the oldest modern democracy, Great Britain is not officially a democracy at all. It is still a monarchy and so are Japan, Holland, Belgium, Denmark Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden.

So it is not democracy and the freedom of speech and expression that is so revolutionary in the western societies but the sheer Justice and its sense thereof that is prevalent in the citizens. It is this sense of security of their lives and their rights that civilises them. They don’t have to tend to violent means to get what is theirs. They can therefore claim to be civilised because this civility is guaranteed. They can be proud of this achievement for they went through civil wars and bloody political campaigns before they reached at where they are today. All are equal before Law, be it a commoner or a royal or a head of state by any other name.

There is a lot wrong with Pakistan today. Come to think of it, there isn’t a lot right with Pakistan. But the wrongest of all wrongs in Pakistan is the complete lack of justice. If you are powerful enough, well connected, rich or plain bad and dangerous, it seems you can get away with anything. We are a country that puts petty thieves behind bars for years with a chance of reprieve but allow deals for those who loot millions and billions. Better still we sit them in our parliaments and rightfully elect them our representatives on the world stage. It’s just as so because in essence these crooks represent what we all too, to some degree are. We hang those who cannot afford a lawyer but set free those who can afford a judge or a full court even. Our attitudes as a nation are shameful at best. We expect to be treated better than everyone else if we can manage that some how. Preferential treatment of any form swells us with pride. At home and out we never seize to stop expecting that some relation, some connection, some reference, some favour will get us through faster and higher than others in the race. It is this unjust mentality that is stifling us at a national level and made us a laughing stock abroad.

We expect to be treated with respect but are not ready to afford to someone else. We protest if someone gets ahead of us using unfair means meanwhile trying to figure out how he did it. Not to prosecute but to emulate. We pay our law enforcement officers minimum wage, demand 24/7, stifle the process at any level we can and then expect them to uphold law. We must be the mist ambitious nation on earth.

We need education, we need health care, and we do need a government that represents us and protects us, protects our life, respect and property. But most of wall we need to build a system that provides justice. A system that ensures no misdeed will go unpunished. A system where no one can stifle someone else’s rights and then expect to get away with it. We need a system that checks what our public servants do and how they go about doing it. We need courts that can call on anyone and everyone to explain and defend them if and when accused.

This lack of justice is among other things fueling extremism as well. While there are those who are plundering billions every year, others ar eleft no choice but to dispatch their childern to madrassahs because thats the best prospect for these kids on offer. One has to wonder what the worst could be. political miscairages are pusheing minority communities and smaller provinces and tribes to resort to armed uprisings and the vicious cycle if further fueled by attempts to crush these movements for rights with force, often resulting in considerable collateral damage without any sense or reason.

How can we achieve it? How about refusing to accept favours and preferential treatment if offered. How about refusing to give preferential treatment if demanded? How about standing up for what is right and against what is wrong if we witness it? If we cannot do that at least let the offender know that we didn’t like it. It is tough and demands great courage. I wish I did not have to use the term but it is of course the greatest Jihad that you can do. Start with yourself. Do justice to yourself and those around you. Encourage others to stick to the book. No matter people will resist it for it is very hard to change old habits but I see no other way. Start with yourself. The satisfaction of doing the right thing is highly addictive

No doubt Allah may tolerate societies bound on Kufr but he destroys annihilates those bound on Zulm.

In the end I just wanted to post some Ayaat from the Quran that cover the topic of Justice. There are no doubt many more references and sources of inspiration but at the moment, with my limited knowledge I am posting only the following as they would suffice if one chooses to believe.

For the non-Muslim readers who don’t believe the Quran to be the Word of Allah, please refer to your constitutions.

Please remember me in your prayers. I’ll be waiting for your suggestions, views, criticism and guidance to continue.

"We sent aforetime our messengers with clear Signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance, that men may stand forth in Justice." [Al-Hadeed 57:25].

"O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as 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 ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do." [An-Nisa 4:35]