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Justice with the Enemy and Friend
Shaykh Salman al-`Awdah
Tuesday, July 12, 2005 Register and Join our Online Community & Forums for Free.
A Great way to meet lots of muslims and learn about Islam. Al-'Adl, justice, is a general term that means "situation or position in the middle", or intermediateness. It is a characteristic of the Muslim and a characteristic of Ahl as Sunnah wal- Jamaa'ah in all matters without exception. It is giving each the right that he deserves. The concept of justice and its examples is very vast and is not easy to summarize. The following are some important types: 1. Justice with enemies and friends 1. Justice with the enemy and friendQuite often, if one's friends are mentioned to him he speaks well of them,
even if he knows that they don't deserve such tribute. Whereas when his
enemies are mentioned to him, he sharply censures them even when he knows that
what he is saying is false. Can the daai'ya point out defects that exist in his
associates, those who may follow the same way and methodology as him!? Or
even his partner in any particular task?! Can he truthfully show
appreciation towards a person whom he disagrees with in some matters? If
he can do this, then he has fulfilled justice in this area. But most
people show injustice towards their antagonists by rebuking them for what cannot
be ascribed to them. On the other hand, they show injustice towards their
friends by showing them appreciation that they do not deserveâ¦and even if this
appears to be a manifestation of love and appreciation, it is not. For in
reality it is degradation and tyranny. Therefore when one shows you
appreciation which you don't deserve, he has indeed humiliated you. This
is because if people who are expecting this quality from you cannot find it,
then they are apt to censure you because you do not have it. Allah ta`ala
ordered us to behave justly, even with enemies. "..And do not let hatred cause
you to act unjustly, behave justly, that is nearer to piety." (Surat
al-Maida:8) Unfortunately, even if we admit this lesson in theory, we
quickly forget it in practice. We find ourselves neglecting a person,
being unconcerned about him, paying no attention to him, and so often looking at
his few bad qualities, while at the same time forgetting his many good qualities
or vice-versa. No, but the matter is even worse! In fact more often
we forget his many good qualities and capitalize on his few bad qualifies.
We forget the shari`ah rule, "If the water is two jugs worth, it does not hold
impurity!" [From a hadeeth narrated by Ahmad and the compilers of the Sunan, and
it was authenticated by al-Tahawi, and Ibn Khuzaima and Ibn Hibaan and
al-Dhababi, Nawawi and Ibn Hajr. See Irwa at- Ghaleel] |