“Allah commands you to return trusts to those entitled to them and, when you judge between people, to judge with justice.”
Surah An-Nisā’, 4:58
A person remembers justice most when they themselves have suffered injustice.
When their rights are violated, when they are misunderstood, hurt or made to suffer loss, they demand justice.
But true justice is not merely defending our own rights.
It is also being able to protect the rights of someone we dislike, to recognise our own mistakes, not to lose our measure when angry and not to place our interests before the truth when making a decision.
Al-Hakam is the Owner of the final judgement.
Al-‘Adl is the One who wrongs no being and places everything in its proper position.
These two names give a person an important measure:
Being subjected to injustice does not give a person the right to commit injustice.
Al-Hakam: The Owner of the Final Judgement
A person is continually passing judgement.
“This person is good.”
“This person is bad.”
“I am right.”
“They are wrong.”
“This is the reason the event occurred.”
But human knowledge is limited.
A person knows only the part of an event they can see.
They hear the words but cannot know every intention.
They see the present but cannot see where the outcome will lead.
They feel their own pain but cannot fully read the inner world of the person before them.
Human judgement may therefore be mistaken.
The judgement of Al-Hakam, however, is not based upon incomplete knowledge, anger, fear or self-interest.
“Should I seek a judge other than Allah?”
Surah Al-An‘ām, 6:114
Allah knows not only the exterior of an event, but also its interior. He considers together not only the action performed, but also the person’s ability, intention, the pressure they faced, their choice and the outcome.
This truth does not entirely forbid a person from forming judgements.
But it teaches them their limits:
Assess the action, but leave the final judgement of the heart to Allah.
Al-‘Adl: The One Who Places Everything in Its Proper Position
Justice does not mean giving everyone the same thing.
It means giving everyone their due.
Not placing upon a child a burden they cannot carry is justice.
Entrusting a responsibility to someone qualified for it is justice.
Paying a debt on time is justice.
Not passing judgement before hearing a person’s account is justice.
Applying the same measure to the powerful and the weak is justice.
Being able to call the mistake of someone we love a mistake is justice.
Justice is the balance of life.
When a person departs from justice, they do not harm only someone else; they also disturb the order within themselves.
For the conscience knows the truth.
A person may make themselves appear right on the outside, yet deep within their heart they feel where they have exceeded the proper limit.
The name Al-‘Adl teaches a person:
When you fail to place something in its proper position,
you first disturb the balance within your own heart.
The Difference Between Being Right and Being Just
A person may genuinely be right about a matter.
Yet the method they use while seeking their rights may lead them away from justice.
Someone has lied to them, so they begin to lie.
Their reputation has been damaged, so they try to defame the other person’s entire life.
They have suffered injustice, so they also accuse people who had nothing to do with it.
They have been hurt, so they regard hurting others as their right.
In this way, a person who was right at the beginning may contaminate their own rightness during the process.
Being right concerns the event.
Justice concerns the character a person displays in response to that event.
Another person’s wrongdoing may demonstrate that you are right;
but it does not make your own wrongdoing right.
A person who believes in Al-‘Adl defends their rights, but while doing so tries not to exceed the limits established by Allah.
When Anger Begins to Pass Judgement
Anger gives a person a powerful feeling of certainty.
An angry person may imagine:
“I can see everything clearly.”
Yet anger often narrows the field of vision.
A person sees only the other party’s fault.
They minimise their own part.
They choose the harshest interpretation.
They pass judgement upon matters they do not yet know as though they knew them.
Anger may have arisen from a legitimate cause. But even justified anger is not by itself a measure of justice.
Justice is not the absence of anger; it is preserving the limit despite anger.
A person should ask themselves:
Is what I am saying true?
Am I speaking only to the extent of what I know?
Do I want to punish or to correct?
Would I pass the same judgement if someone I loved had committed the same act?
Is this a decision I could defend in the presence of Allah?
These questions do not deny anger.
They remove the authority to judge from anger’s hands.
The Line Between Justice and Revenge
Justice seeks to restore a violated right.
Revenge seeks to transfer the pain to the other person.
Justice says:
“Let the wrongdoing end.”
Revenge says:
“Let them suffer as much as I have suffered.”
Justice seeks balance.
Revenge seeks satisfaction.
Justice tries to repair the future.
Revenge repeatedly enlarges the wound of the past.
A person may sometimes mistake the desire for revenge for justice because both arise after an injustice.
But the difference between them becomes visible in intention and in limits.
Justice exists not to satisfy anger,
but to repair the individual and society.
It is right to want the truth to emerge. But entirely denying the humanity of the other person, attacking rights of theirs unrelated to the matter, or making hatred the centre of one’s life is not justice.
Justice Towards Oneself
Just as a person may be unjust towards others, they may also be unjust towards themselves.
Regarding themselves as completely worthless because of every mistake,
taking on burdens they cannot carry,
considering rest to be laziness,
placing another person’s responsibility upon their own shoulders,
continually using a past mistake as a punishment against themselves…
These also disturb the proper measure.
Having compassion for oneself does not mean fulfilling every desire of the ego.
Justice towards oneself means:
acknowledging one’s mistake,
repenting when necessary,
repairing the harm where possible,
and not condemning oneself for ever after learning the lesson.
It is not justice for a servant whom Allah has forgiven to imprison themselves continually within the past.
Both absolving oneself of every fault
and condemning oneself completely may disturb the balance.
Al-‘Adl teaches a person responsibility and mercy together.
Justice Towards Those We Love
One of the places where justice is most difficult is within love.
A person may not wish to see the mistake of someone they love.
They may distort the truth to defend them. They may excuse in someone they love the same behaviour they criticise in someone else. Family, friendship or belonging may be placed before the truth.
Yet love does not make a wrong action right.
True love does not mean supporting someone in their mistake. It means possessing the honesty to protect them from the consequences of that mistake.
Sometimes the most compassionate words are:
“You are not right about this.”
If these words are spoken not to wound but to correct, they do not diminish love; they purify it.
Declaring someone we love right in every circumstance is not loyalty.
It is leaving them defenceless before the truth.
A person who knows Al-‘Adl does not turn their love into a rival of the truth.
Justice Towards Those We Dislike
A person may struggle to see the good qualities of someone they dislike.
They may reject even a true statement spoken by that person. They may belittle their good work. They may explain every action through the worst possible intention.
The measure is then no longer the truth, but the anger felt towards the person.
Yet the truth of a statement does not change according to who said it.
The common measure is not:
“Who said this?”
but:
“Is this true?”
When someone we dislike speaks falsely, we reject it. But when they speak the truth, we cannot turn it into falsehood merely because it came from them.
Justice means preserving the distinction between individuals and truth.
For if we change the truth according to people, we eventually begin defending the wrong actions of our own side as well.
Justice Towards One’s Own Side
A person may belong to a family, a community or a school of thought.
Belonging may give a person solidarity and closeness. But when it is placed before the truth, it divides the heart.
“If our people do it, it is right.”
“If the other side does it, it is wrong.”
“Our people cannot be criticised.”
“Our view must be the truth.”
This understanding surrenders justice to identity.
The divine measure, however, requires the same judgement to be applied to the same act.
A lie is a lie, whoever tells it.
Injustice is injustice, whoever suffers it.
Betrayal of a trust is betrayal, whoever commits it.
The right of an innocent person does not change according to which side they belong to.
The judgement of Al-Hakam does not change according to affiliations.
Truth is not truth because it is on our side.
We are in the right place only to the extent that we stand on the side of truth.
The Difference Between Evidence and Suspicion
Suspicion is easy.
A person fills in the missing pieces with their own anger, fear or expectations.
“If they did this, their intention must be that.”
“If they spoke like this, they must be planning that.”
“I know what they are like.”
Yet assessing a person’s conduct is one thing; claiming to know with certainty what lies within their heart is another.
Truth requires evidence.
Justice requires:
listening,
investigating,
seeing both sides,
admitting what one does not know,
and not presenting uncertainty as certainty.
Suspicion is the easy path of passing judgement without reflection.
Passing a mistaken judgement about someone does not only damage that person’s rights. It also creates pride within the heart of the person judging.
For the person makes themselves the judge of what they do not know.
A person who knows Al-Hakam says:
I assess what I know;
I leave the final judgement of hearts I do not know to Allah.
The Justice of Those Who Possess Power
The true value of justice becomes apparent when a person gains power.
It is easy to demand justice when one is powerless.
It is more difficult to remain just when authority to decide is placed in one’s hands.
When a person possesses power, they may:
favour someone close to them,
punish someone who criticises them,
disregard the voice of the weak,
or use resources entrusted to them for personal benefit.
Yet power is not a certificate of superiority; it is a trust.
The growth of a person’s authority does not automatically increase their worth; it increases their accountability.
Having authority within a family, making decisions in the workplace, possessing certain information or holding a position capable of affecting another person’s future all place responsibility upon a person.
Power is not the opportunity to do whatever one wishes;
it is the responsibility to protect what is right.
A person who knows Al-‘Adl behaves with greater care towards those who cannot oppose them.
Justice Within the Family
Sometimes a person commits the gravest injustices not against strangers, but against those closest to them.
For within the family, words may be spoken with less restraint. Effort may be treated as invisible. One person’s sacrifice may no longer be noticed because it has become familiar.
Justice within the family means:
not making everyone identical, but recognising each person’s needs,
not reopening past mistakes in every disagreement,
not keeping one person permanently in the role of the guilty party,
not comparing children with one another,
not turning love into a reward given in return for obedience,
and not regarding being right as more important than healing the relationship.
Sometimes a person wins the argument but loses the heart.
The only question to ask within a family, therefore, is not:
“Who is right?”
There is another question:
“How can this relationship be repaired?”
Justice protects rights; ihsān also protects the heart.
The Difference Between Justice and Ihsān
Justice means giving a person their due.
Ihsān means acting beautifully beyond what is strictly due.
Paying a debt is justice.
Not delaying payment is taqwā.
When one has the means, paying early and bringing relief to the other person is ihsān.
Justice is the minimum measure; it diminishes no one’s right.
Ihsān is the summit; it does not merely avoid diminishing, but adds beauty.
Yet justice cannot be sacrificed in the name of ihsān.
One person’s rights cannot be violated while showing mercy to another. Injustice cannot be concealed in the name of family harmony. The rights of the victim cannot be disregarded in the name of forgiveness.
Al-‘Adl first establishes balance.
Ihsān beautifies the balance that has been established.
Without justice, mercy may become favouritism;
without mercy, justice may become harshness.
A believer regards the two not as enemies, but as qualities that complete one another.
Does Forgiveness Mean Abandoning Justice?
Forgiveness does not always mean ignoring the wrongdoing that occurred.
A person may forgive someone while establishing boundaries so that the same conduct is not repeated. They may cleanse their heart of hatred while still wanting the truth and justice to emerge.
Forgiveness does not mean:
“Nothing happened.”
It means:
“I will not allow this event to poison my heart.”
Justice restores the balance outside; forgiveness removes the poison within.
Sometimes a right is pursued while the heart forgives.
Sometimes a person gives up their right to a response, but does not forget the lesson.
Sometimes the relationship continues.
Sometimes distance is maintained to prevent another injustice.
There is no single pattern here.
The essential measure is this:
Forgiveness does not mean opening the door to oppression again.
Seeking justice does not mean poisoning the heart with hatred.
Leaving the Account to Allah
A person does what is required of them in the pursuit of justice.
They speak the truth.
They present their evidence.
They seek their rights through legitimate means.
They take precautions to prevent the wrongdoing from continuing.
But even after all this, something may remain incomplete.
The truth may not emerge.
An apology may never come.
The response in this world may remain incomplete.
It is here that the name Al-Hakam gives the heart its final support.
The final judgement does not belong to people.
No truth escapes Allah’s knowledge.
No intention remains hidden.
No right is ever completely lost.
Leaving the account to Allah does not mean abandoning the pursuit of justice.
It means not turning your heart into an endless courtroom after doing all you can.
Rehearing the same case within your heart every day
harms you before it harms the other person.
The servant fulfils their duty and leaves the final judgement to Al-Hakam.
Protecting Your Heart While Seeking Your Rights
A person who has suffered injustice may experience two losses.
The first is the external loss: their rights, opportunities, reputation or peace may be harmed.
The second loss occurs within: their heart may be changed by anger, hatred and revenge.
The first injustice was committed by someone else.
But a person may permit the second defeat to occur within their own heart.
For this reason, the prayer contained in these notes is very precious:
“Grant me not to depart from justice while seeking my rights,
not to poison my heart with hatred while struggling,
and not to lose hope while waiting.”
A person should defend their rights.
But at the end of their struggle, they must not resemble the very thing they opposed.
Let what hurt me not corrupt me.
This is one of the most difficult trials upon the path of justice.
The Person Who Knows Al-Hakam and Al-‘Adl
A person who carries these two names within the heart:
does not pass judgement upon everything they hear,
distinguishes evidence from suspicion,
tries to recognise their own mistakes as well,
does not justify the wrongdoing of someone they love,
does not reject a truth spoken by someone they dislike merely because it came from them,
does not use one measure for their own side and another for everyone else,
does not make anger their judge,
does not exceed the limit while seeking their rights,
protects the rights of the weak more carefully when they possess power,
does not mistake forgiveness for permitting oppression or justice for taking revenge,
and after doing all they can, leaves the final judgement to Allah.
Their fundamental question is not only:
“Am I right?”
They also ask:
“Can I remain just in this matter in which I am right?”
The Heart Key of This Lesson
Being subjected to injustice does not give me the right to commit injustice.
My anger is not the measure of truth.
The wrongdoing of someone I love does not become right, and the truth spoken by someone I dislike does not become wrong.
I act according to evidence, conscience and Allah’s measure.
I seek my rights, but I do not surrender my heart to hatred.
For Al-Hakam is the Owner of the final judgement, and Al-‘Adl is the Owner of absolute justice.
Prayer
Yā Hakam,
Grant us not to rush when passing judgement, not to behave as though we know what we do not know and not to place suspicion in the position of truth.
Protect us from turning our own interests, anger and affiliations into the measure.
Yā ‘Adl,
Teach us first to be honest towards our own souls.
Grant us a conscience capable of calling the wrongdoing of someone we love wrong and the truth spoken by someone we dislike true. When we obtain power, enable us to protect what has been entrusted to us and to behave with greater care and mercy towards those unable to oppose us.
Teach us not to depart from justice while seeking our rights, not to poison our hearts with hatred while struggling and not to open the door to renewed oppression while forgiving.
Do not make us among those who mistake revenge for justice, partisanship for loyalty or silence for mercy.
Make us among those who protect the rights of others as firmly as we demand our own.
After doing all we can, grant us the surrender to leave the final judgement to You.
And enable us to live according to the character of this prayer:
Let what hurt me not corrupt me.
Let me not depart from justice while seeking my rights.
Even where I am right, let me not exceed the proper limit.
Āmīn.