Bilal
Fortnightly Edition No. 1/2002
Shawwal
17, 1422 / January 3, 2002
Opinions
Concerning God’s Justice
The
problem of justice as one of God’s attributes has had its
own distinct history. Various schools of thought in Islam have
held different views on the subject, interpreting it in accordance
with their own distinctive principles.
Some Sunnis who follow the views of the theologian Abu’l-Hasa
Ash’ari do not believe in God’s justice as a matter
of faith, and they deny that justice is accomplished by the divine
acts.
In their view, however, God treats a certain person, and whatever
punishment or reward He gives him, irrespective of what he might
appear to deserve, will represent justice and absolute good, even
though it might appear unjust when measures by human standards.
These Ash’aris, thus, distinguish God’s attributes of
justice from His acts and they, therefore, regard as just whatever
can be attributed to God. If he rewards the virtuous and punishes
the sinful, this is justice, but so would be the reverse; it would
still be in the broad sphere of His justice.
Their claim that the very terms “justice” and “injustice”
are meaningless when applied to God is no doubt intended to elevate
God’s most sacred essence to the position of the highest
transcendence. But no thoughtful person will regard these superficial
and inadequate notions as having anything to do with God’s
transcendence. In fact, they involve a denial of order in the
world, of the principle of causality both in the general order
of the world and in the conduct and deeds of individual men.
The followers of al-Ash’ari believe, moreover, that the bright
lamp of the intellect is extinguished whenever it is confronted
with the perceptions and problems of religion, that it is unable
to benefit man or light up his path.
This claim conforms neither to the teachings of the Qur’an
not to the content of the sunnah. The Qur’an considers disregard
for the intellect to be a form of misguidance and repeatedly summons
men to reflection and meditation in order to learn divine knowledge
and religious beliefs. Those who fail to benefit from this bright
lamp within them are compared to the animals. The Qur’an
says: “Surely the vilest of animals, in Allah’s sight,
are the deaf, the dumb, who do not understand. [8:22]
The Prophet of Islam says: “God has assigned two guides to
man: one external to him, the messengers of God, and the other
internal, his own power of thought.”
The Mutazilites and Shi’a stand in opposition to al-Ash’ari
and his school. Out of all the attributes of God, they have selected
justice to be the principle of their creed. Relying on both transmitted
and rational proofs, they have also refuted and rejected as incompatible
with the principle of justice, the doctrines of the unmediated
of divine destiny and the predetermination of man’s acts.
They believe that justice is the basis of God’s acts, both
in the ordering of the universe and in the establishing of laws.
Just as human acts can be weighed according to the criteria of
good and bad, the acts of the Creator are also subject to the
same criteria. Since the logic of reason determines that justice
is inherently praiseworthy and injustice inherently reprehensible,
an object of worship whose characteristics include infinite intelligence
and spirit, will never undertake an act that reason regards as
impermissible.
...........[to be continued]
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