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Islam Beyond the Five Pillars
By: Charles Le Gai Eaton
Those who enquire about the basics of Islam are usually
told about the "Five Pillars" of the religion. These
relate to faith and to practice, but at a deeper level
it might be said that there are two great pillars which
support the whole edifice. These are Peace and Justice.
They are clearly connected since there can be no
enduring peace without justice. The very word Islam
comes from the same verbal root as salam meaning "peace"
and, since the religion is based upon total submission
to the will of God, Muslims believe that real peace is
out of reach unless it is based upon this submission
within the universal order. They believe equally that
there can be no real justice except as an aspect of
submission to the source of all that is just and well
ordered. Although God in Himself is beyond comprehension
or analysis, the Qur'an gives us hints as to His true
nature through what are sometimes called "the 99 names"
and one of these is al-Adl, "the Just". Another of these
names is al-Muqsio, "the Dispenser of Justice" or "He
who gives to each thing its due".
The Quran praises those who always act "in the light of
truth" and tells us: "Perfected are the words of your
Lord in truth and justice". It tells us also: "Behold,
God enjoins justice and good actions and generosity to
our fellows...", and it commands us never to let hatred
lead us into deviating from justice: "Be just! That is
closest to God consciousness". This, of course, applies
to all believers who must fear divine justice if
subjective factors or personal emotions lead them to
deviate from the path of justice which is also the path
of Islam, but it weighs heavily upon those who are
required to adjudicate in disputes or to give judgment
in criminal cases. There were cases in the early history
of the religion when men whom the Ruler intended to
appoint as judges fled from Court rather than assume
this terrifying responsibility and we read of one who
did accept the burden that his whole body trembled when
he was called upon to give judgment, believing that a
single mistake might carry with it the threat of
damnation. The divine Judge stands over the human judge,
observing all that he does, and human justice, even at
its best, can never be more than a poor imitation of
divine Justice. The Prophet Muhammad himself when he was
called upon to adjudicate in civil actions warned the
litigants that one of them might be more eloquent in
putting his case than the other and thereby achieve an
unjust settlement. "In such a case," said Muhammad, "I
will have given him a portion of hellfire". This is
clearly a grave matter indicating that those who seek
justice must themselves practice it without deviation
even to their own hurt. Under all and any circumstances
a victory which is contrary to justice is a poisoned
chalice.
Of special significance too is the relationship between
justice and wisdom in the Arabic language. The words
Aukm, "judgment", and Aikmah, "wisdom" come from the
same root, and al-Aakim (the "All-Wise" is another of
the names of God in the Quran.
In the Christian tradition St. Thomas Aquinas wrote
that, among all human pursuits, "the pursuit of wisdom
is more perfect, more noble, more full of joy" than any
other human enterprise. The Muslim might amend this
slightly by emphasizing that one cannot "pursue" wisdom
as one might a rare butterfly since it is a divine
quality and out of reach of the human seeker as such. It
is for us to lay ourselves open to this gracious gift by
making ourselves fit and ready to receive it.
It is commonly said that Justice is or should be
"blind", in other words rigidly objective, but a Judge
is required to possess the quality of insight in the
most profound sense and can deserve no higher praise
than to be described as "wise", participating, as it
were, in "the wisdom of Solomon". Wisdom is as much a
quality of character as an attribute of the mind. It has
nothing to do with erudition which, however extensive,
is necessarily limited in scope. A learned man can still
be a fool when he steps outside the area of his
expertise. The wise man is protected by his insight from
folly - although not always from minor errors in the
worldly context - because he possesses an inner
yardstick by which to assess the situations he
encounters. For the Muslim this yardstick is the Quran
together with the example of the Prophet and their
reflection in the human heart. There is no higher aim
for the Muslim than the cultivation of what is described
as a "sound heart". From the sound heart comes sound
judgment. The same is true of sound governance and, in
Islam, this implies "ruling between" in accordance with
wisdom rather than "ruling over".
The Quran always emphasizes that Muhammad, though
endowed with the fullness of wisdom, was only "flesh and
blood", capable like other men of error except when
inspired from above, but it was his mission not only to
convey with meticulous accuracy the revelation which
descended upon him but also to offer the supreme example
of what it meant to follow in his personal and his
public life the full implications of the revelation no
less meticulously. When he was dying and came for the
last time to the mosque in Medina he said to the
assembled people: "If there is anyone among you whom I
have caused to be flogged unjustly, here is my back.
Strike in your turn. If I have damaged the reputation of
any among you, let him do the same to mine. To any I may
have injured, here is my purse... It is better to blush
in this world than in the hereafter". A man claimed a
small debt and was promptly paid.
Why is justice so important in Islam? The core article
of faith is the oneness of God, reflected in the unity
of His creation in its totality. This unity is reflected
in harmony and balance. Injustice destroys harmony and
upsets balance thereby provoking disorder. The Muslim is
commanded to give primacy to prayer throughout his life
and, in all that he does, to remember God. It is true
that people can maintain prayer and remembrance under
all conditions, even in the midst of chaos, but the fact
remains that spiritual life prospers and flourishes when
it has a stable base, a firm platform from which the
ascent to the knowledge of God and the love of God can,
as it were, take off. A disordered society compounded of
danger and distractions, unjust and troubled, provides
no such security. The man who has to watch his back all
the time is diverted from the remembrance of God as is
the one who has suffered injustice and must struggle to
eliminate feelings of anger and resentment. Moreover
injustice fractures the brotherhood and sisterhood of
the believers which is an essential element in an
Islamic society. Above and beyond this is the simple
fact that He who is called "the Just" commands justice
both in society and in every aspect of human relations.
Since, in Islam, all things are inter-connected - this
is an aspect of unity - it might even be said that every
act of injustice jars on the cosmos as a whole like a
discordant note in a piece of music.
Islam is a very realistic religion and the Quran itself
recognizes the reality of human weakness. Those who are
injured are permitted to take retaliation but they are
reminded at every turn that it is better to forgive and
to seek reconciliation. Muslims are commanded to return
good for evil, thus breaking the vicious circle of
animosity; "to do good to those who have injured us" in
the words of one of the classical commentators on the
Quran, but this requires human qualities which are by no
means universal although they were characteristic of
Muhammad. In his dealings with the pagans who tried by
every means to destroy him and his community he
exemplified the rule of forgiveness and reconciliation,
forgiving even the most vicious of his enemies when he
finally re-entered Mecca in triumph, providing them with
gifts so that their hard hearts might be softened and
peace prevail after the years of conflict. Justice might
have required their punishment, but there is no
contradiction here since there is more than one way to
achieve balance which, after all, is the ultimate
objective of justice. Islam describes itself as "the
middle way", a religion of moderation in everything
except the love and worship of God. Muhammad condemned
extremism with the greatest severity and today's Muslims
have a greater need to be reminded of this than ever
before as they do of his saying that "anger burns up
good deeds just as fire burns up dry wood".
Extremism and anger are both of them ugly in their
manifestations. In one of his inspired sayings (these
are quite separate from the revealed text of the Quran)
the Prophet said: "God is beautiful; He loves beauty".
It is significant that the Arabic word Aasan means both
"good" and "beautiful". The connection is clear since a
good action or, for that matter, a good character has a
quality of beauty which, in its turn, is related to the
idea of harmony, just proportion and therefore of
justice as such. It is worth noting that the English
word "fair" means both just and beautiful. The Arabic
verb adala, from the same root as adl (Justice), is
usually translated as "to proportion", "to create in
symmetry" or "to be equitable". Here again we have the
idea of harmony which is dependent upon justice.
Muslim thinkers have always been interested in the
science of numbers and their significance, and each
letter of the Arabic alphabet has a particular number
attached to it. Words derived from the root ÔDL,
including adl, occur 28 times in the Quran, and, as it
happens, there are 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet.
These are related to the 28 "mansions of the moon" which
determine the Muslim calendar. This may seem somewhat
esoteric but, in the Islamic perspective, there are no
chance coincidences and, for Muslims, it is further
proof of the universal harmony which is the pattern of
creation and a sign that everything makes sense when it
is closely examined.
In the Quran, which is for all Muslims the directly
revealed Word of God, He says: "We sent down the Book
and the Balance so that mankind might uphold justice".
Here again the idea of balance occurs, linked directly
with the revelation itself. The "scales of justice" are
set up and our actions are to be weighed in perfect
equity. Regarding the Last Judgment, we read in the
Quran: "That day mankind will issue forth in scattered
groups to be shown their deeds, and whoso does an atom's
weight of good will see it then and whoso does an atom's
weight of ill will see it then".
Actions which may appear to us completely trivial are
cast into the balance, but good and ill are not alike in
weight. The Quran tells us also that a good action,
however small in itself, will be rewarded many times its
own weight whereas the crimes or sins we may have
committed will weigh no more and no less than what they
are as such. It might even be said that the scales are
themselves weighted in favor of the good and since God
is the source of all that is good, all that is
beautiful, all that is harmonious, this is in the nature
of things. So far as human justice is concerned, the
Prophet counseled all those who are obliged to sit in
judgment over their fellows to "avert penalties by
doubts" and this is clearly in accordance with the
requirement of the British legal system that guilt must
be proved "beyond reasonable doubt".
In the present age, at least in the West, the notion of
justice and, in particular, of rights has taken on a
coloring that is specifically modern. People are
unwilling to accept that misfortunes are a part of life
and not necessarily the fault of someone else or of the
system. Earlier generations in the West were taught the
virtue of resignation, as are Muslims still to this day.
The cry "It's so unfair!" is heard now on every side and
the subjective conviction that one has suffered
injustice or that one's rights have been infringed is a
source of bitterness and unhappiness. The Muslim, while
he must uphold justice so far as he can, has no right to
such self-indulgence or to suppose that he can be judge
in his own case. To complain against destiny is, in
effect, to enter a complaint against Him who holds all
destinies in His hand and whose justice is beyond
questioning. Here certain Qur'anic verses are
particularly apposite: "And surely We will try you with
something of fear and hunger and the loss of wealth and
lives and crops. But give good news to the steadfast who
say, when misfortune strikes them: ÔTruly we belong to
God and truly to Him we return'. These are they upon
whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. Such are
the rightly guided". Life's vicissitudes test our metal
and reveal what we truly are in ourselves. The notion of
"fair shares" can be dangerous since few people today
are ready to accept that what life has given them is
indeed fair. In the Islamic perspective ultimate justice
puts everything in its appropriate place, whether high
or low, and this is to be accepted since there is no
place from which the ascent to the Creator - "seeking
the Face of his Lord Most High" - may not be undertaken.
This, rather than wealth or good fortune, is the
priority of the Muslim who aims to fulfill the purpose
of his life.
Clearly the question of balance arises once again: on
the one hand the obligation to strive for justice in
this world, on the other to accept the injustices which
are woven into our earthly life in a spirit of
resignation. Circumstances dictate which of these
alternatives is appropriate. The story is told of a
merchant in Muslim Spain who, when told that his ship
had sunk with all his goods aboard, looked down for a
moment before exclaiming: "Praise be to God!". Later a
man came to tell him that the ship had been saved. Once
again he looked down before exclaiming: "Praise be to
God!". He was asked why he had looked down. "I wanted,"
he said, "to be sure that my heart was untroubled".
Equanimity is a basic virtue in Islam. Here, perhaps,
there is a clue to the reconciliation of the
alternatives with which we are so often faced - to take
up arms against the injustice we have suffered or to
accept it with resignation. The right choice can only be
made if we detach ourselves from our emotions and from
all subjectivism.
This, of course, is an ideal not easily attainable but
what matters is that the ideal stands clear of personal
entanglements, is respected and is seen as the goal for
which the good man should aim. History recounts that,
during one of the battles in defense of the Muslim
community in Medina, the Prophet's son-in-law Ali,
engaged in combat with one of the pagans, brought his
enemy to his knees and was about to strike the killing
blow when the man spat in his face. Ali sheathed his
sword, knowing that to strike out of personal anger
rather than as an act of dispassionate justice would be
a sin.
So justice is a basic principle of Islam since it has
its roots in God Himself. To the secular jurist who sees
it as an end in itself this may seem an alien concept
but Islam is a God-centered Faith which never permits
anything to be detached from its divine source, al-Aaqq,
one of the "99 Names", which means "The Truth" but can
also be translated as "The Real", ultimate Reality
itself. There is therefore a principle which
over-masters justice and this is RaAmah, Mercy.
According to another of the Prophet's inspired sayings:
"When God completed the creation He wrote the following,
which is with Him above His Throne - My Mercy takes
precedence over my Wrath". Justice is, in a sense, a
manifestation of Wrath unless it is tempered by Mercy.
All but one of the chapters of the Quran opens with the
words: "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Dispenser
of Mercy", and, among Muslims, these same words initiate
all human actions. It is said that the instrument of
creation was the "breath of the Merciful" and therefore
that existence itself is a mercy for which we have a
duty to be grateful. Indeed, ingratitude and unbelief
are almost synonymous in the Islamic perspective.
Believers are warned again and again that if they hope
for mercy from their Lord - as all must - then they have
to show mercy to their fellows and to "every creature
that has a living heart" including the beasts and the
birds. "God gives a reward for gentleness which He will
never give for harshness", said the Prophet. It is clear
that, for the Muslim, there is a powerful restraint upon
justice if justice is understood merely as a weighing of
relevant facts and that is why the human judge, fallible
and himself in need of mercy, trembles when he gives
judgment.
In Islam mercy always has the last word.
Charles Le Gai Eaton (Hassan Abdul Hakeem) was born in
Switzerland and educated at Charterhouse at King's
College, Cambridge. He worked for many years as a
teacher and journalist in Jamaica and Egypt (where he
embraced Islam in 1951) before joining the British
Diplomatic Service. He is now a consultant to the
Islamic Cultural Centre in London.
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