'Adalah (Justice): Difference between revisions

====The rich are punished more severely====

 

==Symbolic associations in scripture==

The symbol of the scales used in trade has been used throughout history by various cultures to represent the concept of Justice and is still seen in court rooms today. For instance Maat, the Egyptian goddess of truth, right, and orderly conduct, holds the scales which weigh the human heart in the judgment of the dead. Justitia, the Roman [[W:Lady_Justice|Lady Justice]], is another goddess of justice who carries measuring balances. And the book of Daniel refers to scales being used to judge a man just as with other ancient religions.<ref>Daniel 5:27</ref>

 

====In the Quran====

The Tanakh contains a codified law which requires that scales and measuring balances be honest. Such a rule and similar statements can be found in the [[Torah]]<ref>Leviticus 19:36</ref> and the book of Proverbs<ref>Proverbs 11:1</ref><ref>Proverbs 16:11</ref> and is in all likelihood found throughout various other cultures and religions. The Qur'an includes the this same expectation of worldly scales being used justly.

==Islamic scholars on Western vs. Islamic notions of justice==

The following fatwa by a famous Saudi fatwa organization reflects the attitude many traditionalist Islamic authorities hold towards Western notions of justice when compared to those found in Islam. While the opinions of Islamic scholars vary widely across the world, the basic message and non-conciliatory attitude this fatwas consists of can be considered representative of the mindset held by the majority of Islamic scholars around the world today. It is worth noting that the small proportion of Islamic scholars residing in the West (only 3% of the global Muslim population lives in the West) is likely to have considerably more conciliatory feelings towards Western notions of justice, but this would represent an exception to the more common global phenomenon of sharp and pronounced disagreement.{{Quote|1=[http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/97827 Western human rights organizations and the ruling on referring to them for judgement]<BR>Islam Q&A, Fatwa No. 97827|2=The Muslim should not be deceived by the so called western and European “human rights” organizations, because although they outwardly appear to support the oppressed and to take a stance against torture and undermining of human dignity in prisons and detention centres – which in general terms are good ideas – they also play other roles, and support other principles which are aimed at destroying the family, and opening the door to slander against Islam and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and all his fellow-Prophets. They are opposed to the rule of sharee’ah which enjoins hadd punishments such as stoning for the adulterer, execution for the apostate and cutting off the hand for the thief, becoming part of legislation and being implemented, which is in fact very rare. These organizations are also opposed to the shar’i rulings that have to do with women, such as the necessity of her wali’s consent for marriage, the command to observe hijab, and the prohibition on her mixing, in addition to other principles where they claim that they want to liberate man from religious obligations and to make man free in the way he conducts his affairs, not restricted by good morals or sublime shar’i rulings.<br>

To sum up what these organizations promote: it is that man should be able to do whatever he wants, no matter how perverse. They support lesbians, homosexuals and bisexuals, and religious deviance. They regard it as a human right to disbelieve in whatever religions one wants and to express one’s opinion – even about the Prophets – without any fear or shame, and they also support the liberation of woman from the control of her father, husband or religion.<br>