The Quran

135

Preface

۞ يا أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنوا كونوا قَوّامينَ بِالقِسطِ شُهَداءَ لِلَّهِ وَلَو عَلىٰ أَنفُسِكُم أَوِ الوالِدَينِ وَالأَقرَبينَ ۚ إِن يَكُن غَنِيًّا أَو فَقيرًا فَاللَّهُ أَولىٰ بِهِما ۖ فَلا تَتَّبِعُوا الهَوىٰ أَن تَعدِلوا ۚ وَإِن تَلووا أَو تُعرِضوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ كانَ بِما تَعمَلونَ خَبيرًا

Yusuf Ali

O ye who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses¹ to God, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor:² for God can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily God is well- acquainted with all that ye do.

Justice is God’s attribute, and to stand firm for justice is to be a witness to God, even if it is detrimental to our own interests (as we conceive them) or the interests of those who are near and dear to us. According to the Latin saying, “Let justice be done though heaven should fall.”
But Islamic justice is something higher than the formal justice of Roman Law or any other human law. It is even more penetrative than the subtler justice in the speculations of the Greek philosophers. It searches out the innermost motives, because we are to act as in the presence of God, to whom all things, acts, and motives are known, (Cf. 5:8).
Some people may be inclined to favour the rich, because they expect something from them. Some people may be inclined to favour the poor because they are generally helpless. Partiality in either case is wrong. Be just, without fear or favour. Both the rich and the poor are under God’s protection as far as their legitimate interests are concerned, but they cannot expect to be favoured at the expense of others. And He can protect their interests far better than any man.