All of Verses

The 365 · Verses · Day 223 · Justice


Qur'an 16:76

وَضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلًا رَّجُلَيْنِ أَحَدُهُمَآ أَبْكَمُ لَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَىٰ شَىْءٍ وَهُوَ كَلٌّ عَلَىٰ مَوْلَىٰهُ أَيْنَمَا يُوَجِّههُّ لَا يَأْتِ بِخَيْرٍ ۖ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى هُوَ وَمَن يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْعَدْلِ ۙ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

God presents another illustration: two men, one of them dumb, unable to do anything, a burden to his carer; whatever task he directs him to, he achieves nothing good; can he be considered equal to one who commands justice and is on the straight path? (Quran 16:76)

Svenska: Och Gud framställer liknelsen om två män... Kan han jämställas med den som föreskriver rättvisa förhållanden mellan människor och själv följer rättens raka väg? (Koranen 16:76)

A reflection to carry

Ten days ago we began this cluster at a cradle. We climbed through justice against yourself, justice toward enemies, justice in the scales of your tongue, justice in divorce, justice as a Prophet's mandate, justice as the return of trusts, justice as Allah's direct command. And now Allah closes with a comparison so stark it leaves no room for romance about ʿadl. He says: imagine two men. One is mute, helpless, a burden, achieves no good no matter where he is sent. The other commands justice and walks the straight path. Then He asks: are they equal? Hal yastawī? The question is rhetorical because the answer is so obvious it embarrasses the listener. Of course they are not equal. The man who commands justice and walks straight has a different rank in the eyes of Allah than the one whose life produces nothing useful. Ya akhī, ya ukhtī: Allah is asking you to choose which of those two men you are. Not which you wish to be. Which you are. Right now. By your habits. By how you spoke to your spouse yesterday. By how you split the inheritance, or how you intend to. By how you described your enemy on the phone today. By the silent scale you press your thumb on when you tell stories. The just man is not born. He is made, daily, in small choices. The closing of this cluster is a mirror.

Read the longer reflection

Yā Rabb, You did not close the justice cluster with a soft saying. You closed it with a comparison that draws blood. Two men. One produces nothing useful, a burden wherever he goes. The other commands justice and walks straight. 'Hal yastawī?' Are they equal? Of course not. And Your messenger ﷺ was the embodiment of the second man. He walked straight. He commanded justice. He returned the keys to a non-Muslim. He sent a son home from jihād to wipe his mother's tears. He rejected a one-sided gift to a child. He stood by truth when his own clan asked him to bend. He was the just man. Ya Allāh, I want to be in his footprint. I want my hands to be the hands that return what is not mine. I want my tongue to be the scale that weighs each soul evenly. I want my home to be a home of mustaqīm scales. I want my children to learn the dīn first through how I treat their mother. I want my employees, my parents, my siblings, my enemies, to receive from me what You have asked me to give: justice. Not because I am perfect. Because You commanded it, and Your command is binding before my pride is. So ya Rabb, in this closing of the ʿadl cluster, I make a covenant in front of You: I will not let one day pass without checking the scale. Of my words. Of my judgments. Of my divisions. Of my decisions. And every time I find it tilted, I will straighten it before sunset, even if it costs me something. Because You said: dhālika khayrun wa aḥsanu taʾwordīlā (Day 217). The end of the just scale is more beautiful. And You said: in-Allāha yuḥibbu al-muqsiṭīn (Day 218). Allah loves the just. Make me one. Make me one. Make me one. Āmīn ya Wadūd ya ʿAdl.

A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.

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