The 365 · Verses · Day 227 · Justice
Qur'an 5:107
فَإِنْ عُثِرَ عَلَىٰٓ أَنَّهُمَا ٱسْتَحَقَّآ إِثْمًا فَـَٔاخَرَانِ يَقُومَانِ مَقَامَهُمَا مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْتَحَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْأَوْلَيَـٰنِ فَيُقْسِمَانِ بِٱللَّهِ لَشَهَـٰدَتُنَآ أَحَقُّ مِن شَهَـٰدَتِهِمَا وَمَا ٱعْتَدَيْنَآ إِنَّآ إِذًا لَّمِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
“If it is discovered that these two are guilty of perjury, two of those whose rights have been usurped have a better right to bear witness in their place. Let them swear by God, 'Our testimony is truer than theirs. We have said nothing but the truth, for that would make us wrongdoers.' (Quran 5:107)”
Svenska: Och om det visar sig att vittnena har gjort sig skyldiga till mened, skall två av dem som har lidit förlust träda i deras ställe. (Koranen 5:107)
A reflection to carry
Allah anticipated the failure of witnesses. He did not pretend that two just men, once named, would always remain just. So He built a second layer of protection: if it is discovered that the witnesses lied, two from the side that was wronged step in, take the oath, and override the corrupted testimony. Look at the elegance of the design. The dīn does not run on naive optimism about people; it runs on layered safeguards because it knows what people are. Witnesses can be corrupted. So redundancy. Heirs can be wronged. So legal recourse. Even the deathbed waṣiyyah, the most emotionally charged moment imaginable, has a fallback if the human beings present fail their oath. Ya akhī, ya ukhtī, the implication is bigger than wills. Build redundancy into every system you steward. The marriage where one safeguard fails should have another. The business where one auditor fails should have a second. The community where one elder loses integrity should have processes that do not depend on him alone. Justice is too important to ride on a single human chair. Build the second chair before the first one collapses.
Read the longer reflection
Yā Rabb, You did not pretend the witnesses You commanded would always be trustworthy. You knew the human heart bends under pressure, especially the pressure of inheritance, where a single signature can shift a family's fortune for generations. So You built a second door. If the first witnesses fail, two from the wronged side step in, swear by You that their testimony is truer, and ʿadl is restored. Ya Allah, what a system. What humility in the design. What honesty about the failure rate of human beings. Forgive me, ya Allah, for the systems I have built without redundancy. The marriage where I assumed my own discipline alone would carry us through. The friendship where I assumed shared values would prevent betrayal. The business where I assumed honesty would replace structure. You did not assume that, ya Rabb, and I should not assume it either. Teach me the engineering of ʿadl: a primary safeguard and a backup; a witness and a second witness; an oath and the right of the wronged to override a broken oath. And ya Allah, in my own life, give me the strength to be the second witness when the first one fails. When someone I trusted to speak truth about a colleague slanders them; when someone I trusted to manage a waṣiyyah twists it; when someone I trusted to be fair in a family dispute takes sides, give me the courage to be the one who steps up, swears by You, and corrects the record. Make my mouth the second door of ʿadl when the first door fails. Āmīn ya Ḥaqq.
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
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