The 365 · Verses · Day 228 · Justice
Qur'an 5:108
ذَٰلِكَ أَدْنَىٰٓ أَن يَأْتُوا۟ بِٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهَآ أَوْ يَخَافُوٓا۟ أَن تُرَدَّ أَيْمَـٰنٌۢ بَعْدَ أَيْمَـٰنِهِمْ ۗ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱسْمَعُوا۟ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلْفَـٰسِقِينَ
“That will make it more likely they will give true and proper testimony, or fear that their oaths might be refuted by others afterwards. Be mindful of God and listen; God does not guide those who break His laws. (Quran 5:108)”
Svenska: På detta sätt skall det bli lättare för människor att vittna sant... Frukta Gud och lyssna! (Koranen 5:108)
A reflection to carry
Allah closes the witness sequence (2:282, 2:283, 5:106, 5:107, 5:108) with the design philosophy itself. He explains why He layered the safeguards: dhālika adnā an yaʾatū bi-l-shahādatin ʿalā wajhihā. This is closer to them bringing testimony as it really is. Aw yakhāfū an turaddu aymānun baʿda aymānihim. Or that they fear their oaths being refuted by other oaths afterward. Read that. Allah designed the system knowing humans behave better when accountability is structured. He did not lecture us about honesty; He built consequences into the architecture and let our nafs do the calculation. The witness who knows another witness might overturn his testimony lies less. The believer who knows his words may be quoted back later filters his words. This is hikmah on a level we rarely appreciate. And then the closing line, the seal of the entire justice cluster: 'wa-ttaqū Allāha wa-smaʿū. Wa Allāhu lā yahdī al-qūma al-fāsiqīn.' Fear Allah and listen. Allah does not guide the corrupt people. Ten days of justice arc and the verse ends with the warning: corruption blocks guidance. Period.
Read the longer reflection
Yā Rabb, You closed this Justice cluster the way only You could close it. You did not just command us to be just. You designed the system, layer by layer, so that even when individual witnesses fail, even when individual hearts bend, the structure pulls us back toward truth. And You explained Your engineering: 'This is closer to them bringing testimony as it really is, or fearing that their oaths will be refuted by other oaths afterward.' Ya Allah, You created humans knowing what we are, and You designed safeguards that work WITH our weakness rather than denying it. The witness who fears being corrected lies less. The debtor who fears a written record refuses less. The believer who fears another believer's testimony bends less. You did not assume saintliness. You built a system for the fallible. And then You closed with 'wa-ttaqū Allāh, wa-smaʿū. wa Allāhu lā yahdī al-qūma al-fāsiqīn.' Be mindful of Me. Listen. I do not guide the corrupt. That last line should freeze every one of us. The connection You named is so simple and so terrifying: the corrupt does not get hudā. Not 'will not be punished,' which we already knew. Not even 'will not be loved,' which is bad enough. They will not be GUIDED. The corruption itself blocks the receiving channel. The crooked witness, the dishonest businessman, the embezzling officeholder, the lying spouse: each one is, by their fisūq, deafening themselves to the very guidance that could save them. Ya Allah, this is the closing of the justice cluster: not 'be just because it is virtuous.' Be just because injustice closes Your door of guidance. Be just because the muqsiṭ hears You more clearly. Be just because dhālika adnā, that is closer. Closer to truth. Closer to taqwā. Closer to You. Make me one of the qarībīn, the close ones. Āmīn ya Qarīb, ya Mujīb.
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
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