General Beliefs
By Ayatullah Jafar Sobhani

(Continued)
DIVINE JUSTICE (ADL)
All Muslims believe that God is just and that justice is one of the divine attributes of Beauty (jamal). The basis of this belief is the Qur'anic negation of any possibility of injustice on the part of God, referring to Him as being 'upright in justice'. As it is said:
Verily, God wrongeth not even the weight of an atom. (Sura al-Nisa, IV: 40)
And again:
Verily, God wrongeth not mankind in anything... (SuraYunus, X: 44)
Also:
God bears witness, [as do also] the angels and the men of knowledge, upright in justice, that there is no God save Him. (Sura Al Imran, III: 18)

In addition to the evidence provided by these verses, the intellect can discern the justice of God with utmost clarity. For justice is an attribute of perfection (kamal), while injustice is an attribute of imperfection; and the human intellect perceives that God possesses all possible perfections, and that He is exalted beyond any possibility of imperfection or deficiency, both as regards His Essence and His actions.

In principle, injustice and oppression are always consequences of one of the following factors: (a) ignorance the one who acts unjustly is unaware of the ugliness of injustice; (b) incapacity and need either the agent of injustice is aware of the ugliness of injustice, but is unable to enact justice, or else he is in need of the fruits of his injustice; (c)unscrupulousness through foolishness the agent is both aware of the ugliness of injustice, and he is able to enact justice, but since he lacks wisdom, he has no scruples about committing unjust acts.

It is clear that none of these factors can have anything to do with the divine nature, all of God's actions being just and wise. The following hadith corroborates this: Shaykh Saduq relates that a Jew came to the Prophet [Muhammad] asking various questions, some of which related to the question of divine justice. In explaining why God does not commit injustice, the Prophet said:

'[It is] because God knows the ugliness of injustice and is not in any need of it.' Theologians of the adliyya school have seized upon this key hadith in the debate over the question of divine justice.

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