Forgiveness and Justice: meditations on some hadiths

By Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad

The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) prayed for pardon for his people, and received the reply: "I have forgiven them all but acts of oppression, for I shall exact recompense for the one who is wronged, from his oppressor."

In the Qur'an, God is just, and requires justice; but he is also forgiving, and requires forgiveness; in fact, its references to the latter property outnumber those on justice by a ratio of approximately ten to one. Islamic theology has not always been clear how the ensuing tension is to be resolved. "My Mercy outstrips My wrath" is a well-known divine saying, but one which nonetheless is far from abolishing God�s wrath. Indeed, a righteous indignation about injustice is integral to the prophetic representation of God�s qualities, and from the earliest moments of its revelation the Qur�an links God�s expectations of His creatures to justice towards the weak.

Read and/or download the whole article from http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/ahm/HadithsonJustice.pdf -