Concept of justice

Islamic concept of Justice

The concept of justice is fundamental to any ethical system; as such it is also fundamental to Islamic
ethics. Justice, as expounded by the Quran, is one of the most fundamental virtues in Islam. No other
moral virtues are more emphasized in the Quran and Hadith than justice mainly as a reaction against the
pre-Islamic social order which paid little or no attention to justice. The Quran aims at building a better
social order and being so it lays great emphasis on justice because it facilitates the establishment of
social order and also enables peoples to develop their human qualities and high moral order among
themselves and thereby can create a balance in their affairs and dealings with their fellow beings to
establish justice. Islam is a religion which lays emphasis on every aspect of justice and enjoins on man to
do all sorts of justice. For every aspect of justice there are several words like, ‘adl’, ‘qist’, ‘mizan’ etc.
used in the Quran. But the most common word used in the Quran to refer to Divine justice is ‘adl’, which
means fairness and equality. The meaning of ‘adl’ as equality may be expressed either in qualitative or
quantitative terms. In qualitative sense ‘adl’ refers to the principle of equality, assigning equal rights to
all. On the other hand, in the quantitative sense it refers to the principle of distributive justice.3 For the
second sense the term ‘qist’ or ‘mizan’ is used in the Quran. ‘Qist’ carries the sense of equal distribution
and ‘mizan’ means a scale of balance. ‘Adl’ is sometimes used as the opposite of the words ‘zulm’ or
‘jawr’ which means injustice, wrong doing and oppression. The literal meaning of ‘adl’ is thus a
combination of moral and social values denoting fairness, equality, righteousness, balance etc. Hence
divine justice would be a synthesis of all these values and virtues.

Western concept of justice

Justice is one of the most important moral and political concepts. It is really very difficult to give a
precise definition of justice. Yet, it is necessary to get the meaning of justice. The word ‘Justice’ comes
from Latin word ‘justitia’ formed on ‘Justus’ meaning just. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the
“just” person as one who typically “does what is morally right” and is disposed to “giving everyone his or
her due,” offering the word “fair” as a synonym. Western philosophers generally regard justice as the
most fundamental of all virtues for ordering interpersonal relations and establishing and maintaining a
stable political society. Following are some western concepts of justice.

Greek thought

The doctrine of the Greek philosopher Pythagoreans stressed that “every citizen should have his special
place assigned to him in a just social order”. To Socrates, justice is the interest of the weaker i.e. the
governed and not of the stronger i.e. the sovereign. It is natural and internal and also represents the
right condition of human soul. For Plato, justice is a virtue establishing rational order, with each part
performing its appropriate role and not interfering with the proper functioning of other parts. Plato was
highly dissatisfied with the prevailing degenerating conditions in Athens. The Athenian democracy was
on the verge of ruin and was ultimately responsible for Socrates’ death. Plato saw in justice the only
remedy of saving Athens from decay and ruin. Aristotle says justice consists in what is lawful and fair,
with fairness involving equitable distributions and the correction of what is inequitable. 

Roman thought

For Augustine, the cardinal virtue of justice requires that we try to give all people their due right. For
Aquinas, justice is that rational mean between opposite sorts of injustice, involving proportional
distributions and reciprocal transactions. 

German thought

For German philosopher Kant, it is a virtue whereby we respect others’ freedom, autonomy, and dignity
by not interfering with their voluntary actions, so long as those do not violate others’ rights.

English thought

English philosopher Hobbes believed justice is an artificial virtue, necessary for civil society, a function of
the voluntary agreements of the social contract.

John Rawl’s theory of justice

Rawls's theory of justice revolves around the adaptation of two fundamental principles of justice which
would, in turn, guarantee a just and morally acceptable society. The first principle guarantees the right
of each person to have the most extensive basic liberty compatible with the liberty of others. The
second principle states that social and economic positions are to be (a) to everyone's advantage and (b)
open to all.