Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

The Justice of God

Author(s): Allamah Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi

Publisher(s): Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania

WWW.ALHASSANAIN.ORG/ENGLISH

Table of Contents

Preface to the Revised Edition 4

Introduction 5

A. Differences in Religion 5

A Note on the Meaning of ‘adl5

The Muslim Sects Frequently Mentioned in this Book 6

B. The Place of Reason in Religion 6

Notes7

The Actions of God 8

A. God Can Do No Wrong 8

B. God Does Nothing Without Purpose8

D. Aslah, The Most Beneficial9

E. God’s Promise (Wa`d) & Threat (Wa’id)10

Notes10

Compulsion or Freedom 12

A. The Differences12

B. The Sunni’s Belief12

C. The Shiite Belief13

1. al-Amr Bayna 'l-Amrayn 13

2. Predestination & the Day of Judgement14

3. Abu Hanifah & Bahlul15

D. Man’s Will in Regard to Belief & Disbelief16

1. Tawfiq & Khidhlan 16

2. Knowledge of God & Action of Man 18

E. Lutf, The Grace of God 18

Notes20

Test and Suffering 21

A. Test & Trial in Man's Life21

B. Categories of Test & Suffering 21

D. Sufferings as Warning or Punishment24

Notes24

The Knowledge of God 25

A. The Knowledge of Al-Ghayb 25

"Lawh mah fuz" and "Lawh mahw wa ithbat"26

B. The Theory of Bada'26

1. Bada' in the Qur'an 26

a) The People of Yunus27

b) The Sacrifice of Prophet Ismai’l28

c) Tawrat Given to Prophet Musa28

2. The Meaning of Bada'29

3. The Benefits-of Bada'30

Notes30

Fate and Divine Decree32

A. Prerogatives of Allah 32

B. The Predetermined Measure32

C. So Where is Equality & Justice?33

D. Tadbir & Taqdir (Our Plans & God's Decree)34

1. Life & Death 35

2. Sustenance & Livelihood 36

E. Our Prayers & God's Decree37

F. Tawakkul & God's Decree38

Notes39

Bibliography of Works Cited 40

Preface to the Revised Edition

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

The first edition of this book was published in 1970 as the third unit of the Islamic Correspondence Course (ICC), initiated and run by the Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania. The aim was to provide in simple language the answers to many questions which are frequently asked not only by the youths but also by the grown-ups.

Since then it has been reprinted several times in Tanzania and Kenya. Also its Swahili translation, Udilify Wa Mungu, by Sayyid Muhammad Ridha Shustary, was published in 1985 at Dar es salaam.

As the original work was meant to serve as a text book, it was not necessary to give references for the topics described therein. But the book did not remain confined to the students of the ICC; and requests for its copies have been coming from far and wide.

Therefore, with a view to enhance its usefulness, my son, Hujjatul Islam Sayyid Muham­mad Rizvi (Vancouver, Canada) had, in 1985, writ­ten foot-notes giving most of the necessary references.

Some more references have been added by me. Also some revisions and additions have been made by me here and there. Unfortunately, it has taken a much longer time to get this revised and annotated version printed.

We are thankful to the Vancouver Islamic Educa­tional Foundation (Canada) for typesetting of the book. May Allah give them its reward in both worlds.

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,

Sayyid Sa’eed Akhtar Rizvi, Chief Missionary

15th November, 1990

Introduction

A. Differences in Religion

A faith in the beginning is always simple and uncomplicated. As time goes on, people start elaborating those simple beliefs and that is the point when disputes arise and different sects are estab­lished. It had happened in all previous religions and Islam was not an exception. Islam in the beginning was a call to believe in the Oneness of God, in the Messengership of Prophet Muhammad and in the Day of Judgement.

These basic principles are beyond any dispute. Also, there is no shadow of doubt that the religion of God is Islam, that the only way to know Islam is through the Book of God and the sunnah of the Prophet, and that the Book of God is what is known as the Qur'an without any addition or subtraction.

The differences occur in interpretation of some of the verses of the Qur'an, and the authenticity or otherwise of some ahadith of the Prophet, and in their interpretation and implication. These differen­ces have given rise to many questions which have divided the Muslim world apart.

There are many differences about the person of God and His at­tributes: Does God have a body? Will He be seen? Is God just? Is man compelled by God in his actions or is he free?

As far as the existence, the person and Oneness of God is concerned, it comes under the first root of religion (usulu 'd-din) known as tawhid, and has been discussed in our previous book ‘God of Islam.'1 As for the actions of God, they come under the second root of religion known as ‘adl-justice.

According to the Shi'ah Ithna-'Ashari faith, ‘adl is one of the most important attributes of God; and that is why it is dealt with separately. The reason why the second root of religion dealing with the actions of God has been named ‘adl is because the differences amongst the Muslims concerning the justice of God are vast and manifold.

Since some of the differences amongst the various Muslim sects are of very fine theological points, it is essential to study the following chapters very carefully. Remember that every term and phrase in these chapters has a significance, and if the reader tries to change any terminology or any phrase, he would put himself in a mess of contradic­tions and irrelevancies.

A Note on the Meaning of ‘adl

The word ‘adl was originally coined to convey the idea of making two things equal, and distribut­ing equally. The same is the case with insaf which literally means dividing in two halves. The idea of equal distribution naturally leads to equity and jus­tice.

And, as a result, ‘adl came to denote justice, equity, to be on straight path, straight :forwardness, to be of exact standard neither less nor more, and to keep everything in its proper place.

The opposite words are jawr and zulm. Jawr means to be inclined to one side, which consequent­ly means not to be impartial in justice, to be biased for or against one party. Zulm means to put a thing in a wrong place. As an unjust judge misplaces. his judgement by not giving the aggrieved party its due, he is called zalim.

The Muslim Sects Frequently Mentioned in this Book

The reader will come across the following sects again and again:

Shi ah Ithna-'Ashari: Those Muslims who believe in the imamat of twelve Imams beginning with Imam 'Ali bin Abi Talib, Imam Hasan, Imam Husayn and his nine descendents. The twelfth Imam is Muhammad al-Mahdi, the awaited saviour. This group is also known as Imamiyyah.

Asha'irah: All the Sunni Muslims of the present time are Asha'irah in their beliefs. They follow Abu l-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 324 A.H./936 C.E.).

Mu'tazilah: Before Abu 'l-Hasan al-Ash'ari, many Sunnis were Mu'tazilah in their beliefs. They followed the beliefs of Wasil bin 'Ata' (d. 131 A.H. /748 O.E.).However, the Mu'tazilah sect became almost extinct in the fourth hijrah century.

B. The Place of Reason in Religion

The first and most important difference among the Muslims is concerning the role of human reason and intellect ('aql) in religion. The Asha'irah are on one side of the issue whereas the Shi'ah Ithna­'Ashariyyah and the Mu'tazilah are on the other side.

The Shi'ahs says that irrespective of religious commandments, there is a rational merit and demerit in different courses of action, and that God orders a certain action because it is rationally good and He forbids another action because it is rationally bad. The Asha’irah deny this concept. They say that nothing is good or bad in se. Only what God has ordered us to do is good and what He has forbidden us is bad.2

In other words, the Shi'ahs, for example, say that God has forbidden us to tell a lie because lying is bad; whereas the Asha’irah says that lying has be­come bad because God forbade it. Abu 'l-Hasan al-Ash'ari writes, "Question: Then lying is evil only because God has declared it to be evil? Answer: Certainly. And if He declared it to be good, it would be good; and if He commanded it, no one could gainsay Him.3

Another difference in regard to the place of reason in religion is about the relationship between natural cause and effect. The Shi'ah and the Mu'tazilah recognize the relationship between cause and effect. But the Asha'irah deny it. They say that there is no cause except Allah, and it is just a habit ('adah) of God that whenever, for example, we drink water, He quenches our thirst.'4

'Allamah al-Hilli says:

"The gist of the argument of the Asha'irah … is that according to them things come into being by the Will of [God] and His Power which is the sufficient cause of the existence of things. So, as the power (of God) is the sufficient cause, there­fore, it is not necessary that a thing should come into being when its physical causes come into being; or that it should cease to exist when its physical cause ceases to exist ….

And there is no relationship of any kind between those happen­ings which happen one after another except that it is the habit (of God) that He creates one thing after another; for example, burning after touch­ing the fire, and quenching of thirst after drink­ing water; because touching fire and drinking water has nothing to do with burning and quenching of thirst, but all this comes into being by His Power and His Will; and He can create touching without burning and burning without touching, and the same is the case with all actions. "5

As you will see in the discussions of this book, most differences between the Shi'ahs and the Asha'irah Sunnis stem from their diverse outlooks concerning the place of reason in religion and the relationship between natural cause and effect.

Notes

1. First published in 1969 by Bilal Muslim Mission, and sub­sequently published more than ten times in Tehran by WOFIS for world wide distribution. Its new edition was published in 1978.

2. McCarthy, R.J. "Two Creeds of al-Ash'ari" (Maqalatu -l Islamiyyin and al-Ibanah 'an Usuli 'd-Diyanah) p. 238-9; 241.

3. Ibid,.

4. ash-Shahristani, al-Milal wa 'n-Nihal, pp.124-125.

5. al-Hilli, Kashfu 'l-Haqq

The Actions of God

A. God Can Do No Wrong

The Shi'ahs believe that God does nothing which is rationally wrong or evil.1 I do not use this phrase in the sense that "King makes no mistake." Because "King makes no mistake" actually means that he does nothing at all; he just signs whatever is passed by the parliament. So this tribute is based upon inaction. But "God does no wrong" means that in spite of being active and Omnipotent, God can still not do anything wrong or evil. Why?

Anyone who commits wrong or injustice does so because of one or more of the following reasons:

- either he does not know that it is wrong;

- or he needs something which cannot be obtained without wrongdoing;

- or he had been compelled by somebody else to commit that wrong.

But God is Omniscient and All-Knowing; He is free from want and is not in need of anything; and He is Omnipotent and nobody can compel Him to do anything. So logically it is impossible for God to do any injustice or wrong.

The Asha’irah, on the other hand, say that there is no such thing as rational good or evil. Therefore, they say that "whatever God does is good, because there is nothing bad for Him or compulsory for Him."2 'Abdu 'l-'Aziz Dehlawi, a famous Sunni scholar, writes, "It is the madhhab of Ahlu's-Sunnah that nothing is evil for Him; that the things which, if done by human beings or Shaytan, are called evil and for which they are blamed and accursed, are not evil if done by Almighty Allah."3

B. God Does Nothing Without Purpose

The Shi'ahs say that God never acts without purpose or aim because rationally it is not commen­dable to act without purpose. All His actions are based on wisdom and intelligent purpose, though we may not know them. "The Imamiyyah says that Almighty Allah does not do anything aimlessly, but does it because of a purpose and aim."4

The Asha'irah, because of their rejection of ra­tional merit and demerit, say that it is quite right for God to act aimlessly. "It is the rnadh-hab of the Asha'irah that the actions of Allah are not caused by any purpose; and they say that it is not permissible to say that His actions are caused by aims ...

And He does whatever He wishes, and orders whatever He wills; if He wants to put all His creatures for ever in the Fire (of Hell), He is the Ruler and authority; and sin (of the creatures) have nothing to do with this matter. The effective cause (of all things) is He."5

C. Can We Know All The Reasons for God’s Actions?

As I just said, God does nothing without reason. ?'here must be a reason for everything which is created by God. However, it is not necessary that we should know the reason of His each and every ac­tion. We believe that every work of God is such that if we are made aware of its reasons, we would readily admit that it was the very right thing to do. We often feel perturbed by some incidents or by some problems because we do not know the real purpose behind them.

An illustration can be found in the Qur'an where the meeting of Prophet Musa and another man (who had more knowledge than Musa) is described. The learned man had allowed Musa to accompany him on the condition that "ask me not concerning any­thing till I myself mention it unto thee." Here is the whole episode:

The stranger: "Lo! You cannot bear patience with me. How can you have patience in that of which you have not got a comprehensive knowledge?"

Musa: "Allah willing, you shall find me patient and I shall not disobey you in any matter."

Then they proceeded in a boat. When they were in the boat, the learned man made a hole in it. Musa objected to it, and was reminded of the condition. Then the learned man slew a lad. Upon this Musa could not contain himself and condemned him in severe words. Again he was reminded of his promise not to ask questions.

Then they came to a township where they were refused food. There they found a wall on the point of falling in ruin, and the learned man repaired it. Musa said, "If you had wished, you might certainly have taken a recompense for it." Upon this third argument, the learned man told Musa: "This is the parting between you and me."

But before parting, he explained the reasons for his actions: "As for the boat, it belonged to the poor people working on the river; and I wished to mar it, for there was a king behind them who is taking every good boat by force.

"As for the lad, his parents were pious persons, and we feared lest he should oppress them by rebel­lion and disbelief; and we intended that their Lord should change him for them with one better in purity and nearer to mercy.

"And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town and there was a treasure [under the wall] belonging to them; and their father had been righteous. So their Lord intended that they should come to their full strength and should bring forth their treasure, as a mercy from their Lord, and I did not do it upon my command." (18:66-82)

I hope this example will suffice to explain our point of view about the actions of God.

* * * *

There is a saying in the Principles of Islamic jurisprudence (usulu 'l fiqh) that, "Whatever is ordained by reason, is also ordained by the shari'ah; and whatever is ordained by the shari’ah, is ordained by reason." A layman often misunderstands this saying. He thinks that whatever we decide to be good must be confirmed by the shari’ah as good accordingly. It is not so.

The meaning of the above saying is that if we were to know the reason behind a certain law of the shari'ah, our intellect would certainly admit that the law is as it should have been.

And that all laws of the shari ah are based upon wisdom.

D. Aslah, The Most Beneficial

We, the Shi'ahs, believe that all the actions of God are intended for the ultimate benefit of His creatures. Aslah means the most beneficial, and it is used by us to describe the actions of God.

This belief of ours is based on the following reasons: Firstly, He Himself has no need, and there­fore whatever He does is for His creatures.

Secondly, if His actions became devoid of the creature's benefit, then they will become purposeless; and doing something purposeless, as explained earlier, is rationally not good.6

May be a man who is repair­ing his roof feels annoyed because of heavy torrents of rain, but rain is for the general benefit; and even the person who at this particular time feels annoyed by it, will derive benefit from it in the long run.

The Asha'irah deny that all God's actions are for the benefit of His creatures because they reject the concept of rational good or evil.7

Based on our belief in aslah, we believe that every instinct and desire in human beings has been created for some reasons. These instincts or desires should not be crushed but harnessed for the general benefit of mankind.

For instance, sexual desire has been embodied in human nature by God Himself. To crush that instinct will be a protest against the Creator. It should not be, and cannot be, crushed; but, of course, its function should be regulated for the benefit of mankind.

And hence the necessity of mar­riage.

Likewise, fear and desire are natural instincts and should be utilized for human upliftment. A Muslim is taught not to fear anybody or anything except God, and not to desire anything in this world but to be anxious to receive the grace of God.

E. God’s Promise (Wa`d) & Threat (Wa’id)

God has appointed a Day of Judgement. He has promised many rewards for good deeds and has threatened to punish for evil actions. There is a difference of opinion among Muslims whether or not God is obliged to fulfill His promises and threats.

1. The Mu'tazilah and the Kharijites say that it is compulsory for God to fulfill His promises and threats; that is, God cannot forgive evil actions of -man who dies without repentance (tawbah).8

2. The Asha'irah say that God is obliged to fulfill neither His promises nor His threats; that He may put pious believers (even the prophets) in Hell and put the Shaytan in Paradise.

This belief of theirs is based upon their belief that nothing is good or evil by itself; and only what God has commanded us to do is good and what He has forbidden is evil. Ac­cording to them nothing has any inherent evil or good except what God orders or forbids.9

3. The Shi'ahs say that it is necessary for Allah to fulfill His promises of reward because not fulfilling a promise is against virtue and rationally evil; but it is not necessary for Him to fulfill His threats of punishment because forgiving the sinners has virtue in itself. So if He punishes, it will be His justice; and if He forgives, it will be His grace and mercy.10

Notes

1. Hilli, Kashfu 'l-Haqq; also al-Hilli's al-Babu 'l-Hadi 'Ashar (English translation by WM. Miller) p. 44

2. Fadl bin Ruzbahan, Ibtalu Nahji'l-Batil.

3. Dehlawi, A.A., Tuhfa-e Ithna-'Ashariyyah.

4. al-Hilli, Kashf and also his al-Babu 'l-Hadi 'Ashr, p. 45.

5. Fadl, op. cit

6. al-Hilli, al-Babu 'l Hadi 'Ashar, p. 46.

7. an-Nasafi, N.D., al-'Aqa'id (with Sharh of at-Taftazani) p.130; also see its translation E.E. Elder, A Commentary on the Creed of Islam, p. 97; ash-Shahristani, al-Miial wa'n-Nihal, p.129.

8. ash-Shahristani, al Milal wa 'n Nihal, pp. 68,145,154.

9. al-Ash'ari, Kitabu 'l-Luma; p. 99. Also see ash-Shahristani, al-Milal wa 'n-Nihal, pp. 128-129.

10. as-Sadiiq, Risalatu 'I-I'tiqadat, chp. 22, p. 69.