Importance Of Being Just

Allah (‘azza wa jal; The Possessor of Complete Glory and Majesty) reminds us in the Glorious Qur’an: “O you who believe, be upholders of justice - witnesses for Allah, even though against (the interest of) your selves or the parents, and the kinsmen. One may be rich or poor, Allah is better caretaker of both. So do not follow desires, lest you should swerve. If you twist or avoid (the evidence), then, Allah is all-aware of what you do.” [Surah an-Nisa 4:135]

Abu Huraira (radiAllahu’anhu; may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ; peace be upon him) said: "Whoever has committed a wrong against his brother in regards to his honour or anything else, should get it settled today, before the time comes when there is no Dinar or Dirham (i.e. the Day of Judgment). If he has good deeds then it will be taken away from him according to the extent of wrong he committed (and given to the wronged). If he does not have any good deeds, then the bad deeds of the other person (i.e. the wronged) will be given to him to bear." [Bukhari, Hadith 2269]

Note: the scholars have discussed that this also extends to breaching the rights of non-Muslims. This is evident from the hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ; peace be upon him) which he said: “If anyone wrongs a mu‘aahid (non-Muslim living under Muslim rule), detracts from his rights, burdens him with more work than he is able to do or takes something from him without his consent, I will plead for him (the mu‘aahid) on the Day of Resurrection.” [Narrated by Abu Dawood, 3052; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood]

Hence being just and upholding justice in all of our everyday interactions is paramount. If you know that you have wronged someone or committed an injustice towards them, then make sure you make amends for that today. May Allah save us from the unthinkable consequences of carrying these burdens with us from this life to the next, Ameen.