Majesty of Divine Speech - Episode 4 Justice vs. Forgiveness

The Majesty of Divine Speech: Justice vs. Forgiveness

Opening and Introduction to the Theme

I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan. Today we are comparing two concepts that I was referring to yesterday - the concept of justice versus the concept of forgiveness. We are going to look at one passage from Surah Ash-Shura briefly and then turn to one ayah from Surah An-Nur to complete the subject.

The Believers Who Seek Justice When Wronged

So we begin, and I'm describing this actually, I'm beginning from the middle of the passage. This passage, from the top of it, Allah describes the people who earn His jannah. And part of it is this section. He says:

"And those who, when transgression befalls them, they will be victorious"

These are the people - rebellion afflicts them, meaning some people rebel against them. Then they avenge themselves, they help themselves. They don't just take it sitting down, they stand up and they seek justice, in other words.

The Principle of Equal Recompense

And then Allah says:

"And the recompense of an evil is an evil like it"

The payback of an evil deed, the payback of something bad is something bad of the equal measure. Meaning if somebody does something bad to you, justice would be what? The payback is what? Something you do back to them in equal amount.

The Challenge of Implementing True Justice

Now we have to pause here for a second because you can obviously sense these are the ayat about justice. We said there are going to be two concepts today, justice and forgiveness. These are obviously the ayat that are dealing with justice. But we have to think about this in a very practical way.

Allah is clearly saying the payback of something bad is something bad just like it. But in real life if somebody harms you, for example somebody insults you or somebody accuses you, or somebody physically pushes you or something like that, then you say well justice is I want to do that exact same thing to them.

But you know human nature, our anger comes over. So we are not doing it for the sense of justice, we are doing it out of revenge, right? It's not really for justice, it's more for revenge. And when you have revenge in your heart then what happens? Do you take equal amount or you take a little extra more? You have a chance of taking a little extra more, right?

So here you are, you are saying I have the right to do this. But because in the back of your intentions isn't justice, it's revenge, there is a chance, a good chance that you are going to go overboard. And this is what the scholars warned against - that the people who seek justice, very few of them are actually muqtasid, that they are actually fair. But most of them when they seek justice they end up becoming unjust. It's a very very fine line.

The Higher Path of Forgiveness

Now Allah says in the same ayah:

"So whoever forgives and makes amends, his reward is with Allah"

Allah is comparing the jaza, the ajr, of two things. If you harm me for a hundred dollars, then justice would be what should I get back? A hundred dollars. But Allah says, whoever lovingly forgave and reconciled the matter - Islah is something we talked about yesterday.

So Allah says, whoever took the option, instead of seeking justice, of reconciling, then He says فَأَجْرُهُ then his reward is going to be عَلَى اللهِ - meaning when it comes to seeking revenge Allah quantifies how much you can get. Only what was taken from you, that's what you can get. When you forgive, you get so much that Allah doesn't even quantify it. He says it's on Him.

So imagine the volume of the blessings and the favor and the ajr that Allah will give that He doesn't even put a quantity on. He doesn't say it's Jannah, He doesn't say it's gardens in paradise or this or that or the other, nothing. He says عَلَى اللّهِ - It's on Allah. So imagine the comparison between the two.

Allah's Dislike for Wrongdoing

And then He says:

"Indeed, He does not love the wrongdoers"

Without a doubt, He doesn't love the wrongdoing. Those who do zulm, those who fall under cruelty or unjust behavior. Why is this important to mention at the end? You have two options in dunya. You can seek revenge or you can forgive. And when you seek revenge, what are good chances? You might become zalim. So how does he end the ayah? He doesn't love the wrongdoers.

The Legitimacy of Seeking Justice

But then there's the other extreme opposite scenario. You know we're not Christian. To the Christian, forgiveness is at the forefront and justice, forget it, it's almost an evil deed. So if somebody wants justice, the Christian will tell him "Don't do that, that's not from God. God wants love and forgiveness," right?

But if a Muslim wants justice, he wants justice. The other Muslim cannot come to him and say "You have no right to do this, this is sinful" because the two options that Allah gave - either the seeking of revenge in a just fashion or forgiveness - are they both not from Allah? They're both from Allah.

"And whoever is victorious after his transgression, for those there is no way against them"

So whoever seeks to avenge after he was wronged - then these are people, there's no case to be made against them. You can't make any case against them and say "Why did this person pursue justice? It's his fault, he shouldn't have done that." No, no, no. That's also from Allah. That's also permissible. He's not blameworthy if he does so.

The Real Target of Blame

But then he adds:

"Indeed, the way is only for those who wrong people and seek corruption in the earth without right. Those will have a painful punishment"

Rather if you want to blame someone, blame the one who wronged people. The only case that can be made is against the people who wronged others and they rebel in the land without any right to do so. They are the ones that have painful punishment.

The Highest Level: Patience and Forgiveness

And then he adds this one ayah that I want to actually begin this talk of forgiveness with:

"And whoever is patient and forgives, indeed, that is of the determination of affairs"

He says as for the one who had sabr and he forgave - you all know the meaning of sabr - perseverance, holding your emotions, restraining yourself. And after that forgiving, covering the other's fault. Allah says that this is from the most noble of deeds.

Comparison with Luqman's Advice

And the way he ends the ayah, listen carefully. He says إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ. Now let me share another ayah with you which ends in a similar way. Luqman is giving advice to his son and he tells him:

Let me read this ayah to you again. This ayah ends إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ and that ayah ends إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ. Is there a difference? Once again listen carefully : إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الأُمور and إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمِنْ عَزْمِ الأمور. What's the difference? Did you hear? There's a difference. A subtle, subtle difference.

The Levels of Patience

Now when Luqman was talking to his son, what did he say? He said have sabr over anything that happens to you. Any calamity that happens to you, have sabr because this is from the most noble of deeds. And the way to say these are from the most noble of deeds, the highest caliber of deeds: إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ

In these ayat Allah says وَمَن صَبَرَ وَغَفَرَ - whoever has sabr. Now Luqman was talking about sabr too right? But he didn't talk about forgiveness. In this ayah there's also - there's sabr and there's maghfirah: . وَلَمَن صَبَرَ وَغَفَرَ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ

Now this Laam, what it does is it makes this ayah a little higher. The status of this action higher than the status of the ayah in which sabr was mentioned.

Two Types of Patience

And there's another thing. You know there are two kinds of sabr. It's very important to understand. There are two kinds of sabr basically. There's sabr over an earthquake and there's sabr over a flood and there's sabr over a car accident or there's sabr over a sickness. There's sabr over situations where you have no control over the situation. If it happened to you, you have to deal with it. There's sabr over the loss of a family member, right? These are situations in which you can do nothing but have sabr. You can either cry about it or become emotionally unstable or have sabr. So what is the better option? Sabr.

When Luqman was telling his son, he was telling him about any calamity that happens to him. When calamities happen to you, do you have control over them? No. So he says وَاصْبِرْ عَلَىٰ مَا أَصَابَكَ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ

The Higher Form of Patience in Human Conflicts

But these ayahs that we just talked about in Surah Ash-Shura, we're talking about the person who can take revenge. Somebody has harmed you and you can take revenge. This is different from an earthquake or a flood or a sickness because now can you do something more than sabr? Can you take revenge too? You can, right?

You can't take revenge against a mountain. You can't take revenge against the earth or against the sky for sending a flood or against the wind for a typhoon. You can't do that. But for a person that harms you, you can take revenge. But even then, even though when you have the option to take revenge, you still have sabr. Which is harder? It's much harder to do that. And you still have sabr and despite the fact that there's anger inside you, you still forgive. This is a higher caliber of sabr, right?

You can see the obvious difference between them. And so how does Allah end the ayah? إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمِنْ عَزْمِ الأمور - He gives this kind of sabr a higher caliber.

The Reality of Human Nature and Forgiveness

Now the final thing about this. When you know, we talk about forgiving each other and moving along. You say to each other "Yeah well brother, Ramadan, you know, you don't know what this guy did to me. You don't know what I've been through. You don't understand. This guy is evil, you know. He deserves it. He doesn't deserve forgiveness."

And let me ask you this: when somebody is to be forgiven, obviously they don't deserve it. They deserve punishment. That's when you need forgiveness, right? So if you're telling me "This person doesn't deserve it. No, I know what you're talking about. I know this is in Quran and everything, but this guy is different. This doesn't apply here. This is special situation."

And wallahi, everybody thinks they have a special situation and nobody thinks the ayat apply on them. You know, when the situation comes to you, you say "I know, I know, I know. This is what Allah says. I know there's a hadith like this. I know there's an ayah like this. But my situation, it's a unique exception to this rule, right? So inshallah I'll apply this ayah next time when it's easier."

The Comparison of Rewards

And so we compare this sentiment. First of all, if you take revenge, what's the most you will get? Revenge. If you forgive, what will you get? Something that Allah doesn't even give a quantity to: فَأَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ Imagine that.

But then the second incentive - you know, whatever the other person did to you, I can hardly imagine it would hurt you more in dunya than what hurt our leader Abu Bakr As-Siddiq when his daughter was accused. And his daughter is not just a daughter. She is the dignity not of his family, but she's also the

dignity of Muhammad Rasulullah, and thereby she is the dignity of the entire ummah. Our mother, she is the dignity of the entire ummah.

The Story of Abu Bakr and the Slander

So when she was accused the worst kind of accusation - she was accused of a shameless act in public and the scandal is spreading across to the point where the messenger is under depression. He's not even talking to her and she is just in complete despair, right?

In this situation, one of the people who started this scandal was actually a person many of you know who used to be given allowance by Abu Bakr As-Siddiq. Abu Bakr was a wealthy man and he used to give some people some monthly or weekly allowance so they could get by their weekly expenses, their home expenses. One of the people who accused his daughter was a person who used to get charity from Abu Bakr.

Now look at the mercy of this man. If somebody accused my daughter, the first thing I want to do is kill him. That's the first thing I want to do. Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, even in his angry state, the most he decides to do is he's not going to give him money anymore. That's not even a punishment, right? Look at the mercy of this man.

The Divine Revelation About Forgiveness

Nonetheless, because he's of a higher caliber, he's at a higher level - you know the ulama used to say that the good deeds of the low people are comparable to the bad deeds of the noble people, the people that are close to Allah.

Like I'll give you a comparison. One of us, we don't come for salah usually. One day we make it for salah and we feel like we have won some kind of trophy and we feel this pride: "Man, I made salah in the masjid today, on time too," you know. And in that same masjid, in that same community, there's a person who's in the salah every single day in the first row. And today they got there so that they got at the end of the first row or they got the second row. This person's thinking "I missed out today." Same salah, right? One person's thinking "I've accomplished this amazing standard" and the other's thinking what? "I messed up today." Different caliber.

So Abu Bakr As-Siddiq is at a different caliber. And Allah reveals this ayah, very profound ayah. Allah says in Surah An-Nur:

"(24:22 Quran)"

Ya'tal is a very interesting word. It means to - one meaning of it is half, meaning to take an oath. Don't let these people take an oath. Allah is going to talk about that, I'll explain inshallah ta'ala. Another meaning of itila is actually to lose momentum, to kind of lose enthusiasm. You know, you want to do something

but you don't feel like doing it much anymore. Something's happened that's kind of turned you off, and the word for that is itila.

So he says (وَلَا يَأْتَلِ أُولُو الْفَضْلِ مِنكُمْ - don't let the people who have fadl, meaning Allah has given them a lot of halal rizq from among you, financial means) - (أَن يُؤْتُوا أُولِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَالْمُهَاجِرِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ - that they should stop giving. Don't let them lose any, you know, enthusiasm that they should stop giving to people that are close in family, the poor, those who have migrated for the sake of Allah. They should actually keep giving. They shouldn't lose heart.)

The Divine Incentive for Forgiveness

Now look, Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, he wants to give sadaqa still, but this person's accused his daughter. He's accused the wife of the beloved messenger, and we love the messenger, but we can't compare this love to the love of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq. So even if he wants to give, there's something in his heart that says I can't give this person. And Allah says don't let your giving slow down, keep giving.

And then he gives Abu Bakr As-Siddiq one little piece of incentive in this ayah, one incentive, one line. And because of this one line, it's enough for Abu Bakr to forgive. So what did Allah tell Abu Bakr As- Siddiq that he could overcome his anger? Whatever he told him weighs more than the anger and the sadness of Abu Bakr. So what is it?

He says to him:

"They should forgive lovingly and they should completely overlook this issue."

Meaning when you forgive someone, you don't bring it up again and you put it in your heart that almost like it never happened. It's not in the back of your mind even that this person did such a thing. They should reach that level: (وَلْيَعْفُوا وَلْيَصْفَحُوا)

And then Allah tells him why. How can you reach that status? (أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ) - wouldn't you love that Allah would forgive you?

The Choice Between Anger and Divine Forgiveness

What Allah is saying: wouldn't you love that Allah would forgive you? So now Abu Bakr As-Siddiq and through him all of us are presented with an option. We can take the revenge because we're angry, or Allah says if you forgive, then I'm offering you something. What is Allah offering us? Our forgiveness.

So you have to weigh two things. You have two sides of the scale. On one side of the scale is your anger, and on the other side is how badly do you want Allah to forgive you? Right? There are two things you have to weigh. How angry are you? And how badly do you want to be forgiven?

And when Abu Bakr was given this option, what did he choose? He chose forgiveness, right?

Application in Ramadan

So the next time you think about - he does this even though it's a miserable thing, and what the messenger was doing and what Abu Bakr As-Siddiq was doing was completely fine. It wasn't haram of him to do so, but Allah gave you this better alternative, this better option.

So now think about that, you know, especially in this month when shaitan doesn't come and knocking on our ear every time. And guess what's supposed to get angry and not take the option of forgiving. If you owe somebody an apology, give them that apology in this month. Don't let it go by before you, you know, let them hear your apology because even then the shaitan can put nazr between you, right?

So take that opportunity. And if somebody, you know, you have to forgive someone, then take the opportunity to forgive them. Don't let this month go by without you earning Allah's forgiveness. And the easiest way to do so is to forgive somebody else: (أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَلْيَعْفُوا وَلْيَصْفَحُوا)

The Context of Family Conflicts

Now, a couple of quick comments here. This kind of anger and frustration doesn't happen between distant friends and it doesn't happen between work associates. Mostly this happens with very close people to you. These kinds of very horrible kinds of fights - they happen between family. They happen between cousins, between brothers, between business partners, close friends, right? This is where it happens.

It doesn't happen if you don't know people very well. It's not very easy to get extremely angry at them because you just don't know them. So these conflicts occur within the family, and within the family it's much harder to make up, to forgive, because you're constantly seeing the person.

You know, this sort of thing happens a lot between husband and wife, for example, in contemporary society. This sort of thing happens a lot between father and son. Son gets older, he wants, you know, total freedom. He doesn't want anything to do with the father. And the father says, "why aren't you home more?" and this and that. And one day it just explodes in the house and they don't talk to each other. Muslim families - father hasn't spoken to son, son hasn't spoken to father in two, three years. It's terrible. It's completely unacceptable in our deen, but it happens.

The Divine Solution for Family Relations

But now Allah is giving us this alternative, right? Beyond the fact that you have to keep relations with your family, beyond that, even above and beyond that, we have to mend these ties because we love that Allah will forgive all of us. This is the incentive with which we go forward.

May Allah make us a people that, you know, seek to forgive one another, inshallah. Take every opportunity to do so. Think and reflect on yourself. Maybe you said something - you were just kidding, you didn't realize that the other person's feelings were hurt. You didn't think so, but there's a chance they were hurt. Don't take that chance then I stand up on the Day of Judgment and tell you, you know.

A Personal Story of Forgiveness

And I'll conclude with this. A week ago, one of my good friends from Louisiana, his mother passed away. Very young then. And his mother, she had cancer before and then from there that was cleared. And then two weeks ago she got the news again that the cancer has come up again. And when she got the news, she was very happy and she kept telling her son "I'm very proud of you, I'm very proud of you. I have nothing, I don't anger with you. What's up?" and just take care of your life.

She's constantly giving him good advice, telling him that there's nothing wrong between her and him. And all he can think about as he's hearing her, he can't even listen. He says, "Mom, stop talking, you're scaring me," right? All he's thinking about is when he was younger, when he was a teen, when he was a kid. You know, sometimes you yell at your mother. Sometimes you lash out at her. And he can't stop thinking about those times.

And she constantly reassures him "I have nothing against you. I have nothing against you. I forgive you for everything, right? Don't think that I'm angry with you. I'm very proud of you. You're a great son." All of this stuff, over and over again. And she passes away.

And when she passed away, when I talked to him, I actually talked to him today. You know what he said to me? He said "My mother gave me the greatest gift by telling me she's forgiven me. Because on the day of judgment, the closer we are right now, is that going to be the closeness on the day of judgment? No. On the day of judgment she will be concerned with herself and I will be concerned with? Myself. And if she had not forgiven me here and she went on the day of judgment, would she have forgiven me then? No, because she needs the good deeds for herself. So this was a great mercy of my mother on me."

Conclusion and Call to Action

So seek the forgiveness of the fellow Muslims. Seek the forgiveness especially of your parents and of family, inshallah ta'ala. And when you have the opportunity to forgive, don't lose that opportunity.

May Allah bless you and grant you a wise Quran and benefit me and you with the verses of your wise Quran.

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah.

Additional Story of Transformation

All the time that night he went home, he took a shower, he finished school and he went to the masjid and he cried until fajr time. He cried until the morning and Allah accepted his repentance. And he studied about Islam until he became the imam of Mecca and Medina, the imam, the abid, the worshipper of Mecca and Medina, known for his worship.

But you know what he was before? He was a highway robber. Have these high aspirations and these strong determination and go for it because you can do it. It doesn't matter what age you are. It doesn't matter what age you are. It isn't how smart you are, but it's how much you fear Allah.