Why Doesn’t Allah Stop Injustice Immediately? | Allah’s Names | Dr. Omar Suleiman | Ep. 20

The Weight of Injustice

My dear brother, I didn't want to tell you this, but I didn't want to force you. Why? Why? Why is it so hard for you? Why is it so hard for you? Why does every step feel like I'm stepping on a rock? Why? Why? Why did you write war on us wherever we were? Every day I'm fighting, every day, every minute. Why is life easier for others? Why? The day we were born, we are in torment.

Even when I left, what? Do you hate me? Do you hate us? What can we do? I tried to stop you, but I couldn't. Forgive me. Forgive me.

We are tired. I'm tired. I'm tired and I don't have time to continue.

When Your Heart Aches for Justice

But now your heart still aches for justice. Not only justice for you, but justice for the oppressed all over the world. And Allah loves that about you.

You start to prioritize others over yourself and stop focusing on when you finally get what you think you deserve, but instead on how to deliver for those who can't fend for themselves because of some human imbalance of power. You're done asking for control, but you're still striving for balance in a world that seems to keep tipping in favor of the oppressor. Indeed, Allah does not wrong a people in the least, but it is people who wrong themselves and sometimes others.

So the balance was set by him, but sometimes he lets imbalance run its short course here so that the scales can be perfectly set there. Yet you still feel the weight of that weight, especially when a voice is silenced that shouldn't have been silenced. And what makes you greater in the sight of Allah is when you start loving justice, not only when you're the one being wronged, but even when justice costs you something, when it stops being about vindicating your own pain and becomes about creating a more just world, even if that means holding yourself to a higher standard.

Allah Al-Adl: The Just

As for Allah, he is Al-Adl, justice as a name. Al-Adl as a concept means two things. وَضْعُ الشَّيْءِ فِي مَوْضِعِهِ Placing each thing in its proper place.

وَإِيتَاءُ كُلِّ ذِي حَقٍّ حَقَّهُ Giving every entitled one their due rights. And Allah commands us to live by that.

Indeed, Allah commands justice and excellence.

This ayah establishes that if you don't have justice, you can't have peace. And Allah is saying that you can't have Ihsan without Adl. You can't have peace without justice because ugliness blocks beauty.

And when people's rights are taken, you don't throw empty courtesy at them. You restore their rights and reestablish the bounds. Al-Adl is the just, and he even governs himself by justice.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 45, Hadith 21)

O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself, and I made it forbidden among you, so do not oppress one another. Who could prescribe anything on Allah but Allah? Only He has the power to make something haram for Himself. And even with the most vile human being on earth, Allah promises that He will not wrong them.

Not because He loves them, but because He loves justice. So on the Day of Judgment, we all either meet Allah's justice or His grace. But no one will meet undeserved wrath.

Only perfect consequence or pure mercy. And this is the standard that Allah puts on us as well.

Do not let your hatred for a people lead you to be unjust. Be just, that is closer to taqwa, closer to piety. The only manifestation of justice for you as an imperfect being is when you establish it against yourself, even when you don't have to, and even for someone you don't particularly like.

The Story of Ali and the Christian

And Imam Al-Shaabi narrates that Ali radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, while he was khalifa, once sees a Christian man walking around the city with his armor that he thought he lost.

So Ali radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu says, that's my armor. And the man says, no it's not, it's mine. And Ali, the khalifa of the Muslims says, let's go to a judge.

So the khalifa went to a judge for a man who wasn't even Muslim. And they go to Shuraih Al-Qadi, the great judge, and he says, do you have proof that this is yours? And Ali radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu starts to laugh and he says, the judge asked me if I have proof and I have no proof. So Shuraih says, then I have to rule in favor of the Christian man.

So as they're leaving, the man comes back and says, this is the way of the prophets. The leader of the believers took me to his appointed judge and his judge ruled against him and then he abided by it. أشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ He accepted Islam and then he takes the armor and he hands it back to Ali and he says, I found it falling from your luggage on the day of the battle of Siffin.

So Ali radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu laughs and he says, take it back, not as a return, but as a gift for you now embracing Islam. So this is the type of justice that made people fall in love with Islam because we governed ourselves by Allah's name, Al-Adl.

And Imam Taymiyyah says, إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَيُقِيمُ الدَّوْلَةَ الْعَادِلَةَ وَإِنْ كَانَتْ كَافِرَةً وَيَهْدِمُ الدَّوْلَةَ الظَّالِمَةَ وَإِنْ كَانَتْ مُسْلِمَةً Indeed, Allah will sustain a just nation even if they're not Muslim and he may destroy an unjust nation even if they're Muslim.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 24, Hadith 574)

And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, The prayer of the oppressed has no barrier between it and Allah even if the supplicant is a disbeliever. That's how much weight Allah gives to justice which brings us to his next name, Al-Muqsit.

Allah Al-Muqsit: The Equitable

Al-Muqsit is the one who distributes his justice with perfect equity. It's a specific manifestation of Al-Adl. Think of it this way, Al-Adl is the overarching principle of justice. Al-Qist refers to the fair distribution of rights, punishment, and reward in accordance with that justice.

So while Al-Adl emphasizes his absolute justice, Al-Muqsit highlights the execution of that justice ensuring perfect fairness for everyone. Now in regards to our application, Adl is a lifestyle that prevents injustice before it even happens while Qist is usually restoring justice and fairness. So when Allah tells us to make peace between fighting believers, he says, make peace between them with justice and then act equitably and indeed Allah loves those who act with equity.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 4493)

The Prophet ﷺ said, that the equitable will be upon pulpits of light to the right of the most merciful, those who were fair in their rulings and with their families and in everything that was entrusted to them. You'll never have the throne but you can be in its shade if you act in accordance with Allah's justice.

Allah Al-Hakam: The Judge

But because our courts are human, we need another name which is Al-Hakam, the judge who delivers the final verdict.

Shall I seek a judge other than Allah while he is the one who sent down to you the book in detail?

And one of the things that the Prophet ﷺ would say in his night du'a, It is you who judges between your servants concerning about what they differ. Oh Allah, guide me to the truth in that which they differ. Indeed you guide whom you will to the straight path.

Allah is the only one who can judge with full knowledge of what was hidden and what was revealed. Who intended treachery and who swallowed pain. Even the greatest human judge to ever walk the face of the earth couldn't do that.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 86, Hadith 6967)

And that was the Prophet ﷺ and he warned, he said I am only human and I rule in his favor based upon what I'm hearing. But if I give him something from his brother's right, know that it is a piece of the fire. So even if you win a ruling here, Al-Hakam will still call the case up on the day of judgment and he will settle it with a truth that no tongue can twist.

Al-Qadi Ayyad once had two women that came to him crying and they were wanting an early judgment in their favor. And he said, but what happens if I am ruled against unjustly here? Maybe they had a better lawyer. Maybe the court system was stacked in their favor.

Well that's when I count on his justice there. Which brings us to the last name in this family. Let's say in this dunya the final verdict was in your favor.

What about all the unseen elements of the trial? I want you to think about today's courtrooms. And he smiled for just a second at the guilty verdict of the murderer. But then he lowered his head and he said, but I still don't get my son back.

Allah Al-Hasib: The Sufficient Reckoner

So beyond the judgment is the reckoning. And that's Allah's name, Al-Hasib, the sufficient reckoner. Allah is enough as the reckoner.

He is Hasbuka, enough for you when you're going through it and when he rewards you for it. The scholars say Al-Hasib is the one who accounts for every element that no one else could capture. Nothing escapes him, not the hidden tears, not the apology that no one acknowledged, not the kindness that was misread as guilt, not the pain that no apology could heal, not even the text message that you decided not to send.

Allah kept the receipts of it all. And note the subtle difference. Al-Hakam delivers the verdict. Al-Hasib delivers the consequence. Al-Hakam rules with full knowledge. Al-Hasib repays with full measure.

Sometimes justice feels like it's too slow. But listen to how Allah speaks of its speed.

Allah judges and no one can reverse his judgments and he is swift in his reckoning.

That means two things for the oppressor. Number one, as soon as Allah seizes the oppressor at death, لَمْ يُفْلِطْ he will never let him go. Number two, Allah is swift and severe with his punishment.

And so on the day of judgment, the billions of souls will not delay Allah bringing forth the tyrant to account. So remember, when Umar radiAllahu ta'ala said حَاسِبُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ قَبْلَ أَن تُحَاسَبُوا Take account of yourselves before you are taken to account.

Living by These Names

Remember, every one of these names comes with an element of comfort and accountability. Be accountable for the sins that you need to repent from and the blessings that you need to thank Him for and take comfort in knowing that He never forgets a wrong done to you and He loves to forgive the wrongs that you repent from. Focus on your human part and let Him handle the rest.

Du'as to the Names of Justice

O you whose balance never tips unfairly, when the world feels rigged for cruelty, remind us that you are merely delaying the cruel even by the weight of a single atom. Make us witnesses to your justice in this life and part of its fulfillment in the next. And let us love justice ourselves and be purified from oppression within.

Restore to the victims what was stolen from them and to the weary hearts what hope they lost. Make us a people who act with equity and never swerve from accountability.

You are the judge when the courts of men fail, when truth is buried beneath lies. Let your verdict rise, clear and unstoppable. Judge between us and those who wrong us without remorse. And let us not find ourselves except on the side of the oppressed.

You are enough when proof is hidden and power is abused. Account for every tear that fell unseen and every cruelty that was silenced by fear. You become swift for those who harm and ever so gently for those who endured.