صراط عشق صراط عشق
By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
“O you who have faith! Be maintainers of justice and witnesses for the sake of Allah, even if it should be against yourselves or [your] parents and near relatives, and whether it be [someone] rich or poor, for Allah has a greater right over them.” (Holy Qur’an 4:135)
“Justice” is a term that many, especially managers, administrators, politicians, and governments claim, but none of them follow scrupulously and with honesty, as is evident by injustice prevailing all over the world and the manipulation of courts of law, where neither fairness is found in verdicts nor are the rights of people respected.
True, there have been rulers in history who tried to strive for justice, but never succeeded because of flaws in their own character as well as inability to fully comprehend the Law of God and the Divine Principle of Justice.
Thus, there has been only one single instance in the entire history of civilization when a system of administration and the ruler who established it that gave to the world the concept of social justice in accordance with what the Almighty Creator has commanded.
During his brief four-and-a-half year rule of a large realm he gave humanity everlasting glimpses of justice in order to differentiate between truth and falsehood in preparation for the promise of the Lord Most High to eventually make Islam triumphant all over the world under the global government of Imam Mahdi (AS), the Awaited 12th and Last Infallible Heir of God’s Greatest Messenger to all mankind, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA)
He was none other than Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the Divinely-designated Vicegerent of the Seal of Prophets, whose martyrdom anniversary we mourn these days every year in the fasting month of Ramadhan.
The dynamic personality of Imam Ali (AS), the only person born in the Holy Ka’ba, needs no introduction. Even his opponents as well as non-Muslims have admitted his greatness, which includes the epithet “Gateway of the City of Knowledge and Wisdom” bestowed by his cousin Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), who in the year 11 AH on the 18th of Dhilhijja, on the express commandment of God Almighty, had proclaimed him “Master of all Believers” at the famous gathering of Ghadeer-Khom, while returning from the Hajj pilgrimage.
Justice is the manifestation of Truth in society and in personal affairs, which Imam Ali (AS) fully demonstrated in spite of being the greatest swordsman and the single-handed winner of many a battle imposed upon the Prophet by the pagan Arabs and the ever-scheming Israelites.
No wonder, the Prophet had expressed the famous statement: “Truth is with Ali and Ali is with Truth.”
The Prophet’s First Infallible Heir, who after a quarter of a century of being deprived of his right of political leadership reluctantly assumed temporal power as caliph of the Muslim realm, was indeed the finest personification of truth and justice, in defence of which he eventually achieved martyrdom on the 21st of the blessed month of fasting after being struck a fatal sword blow on his head by the renegade Ibn Muljam, while engrossed in the morning prayer in the Mosque of Kufa on the 19th of Ramadhan.
His main concern as caliph was social justice – making sure that everyone received his fair share of Bayt al-Maal or the public treasury, and making sure that no one’s rights were ignored or denied.
Imam Ali (AS) thus showed that breaking a promise, uttering lies, and resorting to deceit for worldly gains, are grave sins. He always kept his promises and honoured his pledges throughout his blessed life, and also during his rule as caliph.
The importance he gives to this subject is evident in his Sermon 41 of the famous book “Nahj al-Balagha”, when he says:
“O’ people! Surely fulfillment of pledge is the twin of truth. I do not know a better shield (against the assaults of sin) than it. One who realizes the reality of return (to the next world) never betrays. We are in a period when most of the people regard betrayal as wisdom. In these days the ignorant call it excellence of cunning. What is the matter with them? Allah may destroy them. One who has been through thick and thin of life finds the excuses to be preventing him from orders and prohibitions of Allah but he disregards them despite capability (to succumb to them and follows the commands of Allah), while one who has no restraints of religion seizes the opportunity (and accepts the excuses for not following the commands of Allah).
Indeed, the Imam had accepted the caliphate in order to establish justice throughout the Islamic realm. He believed that the ruler of the land plays a huge role in determining the fate of the society over which he rules. According to him, a ruler or governor not only manages the economy, the social affairs, the security and prosperity of the people he rules, but he also has a very significant effect on the conduct of society, the social norms, and the way society behaves. The Imam once famously said:
“Ordinary people often resemble their ruler or governor more that they resemble their own fathers”.
When the Commander of the Faithful was spoken ill of by ignorant and evil elements for showing equality in the distribution of shares from the public treasury, he said in Sermon 125:
“Do you command me that I should seek support by oppressing those over whom I have been placed? By Allah, I won’t do so as long as the world goes on, and as long as one star leads another in the sky. Even if it were my property, I would have distributed it equally among them, then why not when the property is that of Allah. Beware; certainly that giving of wealth without any right for it is wastefulness and lavishness. It raises its doer in this world, but lowers him in the next world. It honours him before people, but disgraces him with Allah. If a man gives his property to those who have no right for it or do not deserve it, Allah deprives him of their gratefulness, and their love too would be for others. Then if he falls on bad days and needs their help, they would prove the worst comrades and ignoble friends.”
He was thus a perfect man of God, obedient to the Creator in all aspects of life to the extent that he would not even entertain the idea of committing the minutest act of disobedience. His famous words continue to ring in our ears:
“By Allah even if I am given all the domains of the seven (stars) with all that exists under the skies in order that I may disobey Allah to the extent of snatching one grain of barley from an ant I would not do it. For me the world is lighter than the leaf in the mouth of a locust that is chewing it.”
Alas, the Paragon of piety, Repository of Knowledge and Wisdom, the Emblem of Valour, and the Symbol of Justice left the world prematurely due to martyrdom, but left a lasting legacy that will, Insha Allah (God Willing) will blossom with the reappearance of his Heir, Imam Mahdi (AS) in the end times and establishment of the global government of peace, prosperity and justice.
