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The Theory of Justice in the Islamic Government and Governance of the Jurist
This treatise was presented in the congress on "Imam Khomeini and the Thought of Islamic Government".
By: Ayatollah Muhammad Jawad Fazel Lankarani (may Allah grant him long life)
Translated from the Persian by Javed Akbari
Foreword
The discussion about legitimacy[1] or necessity of Islamic government under the leadership of a qualified jurist, can take place from various angles.
Some Shia scholars have substantiated Islamic government and governance of the jurist through non-litigious (hisbah) issues or "enjoining good"(amr bil-ma'ruf) because an Islamic government is the highest and loftiest form of good. Some others have proved it by way of reason or with the combination of reason and narration in the sense that the continuation of the Islamic government and administration of people's affairs need a ruler. What is certain is that the ruler must be aware and acquainted with the rules and various aspects of Islam.
In this treatise, we shall study, in brief, the necessity of Islamic government and governance of the jurist from another angle. In other words, another way of the legitimacy and necessity of governance of the jurist will be studied and analyzed. Although a careful and inclusive study of the jurisprudential aspect of the issue requires further opportunity and consideration, this method has been briefly referred to in late Imam Khomeini's words.
In order to prove the legitimacy of the governance of the jurist resorting to this method, there would be no need for the arguments concerning non-litigious affairs or "enjoining good and forbidding from bad" or the narrations about governance of the jurist such as:
«العلماء ورثة الانبياء»
(The religious scholars are the inheritors of the prophets)
or«العلماء امنا الرسل» (The religious scholars are the trustees of the prophets).
Also, to prove governance through this method it is not necessary to make use of Umar bin Hanzala's accepted (maqbula) tradition and the saying of the Imam of Time (a.s.)[2] because this method is based on many conspicuous and clear verses of the Quran as well as reliable traditions which we will mention in the following paragraphs.
In this method, people's vowing allegiance to the jurist is of little importance or of no effect whereas allegiance has been regarded instrumental, to some extent, in substantiating the governance of the jurist.
A brief introduction of this method is as follows:
A) The main purpose of legislating laws, creating religions, sending prophets and divine books is to establish justice in its broad sense as shall be explained later. Establishing justice is obligatory according to the Quran, reason and traditions.
B) The authority of guardianship (Wilayah) given to prophets is not meant for apparent power rather; it is to execute justice among people in its broad sense. Almighty God ordained guardianship for prophets especially the holy Prophet of Islam because of their communion with the source of revelation and their being truly reliable to receive and carry the divine message; otherwise no other valid reason could be illustrated.
C) It can be deduced from the narrations, which consider the religious scholars as successors of the prophets, that the religious scholars have been granted the same authority because executing justice is not particular to prophets and the infallible Imams (a.s.). Thus, those who on account of their knowledge of the Quran and tradition are deeply acquainted with the concept of justice are bound to execute justice. This meaning of justice implies that this group of people has guardianship over people. Further explanation will follow later on.
A qualified jurist can create justice in a true sense in the society because, in my view, the people who are most acquainted with the true essence of justice, its aspects and details are the scholars of the religion, those who are familiar with God's book and the Prophet's tradition.
In his speech delivered on 23rd of August 1986 on the occasion of Ghadir Khum festivity, late Imam Khomeini (may Allah bless him) said:
"Since there was no one among the human beings after the Prophet of God (pbuh) to execute justice in a desirable manner, God ordered Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to appoint someone who had the power to establish justice in the society in a complete manner; one who should administer a divine government. He ordered him to appoint such a person."
Obviously, Imam Khomeini's saying implies that the philosophy and purpose of Ghadir was to appoint a vicegerent and establish justice.
The thing that has made leadership necessary in Islam is that one who is qualified for executing justice and the only person who can truly create justice in the society is the Imam because justice has been defined as "putting everything in its proper place". Justice in its broad meaning (which covers man's entire aspects, all affairs existing in the world and man's relation with respect to other beings) is understood by no one other than the Imam.
The Infallible Imam (a.s.) having extensive divine knowledge can explain justice for the human society and establish it thereupon.
Meaning of Justice
I do not mean by JUSTICE the state or quality of the mind which is one of the characteristics of the soul (nafs) and the most perfect of excellences. It is also not what is meant by Muslim scholars in their jurisprudential discussions (on qualifications of a witness or a prayer leader etc.) and it is also not meant for one of the attributes of the Almighty God (Who never commits injustice to anyone under any circumstances, and He rewards every individual proportionate to his deeds).
Justice here is in a third sense, one which can be interpreted as "social justice" as shall be explained later.
Perhaps, a limited meaning might come to one's mind in the beginning. That is, economic justice should be established in the society; the leader or ruler should distribute the existing resources and facilities among the people in the society in a proper and logical proportion. Therefore, he should not give out the existing wealth to a certain group or individual.
We can widen, after precise contemplation, the meaning of justice in such a way that it would not only include economic and social issues but also a wide range of other issues including the relation between human beings and even between human beings and non-human beings because «بالعدل قامت السموات والارض» the heaven and the earth have survived with justice.
Social justice in this broad sense includes all individual, social and legal rights. Thus, the rights of religions, nations, ethnicities and all divine rights and also the entire affairs related in general to human beings including political, economic and social and worship-related matters are taken into consideration.
In short, social justice in its broad sense includes all dos and don'ts with respect to all dimensions of man's life, society and even man's creator. With the establishment and prevalence of justice, all human beings are led in the right ideological and practical path in such a way that no being would be denied what is considered to be instrumental for its perfection. While explaining the meaning of the verse (إِنَّ اللهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَ اْلإِحْسانِ)[3](God commands justice and kindness) the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (a.s.) said that justice is to render each person his due and kindness is to behave (with others) benevolently. [4]
Khaja Nasiruddin Tusi explains Aristotle's words about justice as such:
"The First Philosopher (Aristotle) has used "justice" in three varieties or concepts:
1) The first form of justice which people should carry out is fulfill their obligations towards God Who has bestowed His blessings and bounties upon men; justice requires that God's servants make their best efforts to discharge their divine obligations.
2) The second form of justice are the rights of the folk, respecting the elites, returning the trust and being fair in the transactions.
3) The third form of justice is to fulfill one's obligations towards the predecessors, carry out the rules of court and execute the Wills and such likes." [5]
The so-called proponents of human rights might comprehend social justice in its limited meaning and they may, after understanding and explaining it correctly, execute it also in the society but they can never have an accurate and clear perception of social justice in its broad sense. Definitely, having such a perception of social justice depends on divine revelation and understanding the Quranic teachings and the commands of the Wise God. Social justice in its broad meaning is intelligible only with the help of divine revelation.
The question is, can we understand or know the rights of God on man without revelation and divine commands? Is it possible to know the rights of religions and religious minorities without relying on divine revelation? Can we explain penalties and punishments with respect to human offenses without seeking help from the Quran and Sunnah. More importantly, can we explain the limits of man's authority and his freedom without the help of the divine sources? Can man's deficient mind and intellect perceive men's rights on one another? Today's human being is unable even to explain the primary rights of parents on their children.
Therefore, it is very clear that the explainer and introducer of such a social justice is nothing other than revelation. The exponents of justice are those who are in communion with revelation or have precise information about it e.g. the prophets (peace be upon them) and infallible Imams (a.s.).
The Necessity of Establishing Justice
Having clarified the meaning of justice, the first question that arises here and which engages our mind is: What is the reason for establishment of such a justice? Is it mandatory to execute justice in its broad concept in the society? In other words, some individuals may think that justice in its broad meaning is simply idealistic because it is not possible to implement justice in the society. In case of possibility, it would be good and desirable, if there are people who implement justice within their own limits, but we have no proof to demonstrate that such a justice is necessary to be executed in the society especially during the period of occultation in which the society is deprived of the presence of the Infallible Imam (one who is truly acquainted with revelation).
Arguments for the Necessity of Establishing Justice
It is necessary to state and take into consideration the arguments behind the necessity of establishing and executing justice in its broad meaning.
First argument: Reason
The common sense, if referred to, considers implementation of such a justice as necessary on the condition that all the preliminaries and conditions of establishing justice are available. Violating it, as per the foregoing explanation, is regarded as injustice, and injustice is rationally despicable.
Second argument: Quran
The Holy Quran has underlined the importance of establishing justice and it is inferred from some verses that the purpose of appointing a vicegerent and sending prophets is establishment of justice. In this regard, we draw your attention to a few verses from the Holy Quran:
1 – (إِنَّ اللهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَ اْلإِحْسانِ)[6]
(Surely, Allah enjoins the doing of justice and the doing of good).
In this case, God, the Exalted has enjoined the doing of justice in an absolute and general manner. Obviously, justice in this verse does not refer to economic and financial matters. The word "ya'mor" (enjoins) clearly indicates the necessity of doing and establishing justice in all aspects and matters of the society.
Some commentators have interpreted "adl" in this verse as fulfillment of obligatory duties and "Ihsan" as the fulfillment of recommended acts. Some others have interpreted "adl" to mean monotheism and "Ihsan" as fulfillment of obligatory and recommended acts. And a third group of people have said that justice means harmony between exterior and the interior (inward and outward of a person) and Ihsan (to the utmost good) means that the interior of a person is better than his exterior.
Since the above verse is not restricted to any of the above concepts and justice is intended in its broad and extensive meaning, as was explained earlier, the question is whether the word "ya'mor", which is an imperative statement, implies wojub "Taklifi" (defining obligation) or wojub "Irshadi" (guiding obligation).
In other words, some may think that the verse contains a guiding instruction especially when the word "Adl" is interpreted as fulfillment of obligatory acts. Obviously, such an instruction about obligatory duties is guiding rather than prescriptive and defining.
It can be said as an answer to the above that a careful and considerate look into the meaning of "ya'mor" will enable us to infer taklifi (defining) obligation from the word "ya'mor" or at least a combination of both defining and guiding (irshadi) obligations. That is, one of the divine obligations is to create and establish justice in human society and those who have the power to execute justice and refrains from doing so, are held responsible in the Hereafter. The intellect's perception of the necessity of establishing justice does not necessarily mean that the command is guiding as there is no concomitance between them. Another point about this verse is that the verse holds an important obligation for people and society and it is not meant to report something; rather it is dictating. Of course, the probability that exists with hadith-e saltanat (authority tradition) and the statement "الناس مسلطون علی أموالهم"(People have authority over their properties) as a reportive statement which has been stripped of its instructional implication does not exist with this verse.
2 –
يا داوُدُ إِنّا جَعَلْناكَ خَلِيفَةً فِي اْلأَرْضِ فَاحْكُمْ بَيْنَ النّاسِ بِالْحَقِّ
("David, We have appointed you as Our deputy on earth so judge among the people with truth.)[7]
One of the effects of deputyship is judgment with truth as it can be understood through the letter "fa" (hence) in the verse. Obviously, judgment with truth does not mean only making decisions to settle quarrels and disputes but it also means guiding the human society and humanity towards truth and perfection, paving grounds for man's moral and spiritual progress, albeit through divine laws and by way of explaining all the rights that may possibly exist.
3 –
إِنَّ اللهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تُؤَدُّوا اْلأَماناتِ إِلى أَهْلِها وَ إِذا حَكَمْتُمْ بَيْنَ النّاسِ أَنْ تَحْكُمُوا بِالْعَدْل
ِ(God commands you to return that which had been entrusted to you to the rightful owners. Be just when passing judgment among people.) [8]
It is clearly understood from the verse that as returning an entrusted thing to its owner is obligatory, in the same manner, passing judgment with justice among people is also mandatory.
Someone may object to this by saying that passing judgment may be confined to settling disputes and quarrels; hence, it is not general and absolute.
The answer to this objection is: The statement "judge with justice" is absolute as it includes decisions made by both judges as well as rulers as stated by some commentators of the Holy Quran. Therefore, passing judgment with justice is not confined to settling disputes; rather it is general by which the divine legislator means judging with justice in the Islamic society among people. In other words, judgment with justice has been used in the meaning of the previous verse as judging with truth.
4 –
يا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَداءَ لِلّهِ وَ لَوْ عَلى أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوالِدَيْنِ وَ اْلأَقْرَبِينَ
(Believers, be the supporters of justice and testify to what you may have witnessed, for the sake of God, even against yourselves, parents, and relatives.)[9]
The word "qawwamin" in the verse is the plural form of "qawwam" which implies emphasis and stress on supporting and carrying out justice under all circumstances, at any time and in all conditions.
Therefore, the holy verse of the Quran pretty well indicates that establishing justice and equality is obligatory but the question, whether the first executors of justice be the public, or prophets or Imams, will be answered later as it is an independent discussion.
Third argument: Narratives
Justice in the sense explained earlier has been clearly and highly emphasized upon by the Infallible Imams (a.s.). We can deduce the following titles from the narratives mentioned below.
A) Justice is the pillar of religion and it is next to oneness of God. There are several traditions referring to this meaning:
«إن أساس الدين التوحيد والعدل»
Oneness and justice are the pillars of the religion. [10]
Therefore, if justice is not upheld and established in the society, there would be no religion. Religion would be implemented and exercised in the society only when it is based on monotheism and justice.
If a theocratic or religious government succeeds in the establishment of justice, it can then claim that religion has been acted upon in the society.
B) Justice is the most important objective of Wilayah and Imamate. There is a tradition which says:
«إنما يراد من الإمام قسطه وعدله»[11]
This hadith considers equity and justice as the main and exclusive purpose of Imamate and Wilayah and it is clear that justice is intended in all dimensions, or else the implementation of justice in limited and obvious cases can be carried out by people other than the Imam (a.s.). The thing which a non-infallible Imam is not able to do is establishing justice in its broad meaning as we explained before.
C) In the governance of a just governor, the thing which is of great importance is reviving justice and wiping out falsehood. We read in some traditions as such:
«إن في ولاية والى العدل... إحياء كلّ حق وكلّ عدل»[12]
What is worth attention in this tradition is the clause "reviving justice" which has been stated as a general premise. That is, justice can be revived only by just governance.
It might be assumed that the word "fi" (in) in this tradition clearly indicates that one of the aspects of governance (Wilayah) and leadership (Imamate) is the establishment of justice and restoration of rights, therefore, it is not a full cause of the implementation and legitimacy of Imamate.
It should be said in answer to the said assumption that, firstly, there is a strong likelihood that the word "fi" in this tradition could have been used in the sense of "ba" which implies causality. That is, through the governance of a just governor, such a thing can take place. Secondly, even if the word presumably means "in" it does not necessarily mean that implementation of justice is an essential effect of Imamate; rather it is the ultimate cause for Imamate.
D) The main difference between forbidden and permissible forms of governance lies in this very fact. We see that some narratives say:
«فوجه الحلال من الولاية، ولاية الوالى العادل»
The only form of halal Wilayah (governance) is the governance of a just governor. [13]
E) God likes a justice-based society.
«علامة رضى الله... عدل سلطانهم»[14]
F) One hour of justice is better than seventy years of worshipping God.
«عدل ساعة خير من عبادة سبعين سنة»[15]
It is necessary to note why an hour of implemented justice is better than seventy years of worship. Although it is clear that the word "seventy" does not have any special characteristic; rather it signifies emphasis and the importance of justice. The reality lies in the fact that worship is not accepted without Wilayah because it has been explicitly stated that nothing has been emphasized upon as much as Wilayah [16](ولم يناد بشىء كما نودى بالولاية).
Among the narratives available, there are references made to some other aspects of justice which we will mention as below:
«إنّ لمحمّد (صلى الله عليه وآله) اثنى عشر اماماً عدلاً»
According to the above narration, the successors of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) have been described as just. Obviously, the purpose of their deputyship is establishing and maintaining justice. In other words, it is clear that describing the Imams as being just is not meant to inform us of the Imams bearing such a characteristic; because in the existence of infallibility, such a concept has no sense. Therefore, the above description is meant to tell that the Imams' successorship is intended to establish justice in its broad sense, and that the establishment of justice in that sense is possible only by this group of people.
There are many traditions about the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his reappearance) and these traditions are considered to be mutawatir (narrated by many reporters) and they can be useful for our discussion.
«يملأ به الأرض قسطاً وعدلاً بعد ما ملئت ظلماً وجوراً»
The most important aspect of the global government of Hazrat Mahdi (a.s.) is the establishment of justice and equality in the society. Conclusively, according to reason, Quran and narration, justice and its executions are necessary. It is inferred from the entire narrations that Imamate is based on justice in the society not creating love among Imams and human beings, although it is favorable in Shari'ah.
Belief in Imamate – in its precise meaning – is belief in the existence of a person who can establish justice and clean the society from all sorts of impurities. Belief in Imamate – in its correct meaning – is belief in the vicegerency of the holy Prophet (pbuh), his successorship, love of him and disavowal from his enemies.
In many narrations in which the word "Adam" has been mentioned, the word "'adl" (justice) has been mentioned beside it which means that establishing justice is the main feature and one of the core objectives of Imamate. Imam Khomeini (may Allah bless him) says: "The ultimate purpose of Imamate is justice."
The executors of justice in society
It is understandable from the foregoing discussions that it is mandatory on the Prophet and his successor to execute justice, and Imamate without implementation of justice is not intended by the divine legislator.
The discussion which arises here and which perhaps makes a major part of this discourse is whether the incumbency of executing justice is particular to the Prophet and his successors or it has to be executed by a qualified jurist also. The question will be dealt here.
It has become clear from the verses mentioned before that the incumbency of establishing and executing justice is not exclusively for the Prophet or his successors; rather it includes others also. Those individuals – as was mentioned earlier – are the qualified jurisprudents, because they are the ones who are familiar with the Quran and the injunctions of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and the Imams (a.s.). It is necessary to pay attention to some of the narrations which state that the religious scholars are the successors of the Imams and prophets.
The traditions such as «العلماء ورثة الأنبياء» (the scholars are the inheritors of the prophets) or «العلماء أمنا الرسل»(the scholars are the trustees of prophets) or such other traditions clearly state that (religious) scholars are the successors of the Infallibles (a.s.) and the prophets. The important point to be taken into consideration is the point of substitution. What is the aspect in the religious scholars that entitles them to be the successors of the prophets and Imams (a.s.)? Is it because the scholars have been appointed to preach the religion or is it owing to their aspect of inheritance and trusteeship. Obviously the first possibility is not acceptable because, if it were only preaching, people other than the religious scholars could also do it to some extent. This feature cannot serve as a point of substitution.
Therefore, the second possibility is fixed and substitution is in line with the purpose of scholars and prophets and that is establishing justice in its broad and precise sense.
There is another tradition from the holy Prophet (pbuh) in this regard:
«اللهم ارحم خلفائي (ثلاث مرّات) فقيل له: يا رسول الله من خلفاؤك؟ قال: الذين يأتي بعدى ويروون عنّي احاديثي وسنّتي فيعلمونها الناس من بعدي»[17]
"O God, bestow your blessing upon my successors (three times). Then the Prophet was asked: "O Messenger of Allah, who are your successors?" The Prophet answered: "Those who come after me, narrate my sayings and traditions and preach them amongst the people after me."
Obviously, the "Prophet's successors" does not include the Infallible Imams (a.s.) only because their position is higher than to be described with "narrate my sayings". Therefore, it is clearly understandable through the narration that the jurisprudents are the substitutes and successors of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). It should not be assumed that the scholars and jurisprudents are the Prophet's successors only because they narrate his traditions (so it does not imply guardianship), because the statement "they narrate my sayings and traditions" serves as a reason for successorship not as a definition. The confusion between these two aspects has resulted in such an assumption. In other words, the origin of this interpretation goes to Umar bin Hanzala's interpretation: «نظر فى حلالنا وحرامنا وعرف احكامنا»(One looks into haram and halal and knows the laws".
The fact is that those who know the entire laws of Islam and those who can be considered as the exponents of divine laws are none other than the infallible Imams. They are intended by the narration not the jurisprudents. There are two things that can serve as evidences to this:
A) The word "Anni" (from me) denotes that the successors are those who narrate the Ahadith (traditions) from the Holy Prophet himself whereas it is clear that jurisprudents do not have such an access.
B) Considering some of the narratives that have been reported with the following concepts from the Infallible Imams (a.s.): "that whatever we narrate, we narrate them from our fathers, and they narrated from the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) and he narrated from the Holy Prophet (pbuh)", it becomes clear that this saying of the Holy Prophet is not particular to the Infallible Imams (a.s.). In this regard, we can make use of the following narrative from Usul-e Kafi:
«عن هشام بن سالم وحماد بن عثمان وغيره قالوا سمعنا اباعبدالله (عليه السلام) يقول: حديثى، حديث ابى وحديث ابى، حديث جدى و حديث جدى، حديث الحسين(عليه السلام) وحديث الحسين، حديث الحسن(عليه السلام) وحديث الحسن حديث امير المؤمنين (عليه السلام) وحديث امير المؤمنين حديث رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله) وحديث رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله) قول الله عزوجل».
Conclusively, I believe this tradition, which Imam Khomeini (may Allah bless him)[18] believes to include jurisprudents also, does not include the jurisprudents at all and it includes the Infallibles exclusively.
In this specific discussion, there is no need to resort to the absoluteness or generality of the narrative so as to say that the verse includes a qualified jurist also. We can use this narration just to prove the principle of substitution.
It is clearly understood from these traditions that religious scholars and jurisprudents are the successors of prophets and Imams in terms of their knowledge of the religion and divine laws. This is enough for us to conclude that a qualified jurist, because of his knowledge of Quran, tradition and justice – in its precise meaning – is the successor of the Imam (a.s.). Therefore, if a qualified jurist can execute justice by way of establishing a government, he must take action to establish the government, and he must spread justice and equality among people as far as possible.
Answer to three objections
First objection:
If it is said that the Quranic verse "يا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ[19]" (O you who believe! Be maintainers of justice) denotes that justice is not maintained by particular group of people such as the prophets or the infallible Imams or jurists; rather all believers should maintain and establish justice. Therefore, those of the believers who can establish government and maintain justice, not only is their government not undivine but it would also be valid and legitimate. Therefore, government and governance are not exclusively for the jurisprudents during the period of occultation. It should be said in answer to the above that:
Firstly, maintenance of justice by people is possible only when the limits and nature of justice are completely explained and elucidated. In other words, after the meaning of justice has been made clear to people, then it would be obligatory on them to establish and maintain it.
Secondly, we know that majority of people are not able to maintain justice in its real sense; they may be able to do it to a limited degree. Therefore, in this verse the divine legislator has asked the people to maintain justice to the possible degree. This is not contradictory to the incumbency of maintaining justice in its broad meaning upon those who have real knowledge of it. In other words, if justice can be maintained by majority of people, it does not mean that the prophets and their successors are not bound to maintain it.
Second problem
(لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنا رُسُلَنا بِالْبَيِّناتِ وَ أَنْزَلْنا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتابَ وَ الْمِيزانَ لِيَقُومَ النّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ).[20]
Certainly We sent Our messengers with clear arguments, and sent down with them the Book and the Balance that men may conduct themselves with equity.
It is deduced from this holy verse that those who conduct equity or justice are people themselves. Late Dr Mahdi Haeri says under the foregoing verse as such:
"Establishing and maintaining justice and disciplinary work are people's duty and it is not the duty of divine prophets because it is below their dignity and lofty position."[21]
It should be said in answer to the above statement:
Surprisingly this great thinker has made notice of the words (men may conduct) but he has not paid attention to the first part of the verse which includes sending messengers and book to maintain justice and equity.
Can people establish justice without the help of divine prophets and without relying on the divine books?
This learned man claims that the people themselves should establish government and establish justice whereas according to this verse the people cannot establish justice without the help of prophets and divine books. The verse implies that prophets and Gods' Awlia (beloved ones) are in the forefront of establishing justice and equity.
To further explain this answer, it is not correct to consider the status of supervision and explanation exclusive to a qualified jurisprudent and the status of governing and administering exclusive to a non-jurist. This dichotomy is not acceptable as we have no rational or textual proof for it.
We cannot consider the jurist as a mere ideologue or supervisor with the government being run and handled by others. The jurist must be at the top of the Islamic government and he should take control of the affairs of society as he is the sole maintainer of justice. This is utterly compliant with the position of the jurist and denying him of this authority would be a way of degrading him. We should note the difference between establisher of justice and he who is directly involved in establishing justice. We should not mix up between them.
Third problem
If it is asked what concomitance is between maintaining justice and the issue of Wilayah, can't we say that he who has the power to establish justice, it is obligatory upon him to do such an act whereas he may have no Wilayah (authority), it is necessary to sort out (in the answer to the question) the kinds of justice and cases where justice may be established:
a) Maintaining justice in matrimonial matters: If a man has many wives, he must maintain justice among them but maintaining justice is not in any way concomitant with Wilayah (guardianship) and it cannot be said that the husband has guardianship over his spouses.
b) Obviously the necessity of maintaining justice by parents among their children is not concomitant with Wilayah, although irrespective of justice, the father has authority over his child.
c) The necessity of maintaining justice in terms of distributing facilities: in this connection also there is no concomitance between maintaining justice and Wilayah.
d) The fourth type of maintaining justice which involves the execution of Islamic laws and implementation of the religion in the society has a clear concomitance with Wilayah because this kind of maintaining justice has something to do with giving the rights of individuals to them which is subject to accepting to the view of Islamic ruler and obedience to him which accounts to Wilayah because Wilayah, in reality, does not have a meaning other than the necessity of following. In other words, Wilayah is a composite of two things: 1 – the validity of rulership of an Islamic ruler, 2 – The necessity of following him. These two components are obviously available with respect to maintaining justice.
Justice and its Relation with Rational Good and Rational Evil
In this regard to this discussion, it may be said that in view of the principle of rational good and rational evil and that the goodness of justice can be discovered independently of religion, there would be no need for discussion about its nature, limits and its implementation with the help of the Prophet and Imams or others because the premise " justice is good" is a famous proposition. As stated by Avicenna, since it is in the interest of the general public, everyone accepts it.
Therefore, regardless of religion and Shari'ah and its owners, one can discover justice in this manner also.
In answer to this, the following should be taken into consideration:
1) Although according to Imamiyah school of thought, the reason is capable of perceiving the goodness and badness of things it does not mean that reason is sufficient for explaining justice in its broad meaning.
It has been made clear in the discussions relating to good and bad that reason is not independent of the religion in all acts and matters. Of course, as termed by late Akhund Khurasani (the author of Kifayatul Usul), the perfect minds which are aware of all the aspects of acts, perceives all the good and bad; nothing falls out of its perception, however it is clear that these minds cannot be perfect without establishing communication with a divine source.
2) What is meant by establishing and maintaining justice is its implementation in the society through a correct and legal way whereas the rational good or bad does not lead one to do an act or refrain from doing it. Other motives are needed and these motives are possible only through sending of prophets and precise explanation of the meaning of justice by the divine legislator and the Islamic Shari'ah.
3) Although the proposition "justice is good" is a famous proposition what is needed in the society is appreciate and depreciate such conducts or give judgment for entitlement of reward or punishment whereas the right of punishment or reward is not from the famous (mashhoor) propositions because famous propositions are from the category of demonstrative proposition which is manifested in the form of one of the six premises namely: primaries, the sensual (hissiyat), the natural (fitriyat), the experimental (tajrobiyat), the frequently reported (mutawaterat), the surmised (hadsiyat).
4) What is necessary for maintaining justice in the human society, after perceiving the limits and nature of justice, is to distinguish between justice and injustice. Of course, it is has been mentioned in its right place that the human mind is capable on only understanding the justice is good but it is not its duty to apply justice or find its manifestations. It cannot also pass judgment in specific matters as to whether a certain act is just or unjust.