If someone wishes to distinguish between the boundary of...

If someone wishes to distinguish between the boundary of immoderacy and middle and move with balance along the path, they have to walk in the ways of those eminent Imams. In view of what was said, justice is the outcome of the balance of the three human powers and can never be counted as an independent identity. The one who walks in the main path is called just. If someone is in the middle of two powers, this means what is used in philosophy and major jurisprudence.

However, in minor jurisprudence, this does not have the same meaning; the just one is he who puts aside the prohibited and does the obligatory affairs. For instance, a person may not be courageous but minor jurisprudence regards him as being just whereas philosophy and major jurisprudence do not consider him so. Therefore, it must be noted that what we stated concerning the meaning of justice, is derived from the sayings of the sages and is common among them.

Of course, there have been and are people who reject this categorization and give such criticisms: it is not obvious that every affair may have middle or immoderacy. Also, extravagance cannot be beyond the realm of justice. However, in view of what was stated, it became evident that what they criticize does not hold any similarity with the sayings of the sages, but is fabricated by their minds.

The great sages, those who lived before Islam or before it, were all the followers of the Abrahamic prophets and these criticisms are not true about their sayings. As you observed, in the eyes of the sages, as soon as man steps into the main path, speeding up or walking slowly does not oppose to justice. And sometimes walking at speed is good. Before stepping into this path, the rule of “the best of affairs is the middle” is prevalent.

However, after it, sometimes: “Hasten then to precede each other in everything good” (1) appears. All these are conditional upon the fact that man gets a lesson from the evidence of justice as manifested in the sayings and conducts of the innocent Imams and distinguishes his way from them so he may not fall into the pitfall of miseries and substitute immoderacy and middle with justice.

Justice is All-Pervasive All human beings, no matter what language, tradition or culture they have, long for and love justice. That is why the Holy Qur’an has introduced the essence of everyone as being truth and justice.