ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Human Cycle Lesson 17 6-16-10 The Open School Class: Explanation of Forty Ahadith Text: Jalali, Sayyid Muhammad Husayn. Sharh al-Arba’in al-Nabawwiyah. Arabic edition 1987, pages 459-464.) Summary As humans, we should always be aware of the scales of justice. If you ask a dictator why he is oppressing people or doing a certain “evil” action, he will always give you a reason or justification. He will say that he is not doing anything wrong.

However, everyone else may clearly claim that he is definitely committing atrocities and wrong doings. How do we know what is right or wrong? This is very difficult, and we must keep the concept of the scales of justice in the forefront. Islam identifies rules to assist us. For example, (peace be upon him and his family) said that you wish for that person what you wish for yourself . In other words, put yourself in the other person’s shoes. This forces you to know your limits.

Everything has limitations, and one should never exceed the limit. For example, as a parent, when you see your child misbehaving, you want to admonish him or correct his behavior. Sometimes a parent may get very emotional and start using excessive language or force ( e.g. , uncontrolled beatings or very harsh yelling). Now, if the parent, at that moment, stopped and asked himself or herself, what if the roles were reversed and I was this child?

Would I like to be hit this many times or be yelled at in such a manner for this minor misconduct? No, of course the parent would not want to receive this reaction. If the parent really ponders, he or she will understand that the limit has been exceeded and that this is not justice. In another example, let us say person A did something wrong to person B or caused him harm. Then later on, person A felt really bad and went to ask person B for forgiveness and tried to compensate for the wrongdoing.

What if person B is stubborn and does not forgive person A? Person A would feel horrible, and he would carry such a tremendous pain. That is why one should put himself in the other’s shoes. Yes, person A did something wrong to person B or violated his right. However, person B would want to be forgiven if he was in the shoes of person A. Right? It is only natural and just. In all cases, the scales of justice must be in front of us. The Qur’an (49:13) states: O mankind!