That is, the actions of God are all good and desirable, and He will never do anything wicked and undesirable, and He will not abandon that which is necessary and good. Qāḍī ‘Abd al-Jabbār Mu‘tazilī (died 415 AH) has said: نَحْنُ إِذا وَصَفْنَا القَديمَ تَعالىٰ بِأَنَّهُ عَدْلٌ حَكيمٌ، فَالْمُرادُ بِهِ أَنَّهُ لا يَفْعَلُ القَبيحَ، أَو لا يَخْتارُهُ وَ لا يُخِلَّ بِما هُوَ واجِبٌ عَلَيْهِ، وَأَنَّ أَفْعالَهُ كُلَّها حَسَنَةٌ.
“Whenever we describe the Eternal and Exalted as just and wise, we mean that He does not do anything abominable. He does not abandon (through bias and prejudice) that which is necessary for Him, and everything He does is good.”[^8] In this regard, Shaykh Sayyid al-Dīn al-Ḥamaṣī (died 6th century AH) has said: أَلْكَلامُ فِي الْعَدلِ كَلامٌ في أَفْعالِهِ تَعالىٰ، وَأَنَّها كُلَّها حَسَنَةٌ وَتَنزیهه عَنِ القَبائِحِ وَعَنِ الإِخْلالِ بِالْواجِبِ في حِكْمَتِهِ.
“The statement about justice is a statement about the actions of the Exalted, and all of them are good and immune from the abominable things, and He does not abandon that which is considered necessary by His wisdom.”[^9] Ḥakīm Lāhījī has also said: “What is meant by justice is to describe the Essence of the Necessary Being with the good and beautiful action and to free Him from an act of injustice and abomination.
In sum, just as the Divine Unity ( tawḥīd ) is the necessary perfection in the Divine Essence and Attributes, the Divine Justice ( ‘adl ) is the necessary perfection in the Divine Actions.”[^10] Other justice-oriented ( ‘adliyyah ) theologians have also used similar expressions in defining justice. The justice-oriented theologians (Shī‘ah and Mu‘tazilah) acknowledge that in matters related to the Divine Unity ( tawḥīd ) and justice ( ‘adl ), they are all indebted to Imām ‘Alī ( ‘a ).
The definition they have given for the Divine justice is actually taken from the statement of the Imām ( ‘a ) in this regard. When the Imām ( ‘a ) was asked about the Divine Unity and justice, he replied: أَلْتَوْحِيدُ أَلَّا تَتَوَهَّمَهُ، وَٱلْعَدْلُ أَلَّا تَتَّهِمَهُ. “Unity means that you do not subject Him to the limitations of your imagination and justice means that you do not lay any blame on Him.”[^11] Similar to this statement has been reported from Imām al-Ṣādiq ( ‘a ).
For example, he has said: اَمَّا التَّوْحيدُ فَاَن لّا تُجَوِّزَ عَلىٰ خالِقِكَ ما جازَ عَلَيْكَ، وَأَمَّا العَدْلُ فَاَن لّاتَنْسُبَ إلىٰ خالِقِكَ ما لامَكَ عَلَيْهِ.