ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Theological Instructions LESSON TWENTY: DIVINE JUSTICE Introduction In the previous lessons we have dealt with the contradictions of the two schools of thought, the Asharites and Mutazilites with reference to the issues of theology, Divine will, determinism and human volition, and also upon Divine decree and destiny. However these two schools frequently held the two extremist positions, and have either exaggerated or underestimated these realities.

Another one of the most fundamental differences between these two groups is the issue of Divine justice and the Shi’ite understanding of this issue is in agreement with that of Mutazilites. They have been known as the ‘adliyyah vis-a-vis ashā’irah. This topic is of great importance in the field of theology, and is known to be the crux of the matter in theological issues and is even acknowledged as one of the principles of belief for the schools of Mutazilite and Shi’ite.

One must focus on the point, that the Asharites do not deny Divine justice and do not consider God as being unjust or tyrannical (God forbid), due to clear and apparent verses that establish Divine justice and deny any form of oppression from the Holy Divine realm. However the discussion centres around this issue, that the sole intellect without any explanation from Divine law (the Book and the traditions) can standardise Divine actions.

Upon this basis it can demand the forbearance and accomplishment of Divine actions. For example: Is it necessary for God the Supreme to take a believer to heaven and a polytheist to hell, or are these decisions based on revelation and cannot be applied by the sole-intellect? The point of dispute is that very issue, which has been named as good and evil from the point of the intellect (husn wa qubh ‘aqli).

The Asharites have denied this and instead came up with the idea that whatever God carries out in the transcendental realm (takwīn), it is considered as good, and on the corporal realm, whatever God orders it is considered as good, but not because it is good by itself.

However the belief of the Mutazilites and the Shi’ites, is that action without any subsistence from the corporal and transcendental world, can be distinguish by God as good and evil (husn wa qubh), and the intellect has the capacity to understand good and evil to a certain extent. This understanding results in the belief that the Holy Divine realm is remote from evil actions.