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This is like a person doing a favor for someone and then that person goes and thanks a third person for the favor. Such is not proper or just behavior by any means. The true source of justice and truth is to be found in what Allah has revealed. The greatest source of evil and injustice is the ignoring of what Allah has revealed. Allah describes those who do not abide by what He has revealed as the wrongdoers and oppressors. Allah says, .... ,J ,,,. .... J / ,J .... - 0O1 « d-.!JjLi `\ J)t 1::.: િી Xj ,,,. \. A ,,.. \..----- - ----. "Whoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed, such are the wrongdoers" (al-Maaidah 45). Allah knows what is truth and justice. In His mercy, He has revealed the Books and sent Messengers to establish that true justice. However, ignorant humans actually tum their back on Allah's revelations in the name of justice. They believe that they can establish justice through their own man-made laws and systems. Democratic movements, liberal slogans, secularist philosophies, women's liberation movements1 and so forth are all, they claim, meant to bring 1 Unfortunately, many Muslim women today-- as well as many Muslim men-- have fallen into listening to the slogans of the disbelievers. They have concluded that the laws of Islam are not "fair" or "just" to women. They must realize that if fairness and justice are not to be found in Allah's revelation, then they are nowhere to be found. It is only Allah who has the all­ encompassing knowledge to know exactly what is fair and just in society. He is the One with the knowledge to know what the responsibilities of each and every individual should be. Allah created men and women with clear differences while many feminist leaders are trying to remove any semblance of differences between the two sexes. Surely nothing can be more unjust than the Hadith #24: "O My Servants, I have Forbidden Wrongdoing . .. " about justice. But they can never bring about justice. They can never bring about justice because their very foundation is an extreme case of injustice or zulm. Their very foundation is to ignore Allah as the source of guidance and to replace Him by man himself. This is putting man in the place of God and there can be no greater injustice than that. This is the reality although they may not realize it or they may claim to be calling to what is just and good. The Types of zulm In this hadith, Allah has forbidden zulm in a general sense, including all of its various forms. There are three major different forms of zulm. They are the following: ( 1 ) The zulm that the person commits to himself by acts of disobedience to Allah: This type of zulm comprises many acts but the most heinous of them, as mentioned above, is to ascribe partners to Allah. Allah has said in the Quran, quoting and, therefore, approving of what Luqman said, .. J ,,.. ,,,. "" ,J େ_.!.Lw .!1_;.!JI :) ,,.. .... @ "Verily, joining others in worship [with Allah] is a great form of zulm indeed" (Luqmaan 1 3).1 Commenting on this verse, al-Maidaani wrote, Truly associating partners with Allah is great wrongdoing (zulm). This is because it is Allah's right upon His servants that they believe in Him, worship Him alone and not ascribe as partner anyone in His worship. Furthermore, they must obey Him by abiding by what He has ordered and abstaining from what He has prohibited. Whoever worships someone other than Allah, in a manner that Allah is to be worshipped, is placing his worship in an improper place. He is taking a creation of Allah's creation and making him equal to Allah, even if just in a specific matter or attribute. All of that is great zulm ... Scientifically speaking, this is zulm because no one other than Allah is deserving of being worshipped other than Him or alongside Him. Morally speaking it is also zulm. This is because Allah alone is the Creator, the Sustainer, the One who bestows life, will, intelligence and all other great blessings. He is the giver of Life and the One who brings about call to ignore any differences while differences do, in fact, exist. This is not to deny the fact that in many Muslim countries, Muslim women do not get the rights that are given to them by the shareeah. This is also an injustice and wrong. Injustice comes about whenever the shareeah is neglected or ignored. The only remedy for such problems is not a modernist movement or a reinterpretation of the faith but a true, sincere and complete return to the Quran and sunnah. 1 lbn Rajah and al-lliiilrri point out that the most common meaning in the Quran for zulm and dhaalimeen (those who commit zulm) is shirk and disbelief (kufr). For example, Allah says, "The disbelievers are the dhaalimoon" (al-Baqara 254). See ibn Rajah, Jaami, vol. 2, p. 36; al­ Haitami, Fath, p.