Philosophy of Social Justice in Islam

The concept of 'social justice' comes within the broader concept, 'justice', and can hardly be understood detached from the latter. It is accepted as an unchallengeable fact that a sense of justice is one of the very important attributes for the healthy functioning of both individuals as well as societies. Objects of justice occupy a very broad range and there is a wide umbrella above them. We often, make judgments on people and their deeds on the basis of our conception of justice or injustice. Therefore, to get at least a basic idea of what justice is, one has to look at the dichotomy, the binary oppositions of 'just' and 'unjust' or 'justice' and 'injustice.' In such situations it will be fruitful to examine the contexts that we generally characterise as 'unjust'. Robbery, criminal acts against fellow beings, discrimination in employment on the grounds of colour or sex, unequal distribution of profits among the individuals of a collective group, or an inequitable supply of food which ends up in the sumptuous eating by one group and the starvation of another group may be instances of injustice. Then, what can be taken as justice? Justice has a great deal