Inspite of the Laws laid down by Quran and
Hadith, there is a possibility that the laws of punishment are injustly applied
in many cases. But incorrect implementation of laws of
injustice given to victims is not error in Islam. It is error in implementation
of Justice by its followers. Do not take muslims as an examples of Islam.
Because many of the Muslims are doing what suits them. Look at Islam and its
laws to understand it.
Many times it is seen that while meting out justice in
society, even religious leaders tend to be biased towards men. Also in some
countries the overall justice implementation is different for the common man
and for the the royals! And in that too, Islamic laws are tweaked to suit own
biases against a section of society / group.
When Injustice is given out in judgement, then the Qazi /
lawyer is doing further crimes himself.
- Abetting the crime / criminal.
- Denying the prescribed punishment to the criminal, hence denial to Allah’s command.
- Denying justice to the victim.
And if the victim herself
/ himself is further forced punishment under another unrelated law, then you
are becoming an oppressor or wrong doer of the oppressed, which is another sin.
Please find some verses
from Surah Al Maidah, which talk about implementation of Justice
5:8 O ye who believe! be steadfast in the cause
of Allah, bearing witness in equity; and let not a people's enmity incite you
to act otherwise than with justice. Be always just. That is nearer to
righteousness. And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is Aware of what you do.
5:42 They are eager listeners to falsehood,
devourers of things forbidden. If, then, they come to thee for judgment, judge
between them or turn aside from them. And if thou turn aside from them, they
cannot harm thee at all. And if thou judge, judge between them with justice.
Surely Allah loves those who are just.
5:50 Do they then seek the judgment of the days
of Ignorance. And who is better than Allah as a judge for a people who have
firm faith?
I also want to discuss another important thing here. We
have seen / learnt that in certain matters, Islamic law is strict and capital
punishment is prescribed for them. Here, I am talking about the punishments for
fornication and adultery. What is important to know here is also that though
Allah has prescribed strict punishments in sins involving immorality /
character, at the same time we have been guided towards keeping some personal
sins a secret. If a sin involves honour and character, then the best way is to
keep it a secret and seek sincere forgiveness from Allah and abstain from doing
it again.
CONCEAL
YOUR SIN
If you study further on this issue, it is brought forth
in 2-3 ways.
Confession
of Sin
In
the hadiths, where Prophet Mohammed SAS was brought forth cases wherein
individuals have themselves come forth and accepted their adultery or illicit
sexual relations, (unless witnessed by others or there existed a proof, through
resultant pregnancy or any other form), then in each case you will see that our
beloved prophet has asked them to go back and reconsider their confession. In
some cases, the question was asked 3-4 times and when the confessor kept admitting it, only then was the punishment implemented.
Let us take the example when Maiz Ibn Malik came to the Prophet Muhammed
SAS and asked him to purify him, the Prophet (SAS) said to him, “Allah have
mercy on you! Go away and ask Allah’s forgiveness! Maiz then left but
soon returned and asked again to be purified, and the Prophet (SAS) repeated
what he had said. The same thing then happened a third time, and it was
only after the fourth time that the Prophet (SAS) asked Maiz some further
Questions and ordered him to be punished (related by Muslim + others).
When the hadd punishment was enforced on him, Maiz tried to run away but those
stoning him chased him down and forcibly enforced the punishment on him.
When the Prophet (SAS) heard about this, he disapproved and said, ‘Why didn’t
you let him go? Perhaps he would have made repentance and Allah would have
accepted his repentance.’ (Abu Dawud)
Ibn Hajar notes in his Tuhfa that
all of the offers made by the Messenger of Allah and his subsequent disapproval
of his companions actions indicate that it is superior for one not to confess
to committing zina, and that even if one did, it is recommended to withdraw one’s
confession. Otherwise, the Prophet’s (Allah bless him and give him peace)
offers would be meaningless (Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 9.113).
Allah says in Soorah
an-Nisa (4): 148, "Allah does not like that evil should be uttered in public except by
him who has been wronged."
Through this verse of Surah An Nisa, it is further
clarified that if a sin like rape or other kind of abuse is committed on a
person, then he/ she has full right to talk about it, in order to get justice.
Boasting
about Sin
The Messenger of Allah (salallahu alaihe
wa-sallam) said: "My entire nation is safe, except al-Mujahirin(those who boast of their sins). Among the
Mujaharah is that a man commits an (evil) act, and wakes up in the morning
while Allah has kept his (sin) a secret, he says: "O Fulan! Last night I
did this and that." He goes to sleep while Allah has kept his (sin) a
secret but he wakes up in the morning and uncovers what Allah has kept a
secret!" [Saheeh
al-Bukharee]
Through this Hadith, it is
clear that committing a sin is disliked by Allah, but worst is committing a sin
and then boasting about it. This is like committing an error and then propagating
it and making it sound lucrative to others.
Hide in Allah’s cover and seek forgiveness.
Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. Hence HE has suggested ways to atone for your sins apart from
prescribing harsh punishments for committing it. It is very easy to brand Islam
as barbaric. But the softness of Islam and the parts about forgiveness and
mercy of Allah are not often highlighted. Even within Islam, I have seen that
many muslims selectively quote somes hadiths out of context which save and
protect their wrong or unjust behavior. And very conveniently ignore the
related hadiths/ verses of Quran which
were also to be referred to.
"O People! It is time for you to refrain from transgressing Allah's
limits. He who commits some of these filthy acts(such as fornication), let him hide under
Allah's cover, for whoever admits what he has committed, we will establish
Allah's Book as regards him(by applying the
warranted punishment for this sin)." [Musnad Ahmad]
Abdullah Ibn Masoud (RA) related, 'A man came
to the Prophet and said: 'O Messenger of Allah! I have mingled with a woman in
the far side of al-Medina, and I fulfilled my desire short of actually having
sexual intercourse with her. So, here am I, judge me according to what you
decide.' Umar Ibn al-Khattab (RA) then said: 'Allah had kept your secret, why did not you keep your secret?' [Sharh
Muslim]
Covering sin of another.
Similarly, if one becomes
aware of somebody else's sin, he should keep it a secret.
Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him) said: "He, who relieves a hardship of this Duniya (world) for a believer, Allah
will relieve (from him) a hardship of the Day of Resurrection; he who makes
easy an indebted person, Allah will make it easy for him in the Duniya and the
Hereafter; he who covers a Muslim (meaning his mistakes and shortcomings), Allah will cover
him in the Duniya and the Hereafter…" [Muslim]
Points to Remember
Let us understand that here we are discussing the sins of honour and character. We are not discussing greater crimes of terror like murder, blood-shedding, rape and the like.
- The purpose of concealing your sin / another’s should be seeking forgiveness from Allah and then proceeding on the Right Path.
- It should not culminate in a heap of sins with no signs of reform and only eagerness to conceal them by all means.
- If you know that a certain person is harmful to society and your witness against him, will save others lives, then it is not advisable to conceal his/her sins.
The previous post about punishments might
have made many shudder or shift in their seats. This related post, proves only
one thing : Allah is Kind, Understanding, Forgiving and Merciful. Subhan Allah.
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