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POLITICS & PRACTICAL THEOLOGY SOCIAL JUSTICE

Divine Duty: Islam and Social Justice

Published: February 4, 2020 • Updated: September 7, 2023

Author: Dr. Nazir Khan

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‫ِبْس ِم ِهللا الَّر ْح ٰم ِن الَّر ِح ْيِم‬

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Table of Contents
For more on this topic, see Justice in Islam

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Note

This article has been excerpted from the author’s contribution to a larger chapter co-authored with
Amal Qutub (registered social worker) and Mahdi Qasqas (clinical psychologist) entitled “Islam and
Social Justice” in the volume Spirituality and Social Justice: Spirit in the Political Quest for a Just
World (Canadian Scholars Press, 2019) available here. The chapter provides an introduction to, and
overview of, the Islamic faith for Canadian social workers counseling Muslim clients with special
focus on contemporary challenges facing the Canadian Muslim community. The portion of the
chapter relating to Islamic theology and social justice has been excerpted and adapted below.

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Introduction

The concept of justice in Islam is rooted in God’s Divine nature. The Qur’an states, “Verily, God does
not do even an atom’s weight of injustice” (Qur’an 4:40). The Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬quotes God as
saying, “O My Servants, I have forbidden injustice upon myself and have made it forbidden
amongst you, so do not commit injustice.”1 In this saying of the Prophet, we see a connection
between how humans ought to act and our knowledge of God’s Divine qualities. In fact, it is a
principle of Islamic theology that our quest in life is to come closer to God by emulating His Divine
Names. One builds a relationship with God by building virtues within oneself. The famous
theologian, Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 505 AH/1111 CE), wrote a book on the concept of God in
which he included a chapter entitled, “Explaining that the perfection and salvation of the
worshipper is in emulating the Divine qualities of God and embodying their meanings to the extent
that is humanly conceivable.”2

All the experiences of life provide human beings with opportunities to embody virtues that emulate
the Divine attributes, such as being compassionate to those in distress, giving generously to those
who are needy, advocating on behalf of the oppressed, and so on. Belief in God’s Divine Justice is
thus directly linked to one’s commitment to strive for justice and to avoid any form of oppression
towards anyone in one’s personal life. In fact, those who stand for justice are the ones who truly
know God and testify to His Grandeur: “God testifies that there is none worthy of worship except
Him, as do the angels, and those endowed with knowledge standing firmly for justice” (Qur’an
3:18). Thus, in Islam, the starting point for any type of justice is rooted in one’s spiritual quest to
love God and be God’s beloved. That spiritual justice begets all other forms of justice.
In Islam, justice is woven into the very nature of the cosmos. The Qur’an states, “God raised up the
heavens and established the Scales of balance” (Qur’an 55:7), a phrase which commentators take to
mean “He established justice (athbata al-ʿadl).”3 This concept of balance is central to the Islamic
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definition of justice which entails upholding the rights (ḥuqūq) due to others, or giving what is due
to the one to whom it is due.4 Upholding rights begins in one’s relationship with God,
acknowledging that God is the sole Sovereign, the ultimate objective of one’s pursuits, the only One
worthy of worship (which constitutes part of the basic testimony of faith in Islam). Pure
monotheism is the Qur’anic message. The deification of earthly creatures, invention of false deities,
and worship of others alongside God all constitute ‘associating partners with God’ (shirk in Arabic)
which is termed a ‘grave injustice’ (Qur’an 31:13). The primary victim of such an injustice is one’s
own soul because it is deprived of the spiritual fulfillment that comes about from a meaningful
connection with one’s Creator, and instead becomes subjugated to false ideologies and worldly
desires.

One’s relationship with God must manifest in the way one deals with others, and thus there is
tremendous emphasis on upholding the rights of all creation—from one’s family, to one’s neighbors,
to all human beings, to animals and the environment.5 A verse of the Qur’an cited routinely at the
end of the Friday sermon states, “Verily God commands justice, excellent conduct, and caring for
one’s relatives, and He forbids all forms of immorality, evil and transgression. He admonishes you
so that you may take heed” (Qur’an, 16:90). The Qur’an admonishes human beings to always
arbitrate every matter with justice (Qur’an, 4:58), and to remove every bias in upholding justice
even if it requires taking a stance against one’s own interests: “O you who believe, be persistently
standing firm in justice, as witnesses before God, even if it be against yourselves or your parents
and relatives” (Qur’an, 4:135). So important is the notion of impartiality to justice that the Qur’an
advises, “Let not the hatred of others towards you prevent you from being just. Be just, that is closer
to piety” (Qur’an 5:8).

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The Islamic perspective on social justice

Justice has many dimensions. Broadly defined, the vertical dimension of justice between
humankind and God is the theological sense of justice while all forms of justice between human
beings constitute forms of social justice. This would include everything from macro-level political
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and economic dimensions to micro-level interpersonal interactions between family members,
friends, neighbors, and so on. The Qur’anic term which best explains social justice is the Arabic
term qisṭ (fairness) which entails a sense of equality and justice in distribution6 and a shared social
project to ensure that all members of society receive their fair share.7 The political aspect of justice
entails fair governance of people according to mutual consultation (Qur’an 42:38). There are many
sayings of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬that praise the virtues of the just ruler and assign a place in paradise for
one who rules with justice.8 As well, the Prophet declared that the most noble struggle is to speak a
truthful word in the presence of a tyrannical ruler.9 This latter sentiment is a powerful motivation
for political activists calling for human rights. When the Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬heard about an
incident in Abyssinia where an elderly woman was pushed, he declared, “How would God sanctify a
nation that does not protect its underprivileged from its powerful?”10 Thus, the prosperity and
wellbeing of an entire nation are at stake when its members fail to protect those underprivileged
from those in power.

In many ways, Islam is fundamentally a faith of activism. According to the Qur’an, an essential
characteristic of believers is their participation in publicly “enjoining good and forbidding evil”
(Qur’an 3:110, 9:71). The Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬said, “Whoever witnesses something evil, let him
change it with his hand, and if he is unable then with his tongue, and if he is unable then with his
heart, but that is the weakest form of faith.”11 In this sense, Islam does not permit one to be a
bystander to any form of injustice; one is morally obligated to do everything in one’s power to
eradicate oppression. Of course, this duty is accompanied by the requirement for wisdom to ensure
that one’s attempt to remove an evil does not backfire and lead to a greater evil. Activism
encompasses both collective and individual efforts. In Islamic terminology, the term farḍ
kifāyah describes a collective obligation which the community as a whole participates in, and the
term farḍ ʿayn describes an individual obligation that must be fulfilled by each and every person.
Thus Islam calls upon human beings to work individually and collectively to eradicate injustice on
the micro- and macro-levels.

The Arabic word for injustice, oppression and wrongdoing is ‘ẓulm.’ It is linguistically closely
related to the word for darkness ‘ẓulmah’ (pl. ẓulumāt) and the Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬drew on this
comparison when he said “Verily, injustice (ẓulm) will become darkness (ẓulumat) on the Day of
Judgment.”12 God, being the “Light of the Heavens and the Earth” (Qur’an 24:35), guides humanity
out of the depth of darkness into the light (Qur’an 2:257). The faithful striving for justice represent
the forces of light wrestling with the darkness of oppression and injustice. One’s proximity to God is
thus based on the extent to which one embodies this light and emulates the Divine attribute of
justice.

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The Qur’an also speaks about humankind having the position of khilāfah (custodianship) in various
passages (Qur’an 6:165, 27:62). One famous interpretation of this is that humanity as a whole has
been given the role of being God’s appointed custodian, deputy, viceroy, or vicegerent
(Arabic: khalīfa) on earth, tasked with the mission of promoting virtue in accordance with the
Divine plan.13 As Ramon Harvey notes, “If the basic idea of the khalīfa within the Qur’an is the
human steward charged with a duty to live according to the moral scale that God has set within
creation, then in the social sphere this implies upholding justice, establishing his law, and
rectifying worldly corruption.”14 Throughout time, as human beings have drifted from their
divinely ordained mission of striving for justice, God has sent prophets in every epoch for the
purpose of re-establishing justice. “We have sent Our Messengers with clear signs and sent down
with them the Scripture and the Scales of balance so that humanity may uphold justice (qisṭ)”
(Qur’an 57:25). This spiritual worldview of custodianship is integral to the Muslim notion of social
justice.
Justice in wealth

Social justice requires fairness in the allocation and distribution of goods to all members and
groups in society. To this effect, there is an incredible emphasis in Islam on taking care of people
who are poor. The two fundamental duties incumbent on believers which the Qur’an repeatedly
cites (e.g., Qur’an 27:3) are prayer to God and giving money to the poor, the latter referred to
as zakāh or alms-tax. Zakāh is the religious obligation that requires all Muslims who possess
sufficient wealth to donate 2.5% of their assets to the poor and needy. As Wael Hallaq writes:

Among all “branches” of the law, zakāt is unique in that it has a dualistic character: on the
one hand, it is an integral part of religious “ritual,” and, on the other hand, it functions as a
substantive legal sphere, constituting itself as a “tax law.” Inasmuch as socially based
financial responsibility merges into rituality, rituality merges into the moral accountability
for society’s welfare. Like the ubiquitous charitable trust (waqf), zakāt was one of the most
important instruments of social justice.15

In addition to the mandatory amount to be paid, Muslims are also encouraged to donate additional
money in charity (ṣadaqah). The Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬quotes God as stating, “O son of Adam,
spend in charity and I shall spend on you.”16 According to the Prophet, one’s generosity is not to be
limited only to members of one’s own community, for he advised, “Donate in charity to people of all
faiths.”17 Indeed, the Prophet himself regularly sponsored a Jewish household, and his followers
continued the practice after him.18

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The abundance of Qur’anic passages containing exhortations to donate to the poor reveal a
conception of spirituality in Islam that is fundamentally tied to social activism and humanitarian
relief. Proximity to God requires proximity to the poor. In a powerful statement related by the
Prophet Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬, God will say on the Day of Judgment:

O son of Adam, I sought food from you but you failed to feed Me. The man would ask: My
Lord, how could I feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds? God replies: Do you not
realize that a particular servant of Mine asked you for food but you did not feed him? Didn’t
you realize that if you had fed him, you would have found him with Me?19

Based on this hadith, prayer to God is understood to be bereft of benefit for those who do not
actualize their worship in the way they care for others.

Individual actions of charity and kindness are certainly praiseworthy, but in order to effect real
change, one must work collectively on a larger scale to address systemic injustices and institute
policies that rectify inequalities on a comprehensive scale. For instance, during the rule of ʿUmar
ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, upon hearing from a woman that she was hastening to wean her infant in order to
obtain a stipend from the treasury (Bayt al-Māl), he instituted a new policy whereby all newborn
infants were documented in state records and a stipend of financial support was allocated to their
mother.20 In doing this, he made a systematic change to help all mothers avoid such hardships
rather than just helping the woman in question.
Standing with the marginalized

When the Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬arrived in Madinah, he began his message to the people with
several instructions which included, “supporting the weak, helping the oppressed, and spreading
peace.”21 It is a fundamental tenet of Islamic activism to always be on the side of the oppressed
which involves advocating for those groups as allies. The Prophet Muhammad taught, “Beware the
supplication of the oppressed, for there is no barrier between it and God.”22 If God listens to the
oppressed, so must we all. In order to advocate effectively for those who have suffered injustice at
the hands of others, one must begin by lending an ear and listening attentively to understand what
has happened, and what their demands for justice and reconciliation are. The Qur’an states, “God
does not love the public mention of evil, except by one who was wronged; Verily God is All-Hearing,
All-Knowing” (Qur’an 4:148). In other words, publicly mentioning the faults of others is generally
prohibited in Islam unless a person has suffered some injustice and oppression, in which case the
society must listen to their demands for justice. The legacy of Islam demonstrates the
comprehensive manner in which the Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬and his followers strived to support all
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those who were oppressed or marginalized in society prior to the coming of Islam.

Orphans

In seventh-century Arabia, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬, one’s status and security
in society were contingent on one’s tribal affiliation. Without a powerful clan for protection, there
was no way to ensure that one’s rights would not be violated or trodden upon by the upper echelons
of society. In this context, the emphasis placed by the Qur’an and Prophetic traditions on caring for
orphans is of profound relevance to the subject of social justice. “God instructs you,” the Qur’an tells
us, “that you stand firmly for justice towards orphans” (4:127). So critical to Islam’s message is
support for orphans that rejecting it has been linked with the rejection of the faith: “Have you not
seen the one who rejects faith? That is the one who repels the orphans” (Qur’an 107:1-2). The Qur’an
refers to orphans no less than 23 times.

The Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬himself grew up an orphan, his father having passed away shortly before his birth,
while his mother passed away when he was only six years old. The Qur’an reminds him that it was
God who ensured his survival and shelter, “Did He not find you an orphan and grant you refuge?”
(Qur’an 93:6). The Qur’an then instructs the Prophet to emulate and replicate God’s care towards
him: “So therefore, do not treat the orphan with harshness” (Qur’an 93:9).

Why should caring for orphans figure so prominently in this faith? The orphan represented the
most vulnerable member of society, most susceptible to exploitation, the one who had lost all
means of physical, financial and emotional security in the fierce tribalistic milieu of seventh-
century Arabia where everything hinged on patrilineal descent. It is easy to see how the Qur’anic
concept of the orphan can be extended as an archetype, emblematic of those who are vulnerable,
marginalized, and disenfranchised in any community, in any time and place.

Slaves

The economic context of pre-industrial societies resulted in the proliferation of coercive labor
institutions such as slavery and serfdom.23 Thus, slavery and forced labor was the most common
form of labor transaction in ancient civilizations24 and was the norm in pre-Islamic Arabia. Islam
targeted the eradication of the maltreatment of slaves as a critical form of social injustice.

First, Islam ordained freeing slaves as an integral part of the spiritual journey towards God:
What will make you understand the uphill climb? It is the freeing of a slave. Or feeding on a
day of severe hunger the close orphan or the needy person lying in the dust. Then he will
become one of those withRead
faith, who urge one
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another to show compassion and mercy. (Qur’an 90:12-17)

The Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬stated, “He who frees a slave, God will set free every limb of his body
from Hell in reward for every limb of the slave’s body.”25 To this end, the early Muslim community
set about freeing many of the slaves in society, much to the irritation of the Makkan elites, the
chiefs of the various powerful tribes in the city. Slaves like Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ and ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah
attained great prominence in Islam, both of whom were freed by the Prophet’s companion Abū
Bakr. The Prophet Muhammad himself personally freed 63 slaves during his life, his wife Aisha
freed 69 slaves, and his companions freed numerous slaves, most notably his companion ʿAbd al-
Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf who freed an astounding thirty-thousand.26 The exhortation to free slaves was not
limited to those who were Muslim. The foremost compendium of Hadith, Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, contains a
chapter on freeing idolater slaves wherein it is mentioned that the Prophet praised Ḥakīm ibn
Ḥizām’s action of freeing 100 non-Muslim slaves during the pre-Islamic period.27

Islam also set about eliminating the mistreatment and abuse of slaves. The Prophet declared, “He
who slaps his slave or beats him, the expiation for it is that he should set him free.”28 The Prophet ‫ﷺ‬
preached, “Your slaves are your brothers. God has placed them under your care, and he who has his
brother under him should feed him with the same food he eats and clothe him with the same
clothes he wears, and do not burden him beyond his capacity, and if you burden him then help
him.”29 The Prophet thus transformed the status of existing slaves, elevating them to servants who
had rights over their former masters. Even referring to them as ‘slaves’ was prohibited: “None of
you should say: My slave, for all of you are the slaves of God. Rather, you should say 'My young
man.'”30

Moreover, Islam condemned the enslavement of free persons as an abominable act, as the Prophet
‫ ﷺ‬stated he would personally prosecute such a person on the Day of Judgment.31 The Prophet also
said that the person who enslaves a free person would not have their prayers accepted by God.32
The companions understood this as a universal principle affirming the freedom of all humankind
from any kind of exploitation or abuse. When the Muslim ruler ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was told that a
Christian peasant had been abused in Egypt, he angrily turned to the governor of Egypt and asked
him, “Since when did you treat people as slaves, when their mothers bore them as free souls?”33

Indeed, the influential Muslim intellectual Muhammad Rashīd Riḍā (d. 1935 CE) postulated that the
gradual abolition of slavery was the final goal of Islam, and if Muslim rulers had been true to the
Islamic code of ethics, slavery would have died out centuries ago.34 While many rulers continued
the institution of slavery into the modern era for political and economic interests before eventually
ceding to European pressure, the Tunisian ruler Ahmad Bey issued an abolition decree in 1846,
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arguing that freedom was the aspiration of Islam, with the support of the two highest religious
authorities—the Ḥanafī Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad Bayram IV and Mālikī Mufti Abū Isḥāq
Ibrāhīm al-Riyāḥi.35

Islam’s campaign against slavery represents an ethic of combating all forms of exploitation,
subjugation, abuse, and should continue in modern times through advocacy for factory workers in
deplorable conditions, as well as rescuing victims of human trafficking, child labor, and forced
marriages.

Persons with disabilities36

Recently, there has been a growth in public awareness and sensitivity towards those with physical
and mental disabilities. Historically, those with disabilities were often stigmatized and
marginalized; in Islamic society, however, some of the greatest legacies were established by famous
individuals with disabilities, which established an important precedent of respect and dignity for
all.

One of the illustrious companions of the Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Umm Maktūm,
a man who also happened to be fully blind. He holds a very unique distinction in Islam, being one
of two people assigned by the Prophet to perform the daily calls to prayer, the other being the
aforementioned Bilāl Ibn Rabāḥ.37 On one occasion in the early period of Islam when the Prophet
‫ ﷺ‬was preaching about the teachings of Islam to the chiefs of Makkah, ʿAbd Allāh came and
interrupted the gathering with a request, which caused the Prophet to frown momentarily. Even
this very slight expression of displeasure (invisible to ʿAbd Allāh) was considered a lapse in
judgment and the opening verses of the 80th chapter of the Qur’an were then revealed which
corrected the Prophet and reminded him that only God knows who will benefit the most from
hearing the message. From this story, we can derive the importance of ensuring that those with
disabilities are equally welcomed at all gatherings, provided equal and equitable access to
educators and educational opportunities, and not discriminated against in any manner.

One of the famous reciters of the Qur’an was ʿĪsá al-Zarqī, better known as Qālūn (d. 220 AH/835
CE). He was the leading reciter in the city of Madinah during his lifetime. His style of recitation is
the norm today in Qatar, Libya, and Tunisia. A lesser-known fact about Qalun, however, is that he
was in fact a person who was deaf, and yet was able to master the art of recitation, with all its subtle
phonetic nuances; it is said that through lip-reading he was able to correct his students’ errors.38
In addition to physical disabilities, Islam provided a precedent for treating with dignity and
compassion those with mental health and learning challenges. On one occasion, a woman with an
unspecified condition that affected her cognition approached the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬to request his
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assistance. The Prophet immediately prioritized her request, he addressed her with a customary
honorific title (which signifies both respect and comfort), and asked her to select any public place
in the city at her convenience so that he could arrange to meet her and assist her. When he met
with her, he patiently stood with her at the roadside until her requests were all satisfied.39 This
story is particularly significant and authoritative for Muslims because the Prophet Muhammad
represents the moral example to be emulated and his actions and teachings constitute the basis of
the Islamic ethical framework. Thus, this specific incident can be used by Muslims to derive many
lessons. For instance, it demonstrates that it is an Islamic goal to ensure that mental health
counseling services are available, and that such services must be arranged according to the terms
of those who utilize them, in a manner that is convenient and accessible for them. It demonstrates
the importance of creating a safe space where people are not stigmatized, but rather addressed
with terms of respect and equal dignity so that they feel comfortable accessing their needs in
public.

Diverse ethnicities

One of the most fundamental aspects of Islam’s social justice message has been its emphasis on
racial equality. The Qur’an has a famous passage that states:

O Humankind, verily we created you from male and female and made you into nations and
tribes so that you may know one another. Indeed, the most honorable of you in the sight of
God is the most pious. Verily, God is all-Knowing, all-Aware. (Qur’an 49:13)

This verse is universally cited by Muslims as endorsing racial equality because it mentions that
belonging to different ethnic identities is not a matter that confers superiority, but rather is
intended to enhance human interactions and harmony. Meanwhile, it is only virtue and piety that
make one more honorable in the sight of God, not one’s skin color or ethnicity.

In his most famous sermon delivered during the pilgrimage towards the end of his life, the Prophet
‫ ﷺ‬declared:

O People, your Lord is One, and your father (Ādam) is one. Verily, there is no superiority of
an Arab over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab over an Arab. There is no superiority of a white
over a black nor a black over a white. Only piety causes one to excel.40
Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ’s story has become one of the most iconic examples of Islam’s campaign against
racism. He was an Abyssinian slave in
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and was freed by Abū Bakr, and
became one of the most prominent companions of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, given the honor of regularly
making the call to prayer (in addition to ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Umm Maktum). In fact, when the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬
returned to Makkah eight years after being expelled from the city, he requested Bilāl to climb on to
the roof of the Holy Ka’ba and make the call to prayer, thus simultaneously establishing Islam’s
message of monotheism and racial equality. The Makkan elites who opposed Islam were horrified
at this sight and began making derogatory racist remarks, and the Qur’anic verse on racial equality
(49:13) was revealed to refute them.41

It is difficult to overstate the importance of Islam to the civil rights movement in the United States.
Malcolm X was particularly inspired by his experience during the Hajj pilgrimage where he
witnessed people of all ethnic backgrounds united in worship without any distinction between
them. He wrote in his letters, “America needs to understand Islam because this is the one religion
that erases from its society the race problem...I have never before seen sincere and true
brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color.”42

Other faith communities

Truth cannot be arrived at through compulsion or coercion, and hence the Qur’an stipulates that
people should arrive at their own convictions willingly: “There is no compulsion in faith; truth is
clear from error” (Qur’an 2:256) and “Had your Lord willed, all people on earth could have believed;
so how then could you try to force people to arrive at faith?” (Qur’an 10:99).

From its outset, Islam called upon its followers to express kindness and compassion towards all
people: “Be compassionate with all those on earth, and the One above Heaven will bestow His
Compassion upon you,” the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬advised.43 As custodians of God on Earth, establishing justice
for all people is of utmost importance, and hence it is those who stand for justice who receive
Divine aid regardless of their ideological affiliation. A famous tradition amongst Muslim scholars
states, “God will support a just nation, even if it be a nation that rejects faith, and He will not
support an unjust nation even if it be a nation of believers.”44 Believers who do not act upon their
belief by establishing justice are failing to live up to the dictates of their religion. True faith requires
that believers manifest their commitment to God by upholding justice for all people.

Islam’s message of social justice was not limited to supporting the rights of Muslims alone. The
Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬affirmed his commitment to a pledge known as Ḥilf al-Fuḍūl, an agreement by some of
the clans of Makkah to protect anyone who was oppressed, regardless of their identity or
background. The Prophet’s affirmation of this pledge demonstrated the duty Muslims have to
protect anyone who is oppressed and that Muslims should have no qualms entering into alliances
with other religious communities in order to fulfill this duty. As the Qur’an states, “And cooperate in
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moral virtue and piety, and do not cooperate in sin or transgression” (Qur’an 5:2). Religious identity
should not be a consideration when deciding whether to support someone in need. In one
tradition, the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬related that God says, “I do not reject the supplications of the oppressed,
even if it be from one who rejects faith.”45

In the previously mentioned story of the Christian peasant in Egypt during the time of the Caliph
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb lies one of the most powerful examples of social justice for all people. Umar
decreed for the Egyptian Christian peasant to exact full retribution upon the Arab Muslim
nobleman who had abused him, disregarding any favoritism based on class, ethnicity, or religion.
Women’s rights

In seventh-century Arabia, Islam played a revolutionary role in transforming the status of women
in society.46 The Qur’an contains several passages criticizing the cultural favoritism of sons over
daughters, condemning the practice of female infanticide (Qur’an 16:58-9 and Qur’an 81:8-9), and
declaring that it is a gift from God when a person is bestowed with a daughter or a son (Qur’an
42:49). In a famous anecdote, when the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬saw a man treat his son preferentially over his
daughter (by greeting only the former with a kiss), the Prophet spoke out and said, “Why did you
not treat them equally?”47 Indeed, the Prophet declared that God promises paradise for whoever
raises a daughter in the best manner, never demeaning her nor preferring his sons over her.48

The Qur’an affirmed the spiritual equality of men and women. The Qur’an states, “I shall not lose
sight of the labor of any of you who labors in My way, be it man or woman; you are equal to one
another” (Qur’an 3:195). The Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬stated, “Women are the equal counterparts of men.”49 The
Qur’an dedicates its fourth chapter, entitled Women, with a call to society to uphold the economic
and marital rights of women. The message of Islam on women’s rights overturned the existing
culture and revolutionized the way men thought about women’s rights. As one of the companions of
the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬testified, “In the pre-Islamic era, we used to have no regard for women whatsoever.
But when Islam came and God made mention of them, this caused us to realize that they have
rights upon us.”50 Women began to occupy public roles including that of market advisors and
supervisors in the case of Samrāʾ bint Nuhayk51 and Shifāʾ bint ʿAbd Allāh.52 They also served the
community as teachers and scholars, the greatest scholar being Aisha, the Prophet’s wife, who
taught over 300 students.

The Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬taught that seeking all types of knowledge is important for both men
and women. The Caliph ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz would consult the female scholar ʿAmrah bint ʿAbd
al-Raḥmān (d. 98 AH/717 CE), whose authority was so weighty that she could overturn the ruling of
a court case. The Muslim female scientist Maryam al-ʿIjlīyah (d. 356 AH/967 CE) designed astrolabes
that were used by the ruler, Sayf al-Dawlah, and an asteroid belt has since been named after her. In
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the field of Ḥadīth alone, there have been over 8000 famous women scholars.53
Conclusion

The Islamic faith, shared by one-quarter of the world’s population, has a profound tradition of
social justice that is rooted in spirituality, seeing humankind as custodians of this world, divinely
entrusted with the duty to always stand on the side of the oppressed and speak truth to power.
Through the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬and his companions, Muslims seek to
revitalize the true essence of the faith, which calls upon human beings to serve God by caring for
those in need.

Notes
1 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: no. 2577.

2 A. Al-Ghazālī, Al-Maqṣad al-asná fī sharh asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusná, ed. Muhammad ʿUthmān al-Khisht (Cairo,
Egypt: Maktabat al-Qur’an, 1984), 45.

3 Jalāl al-Dīn Al-Maḥallī and Jalāl al-Dīn Al-Suyūṭī, Tafsīr al-Jalālayn (Cairo: Dar al-Hadīth, 2010), 709.

4 M. R. Al-Nābulsī, “Khuṭbah al-Jumuʿah, Silsilat al-Akhlāq, Al-ʿAdl,” Nabulsi,

1992, http://www.nabulsi.com/blue/ar/te.php?art=599/.

5 Sira Abdul Rahman, “Religion and Animal Welfare: An Islamic Perspective,” Animals: An Open Access Journal
from MDPI 7, no. 2 (2017): 11.

6 Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 7 (Beirut: Dar Sader, 1990), 377.

7 Ramon Harvey, “Justice and Mercy on the Scale,” Renovatio, July 10, 2017,
https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/article/justice-and-mercy-on-the-scale/.

8 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: no. 2865.

9 Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhī: no. 2174.

10 Sunan Ibn Mājah: no. 4010.

11 Ṣaḥīh Muslim: no. 49.

12 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: no. 2315.

13 Al-Shāṭibī, al-Muwāfaqāt, vol. 3 (Khobar: Dar ibn ʿAffān, 1997), 24.

14 Ramon Harvey, The Qur’an and the Just Society (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017), 83.
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15 Wael Hallaq, The Impossible State: Islam, Politics, and Modernity's Moral Predicament (New York: Columbia
University Press, 2012), 123.

16 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: no. 5352.

17 Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: no. 1194.

18 Abū ʿUbayd Ibn Sallām, Kitāb al-amwāl, ed. Muhammad Ammarah (Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 1989), 727–8.

19 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: no. 2569.

20 Ibn Kathīr, Al-Bidāyah wa-al-nihāyah, vol. 7 (Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir, 2010), 266.

21 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: no. 6235.

22 Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhī: no. 2014.

23 Gregory Clark, A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2007), 220–223.

24 Daron Acemoglu and Alexander Wolitzky, “The Economics of Labor Coercion,” Econometrica 79, no. 2 (March
2011): 555–600.

25 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: no. 1509.

26 ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Shirwānī and Aḥmad ibn Qāsim al-ʿAbbādī, Hawāshi al-Shirwānī wa-al-ʿAbbādī ʿalá tuḥfat al-
muḥtāj bi-sharḥ al-minhāj, 10 vols. (Cairo: Maktabah Tijaria al-Kubra, 1938), 352.

27 The Muslim jurist Ibn Baṭṭāl al-Mālikī (d. 449 AH/1057 CE) comments on this chapter by stating, “There is no
difference of opinion amongst the scholars of Islam concerning the virtue of freeing idolaters as a voluntary act of
worship.” Cited in Badr al-Dīn Al-ʿAynī, ʿUmdat al-qārī sharh ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, vol. 13 (Beirut: Dar al-Kotob al-
Ilmiyah, 2009), 141. In fact, the Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬explained that the more expensive the slave, the more
noble an act it was to free him (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 2518), which was used by the earliest Muslim jurists, like
Imām Mālik (d. 179 AH/795 CE), to prove that freeing an expensive disbelieving slave could be more virtuous than
freeing a believer since it required a greater financial sacrifice on the person donating. Cited in Ibn Ḥajar al-
ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-bārī bi-sharḥ ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, vol. 6 (Riyadh: Dar al-Taybah, 2005), 339.

28 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: no. 1657a.

29 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: no. 1661.

30 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: no. 2249.

31 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: no. 2227.

32 Sunan Ibn Mājah: 5:1023.

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33 Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam, Futūḥ Miṣr, vol. 1 (Cairo: Maktabah al-Thaqafah al-Deeniyah, 2010), 195.

34 William Gervase Clarence-Smith, Islam and the Abolition of Slavery (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006),
205.

35 Elisabeth C. Van Der Haven, “The Abolition of Slavery in Tunisia (1846),” Revue d’Histoire Maghrébine 27, nos.
99–100 (2000): 449–64.

36 There is considerable discussion in the literature over the most appropriate language to use for individuals
with disabilities and health conditions. The trend has been towards “person-first” language (thus, a “person with
schizophrenia” rather than a “schizophrenic person”), which has been seen to be more humanizing and less
stigmatizing. However, the “person-first” model has been challenged in some scenarios by advocates who argue
that “identity-first” language is less stigmatizing, particularly with evidence demonstrating that the label “autistic
person” is preferred by individuals rather than “person with autism.” See for instance Roger Collier, “Person-First
Language: What It Means to Be a ‘Person’,” CMAJ 184, no. 18 (2012): E935–6; also see D. S. Dunn and E. E.
Andrews, “Person-First and Identity-First Language: Developing Psychologists' Cultural Competence Using
Disability Language,” American Psychologist 70, no. 3 (2015): 255–264. The use of sensitivity and respect in one’s
terminology is part of the Qur’anic directive to not refer to one another by undesirable or offensive names (Qur’an
49:11).

37 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: no. 380a.

38 Ibn Khalaf al-Anṣārī, al-Iqnāʿ fī al-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ (Damascus: Dar al-Fikr, 1983), 59.

39 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: no. 2326.

40 Musnad Aḥmad: no. 22978.

41 Ibn al-Jawzī, Zād al-maṣīr (Beirut: Dar ibn Hazm, 2002), 1335.

42 Malcolm X and Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley, (New York: Grove Press,
1964), 345.

43 Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhī: no. 1924.

44 Quoted by Ibn Taymīyah (d. 728 AH/1328 CE) in Majmuʿ al-fatāwá, ed. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Qāsim, vol. 28
(Riyadh: Majmaʿ al-Malik al-Fahd li-Ṭibāʿat al-Muṣḥaf al-Sharīf, 2004), 63.

45 Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: no. 361.

46 For further readings on the status of women in seventh-century Arabia, refer to F. Sulaimani, “The Changing
Position of Women in Arabia Under Islam During the Early Seventh Century,” (PhD diss., University of Salford,
1986).
47 Musnad al-Bazzār: no. 6361.

48 Sunan Abī Dāwūd: no. 5146.

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49 Musnad Aḥmad: no. 5869. Abū Sulaymān Al-Khaṭṭābī (d. 386 AH) writes, “His saying that women are
counterparts of men means their equals and their likeness in creation and nature as if they split off from men. In
jurisprudence, it is an affirmation of the analogy and equivalence in rulings, equal by equal. Such that if the
address is conveyed in the male grammatical form, it is also addressed to women, except for specific topics whose
specification is established by evidence.” See Al-Khaṭṭābī, Maʿālim al-sunan, ed. Muhammad Rāghib al-Ṭabbākh,
vol. 1 (Aleppo: al-Matba’ah al-Ilmiyyah, 1932), 79.

50 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: no. 5505.

51 Al-Ṭabarānī, Al-Muʿjam al-kabīr, ed. Ḥamdī ʿAbd al-Majīd al-Salafī, vol. 24 of 25 (Cairo: Maktabat Ibn
Taymiyyah, 1983), p. 11, no. 785.

52 Ibn Abī ʿĀsim, Al-Āḥād wa al-mathānī, ed. Basim Faisal al-Jawabira, vol. 6 of 6 (Riyadh: Daral-Raya, 1991), p.
4, no. 3179.

53 M. A. Nadwi, Al-Muhaddithat: The Women Scholars in Islam (London: Interface Publications, 2007).

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