Yahya - Justice and Tolerance in the Qur'an (2003)

INTRODUCTION
9
need for just administrations?
When we talk about justice, everybody shares essentially
the same basic concepts, and these are accepted by the
majority of people right away. This justice will include
people from all walks of life, with no discrimination between
them. It will allocate resources fairly among people, without
taking their race, religion and language into consideration
and will aim to create a world in which the superior is the
one who is right, not the powerful.
What often distances people from justice is their rejection
of it. They may concur in principle, but they reject it when it
conflicts with their own interests. Everyone, for instance,
spurns bribery and in theory agrees that taking bribes is
immoral. However, faced with an attractive offer of a bribe,
some people fabricate "justifications" and violate the
principles they theoretically agree with.
Similarly, everybody knows and agrees that in finding
out the truth and in the establishment of justice, the
authenticity of witness statements are of major importance.
In courts, however, some people whose evidence is given
may readily lie and mislead the jury when their own interests
or the interests of someone they love are at stake. These
people accept justice in principle, yet see no reason not to
violate it when the truth and their personal interests turn out
to be at odds. Alternatively, everybody agrees that public
resources should be shared equally. However, the recipients
of an "aid campaign" may attempt to take a greater share and
even tread over others to accomplish that. In this case, too,
personal interests supersede justice.
The examples are legion. Yet we ultimately face the very