Justice
A society's health in one verse: Allah commands justice, excellence, and care for kin — and forbids indecency, wrongdoing, and oppression.
Qur'anic Reference \u00b7 An-Nahl 16:90
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ ۚ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
English Translation
\u201cIndeed, Allah commands justice, excellence, and giving to relatives, and He forbids indecency, wrongdoing, and oppression. He admonishes you, so that you may take heed.\u201d
Bengali Translation
\u201cনিশ্চয়ই আল্লাহ ন্যায়বিচার, ইহসান ও আত্মীয়দের দান করার নির্দেশ দেন এবং নিষেধ করেন অশ্লীলতা, অন্যায় ও জুলুম থেকে। তিনি তোমাদের উপদেশ দেন, যেন তোমরা শিক্ষা গ্রহণ করো।\u201d
The moral, reflection, and application sections below are educational guidance inspired by the cited verse — they are not a translation or an authoritative tafsir.
Primary Moral
Give everyone their due — and where you can, give better than their due.
Why This Matters
Injustice anywhere corrodes trust everywhere — in homes, markets, and courts alike. This verse compresses an entire social ethic into one line, which is why it is recited in Friday sermons across the world, week after week.
Reflection
Adl — justice — is giving everyone their due, even when it costs us. But the ayah does not stop at fairness: it rises to ihsan, doing more and better than what is owed. Justice is the floor of a moral life; excellence is its ceiling.
Real-Life Application
Find one place this week where you hold power over someone — an employee, a younger sibling, a rickshaw fare negotiation — and deliberately settle it in their favour. Practise adl where no one is watching, and ihsan where no one would expect it.
Reflection Question
Where does your judgement quietly bend when the person involved is family, a friend — or yourself?
Action for Today
Settle one pending obligation fairly today — a payment, a credit someone deserves, or an overdue apology.
Category
Keywords
- justice
- adl
- ihsan
- fairness
- oppression
- excellence
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