Quote from the Quran

[el_bryanto]

O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for Allah , witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do.

That is from Surat Al-Mā'idah (or Sura Al-Ma'ida), also known as the Table Spread.

I am curious about how being just is nearer to righteousness, I would have thought it would be part of righteousness, but perhaps in this context justness is more aligning yourself with an external measure of justness - a righteous person has justice inside them.

I am not a Muslim, nor an expert on Islam, but want to start posting various quotes from other world faiths and beliefs for discussion.

Bryant

[CJCRANE]

1. If "righteousness" is a goal

then "being just" gets you nearer to that goal.

Or "being just" is nearer to righteousness than having hatred.

"Nearer" is a comparative adjective so it implies that it is comparing "being just" to something else, and "the hatred of a people" is the other subject of the previous sentence, which implies this is what it is being compared against.

[rug]

2. Why not cross-post this in the Islam Group?

Invite them over to post and discuss here. It can't be pleasant to post positively about Islam elsewhere on DU.

[okasha]

3. I'm not an Arabic speaker,

butI suggest that "justice" here may have a closer relationship to the meaning of the Latin justitia and Sanskrit dharma than it does to the modern English concept of reward and punishment conveyed by current usage of the word.

Justitia, dharma, Greek dike and Native American terms such as mitake ouyasin all refer to a state of right relationship not only wiithin society but between the natural and human worlds. (Native American thought does not distinguish between the two.) I think it's fsirly clear that such a state would be "nearer to. righteousness," especially for a people living in a delicately balanced dedert or semi-desert environment.