among you is powerful in my eyes until I do not get him his due and the most powerful among you is the weakest in my eyes until I do not make him pay due rights to others”.
A judge, Qadi Shurayh, decided a civil case in favour of a Jew against Ali (RA), who was the caliph at the time, because of insufficient evidence.
Now pause and see how justice is administered in this pure country. There is more than one judicial system available for different classes of society. Justice is a luxury that the poor and underprivileged have no right to aspire for. Because there is no effective system of justice (rewarding the right and punishing the wrong), crime has more room to flourish and we see the rising tide in murders, abduction for ransom, and financial corruption.
However, it is society that ultimately grants legitimacy to a government and shapes its character. Is it possible for rulers to remain clean and honest in the midst of a corrupt society? Our society, regardless of how we describe and measure it, places high premium on property and power rather than on good character and noble ambitions. A drug dealer is not judged according to his heinous crime against humanity. He is accorded VIP protocol everywhere he visits thanks to his flashy cars. Who will dare to see beyond the obvious to find young drug addicts dying a lingering death in the vicinity of the Karkhano market oblivious to the scorching summer and chilly winter?
Society promotes what it tolerates. The Last Messenger (pbuh) is reported to have said, “If one of you sees something wrong, let him change it with his hand; if he cannot, then with his tongue; if he cannot, then with his heart and this is the weakest faith.” To stop evil by force (by hand) is the exclusive domain of the state or anyone in position of authority provided other options have been exhausted and legal requirements have been fulfilled.
In order to strengthen the moral basis of society, it is necessary for a common man to speak up against social evils in whatever capacity he can or at least avoid becoming part of the evil network. As taxes sustains economy so morality sustains society with benefits for all its segments.
The writer teaches at FAST-NU, Peshawar.
Email: zeb.khannu.edu.pk