Encyclopedia of Islam

justice

  

417  J

---

“just witness,” trumping the judicial system as 

such. In other words, the status and personal 

qualities of juridical actors is paramount.

Exemplified in the works of Sayyid q

Utb

(1906–66), Muslim intellectuals typically concen-

trate on pressing questions of distributive justice, 

thus lacking the full historical compass and ethical 

range of prior philosophical and jurisprudential 

discussions. Most recently, Muslim scholars have 

persuasively argued for the relevance of Islamic 

conceptions of justice and jurisprudence to the 

ideals and values intrinsic to international 

hUman

rights

, such rights being the primary means for 

realizing and exploring principles of interna-

tional justice. As Nigerian legal scholar Mashood 

Baderin writes, in principle, “the Sharia does not 

oppose or prohibit the guarantee of political and 

civil rights, liberal and democratic principles, or 

the liberty and freedom of individuals in relation 

to the State” (Baderin 167). This line of juridical 

thinking opens the door for interpreting Islamic 

law in accordance with modern legal and ethical 

notions of justice.

See also a

llah

; 

crime

 

and

 

pUnishment

; 

ethics

and

 

morality

; 

Fate

; F

ive

 p

illars

; i

bn

 s

ina

, a

bU

 a

li

al

-h

Usayn

; 

intercession

; m

Utazili

 s

chool

.

Patrick S. O’Donnell