Justice

"Justice" is a deontological concept which has been sought by the humanity since
Adam and emphasized particularly by Holy Books. One of the four basic concepts of
the Qur'an is "justice". We think that the following Qur'anic approach which means
the "ultimate justice" will enrich the search of "state of right" with new dimensions
which conceives the human being in the center: "Nobody can be punished in terms
of other's faults. Every kind of right is important regardless of its degree of
significance. Even one person cannot be sacrificed for group's sake. The right and
life of a person can not be sacrificed for the sake of society. Even the right of
an innocent man can not be annulled for the whole population."

Since the concept of "justice", one of the basic dynamics of the law, can not
be applied in our country essentially, hot discussions emerge recently. The underlying
reason of the whole discussion seems to be that the positive law which builds up
the formal character of law can not execute "justice", connoting human rights, in
accordance with social realities.

Some questions emerge at this point which needs to be answered: The past authoritarian
and totalitarian systems tried to find a legitimate basis for themselves by connecting
themselves to the judicial systems. So, they confined justice to the borders defined
by them. The question is how will concur the justice defined by systems with the
concept of ideal justice sought by the "social structure" squashed within these
borders.

The concept of "justice" should be considered as a term in the Islamic thought
used in similar meaning by ethics, jurisprudence, prophetic traditions and ontology
expect political science, philosophy of history and law. Nevertheless, the usage
of the "justice" in the Qur'an and by the traditions of prophet has been conveying
the meanings of order, balance, equivalence, equity, judging correctly, leading
to the right way, turning to the caution, honesty, impartiality. It also implies
the coherence in the physiognomy of man and in the universe, harmony and aesthetical
outlook by the creation as an expression of the Ultimate Name.

Considering all of the above mentioned points, we decided our dossier in this
issue as "justice". We plan to elaborate this issue in the conceptual framework
of 'justice, ultimate justice, relative justice, social justice, right, law, constitutional
state, law, punishment, violence, judgment, process, contract, balance, temperance,
equity, virtue, worship etc.' In this conceptual framework, we look for answers
to the following questions: "What is justice? How can we evaluate of the Islamic
judicial understanding from the point of view of the universal justice within the
historical process of the judicial thought? What is the ultimate justice, what is
the relative justice? How can we explain both of these concepts in terms of ethical
values and social reality? How should we interpret the societal differentiation
of judicial applications? At this point, what is the scale for justice; what are
the relationships between the Right and Justice; what is the conception of law by
Bediüzzaman generally? What is the relationship between republic, democracy, and
justice; how can we consider Bediüzzaman's speech of 'the republic consists of justice,
parliament and restriction of power in law' from the dimension of justice? What
is the place of the Qur'anic thought of justice in the modern law; how can we adapt
the justice of Hz. Omar to the contemporary conception and system of justice; how
do we need to interpret Omar's motto 'the justice is the basis of a true government'
from the judicial point of view? How can we consider justice ontologically in Islamic
philosophy? What is the relationship between justice and Lordship of God? How did
the Islamic philosophers interpret this issue?"

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Metin Karabaşoğlu analyzes in his article the concept of "ultimate justice".
He emphasizes that due to this Qur'anic norm of "any individual can not be sacrificed
for the common good; the life or right of an individual can not be sacrificed for
the benefit of society", the history of Islam becomes a history of justice and modesty
from its beginning on.

Hüseyin Hatemi argues that the concept of "justice" should be based on a solid
ground in his article. The author discusses "human rights, constitutional state
and social justice" and also reflects inconvenient ideas about the "Constitutional
State" and "Human Rights".

While asking whether the scale of justice in equilibrium or not, Nuri Çakır mentions
that there is a significant symbolic connection with the scale and justice. The
author especially underlines that in order to measure accurately and provide for
the authentic justice, one side of the scale of justice has to contain the justice
of the Ultimate Just.

Hayreddin Karaman examines the concept of "the constitutional state" in Islam.
He pinpoints some of the controversial practices of this term in democracies. Karaman
also gives many practical examples in order to indicate the understanding of law
and justice in Islam.

Ali Bulaç shows us different meanings of "Justice" in his article. He accents
that justice is a quality of perfection connected to the "name of the Just". While
discussing the concept of "equity", he peruses that the principle of equity in its
literal meaning may sometimes end up with unjust sentences. Bulaç also talks about
the "political justice" and reviews numerous ideas of many philosophers and thinkers
about this subject.

Niyazi Öktem explains in his article of "The Justice of Hz. Omer and the Interpretative
Area in Law" the sociological and teleological interpretation in law with numerous
examples. His starting point is the comment of Hz. Omer in the process of a theft.

We conducted an interview with Mehmet Altan in the conceptual framework of "constitutional
state, law, justice, society, state, etc." In this interview, Altan discusses the
concepts of law and justice asking the underlying question of "what does produce
the law in a society?"

Mustafa Özcan setoffs in his article from the definition of "justice" and states
that this world is the world of wisdom, therefore the affairs are conducting with
relative justice in harmony with wisdom. Özcan also accentuates that God prohibits
oppression to his servants and to consent oppression is also a kind of oppression.

Osman Güner treats in his contribution the significant role assigned to the principle
of justice in Islam by the regulation of interpersonal relations. To establish social
justice, people who are powerful, rich and socially privileged have to share these
privileges with other members of society altruistically. According to Güner, this
approach is a requirement of the Islamic religiosity.

Ömer Faruk Uysal attests "the least bad thing" which has been defined as "to
choice the least evil one among two evils. He also refers to the thoughts of Bediüzzaman
on this subject..

Sadık Yalsızuçanlar defines the "justice" as "staying everything in the proper
place". In this context, the author impresses on the dominating rule of an all-encompassing
mercy, an evident wisdom, help and justice in this world exhibition.

Mustafa Said İşeri pinpoints in his article about the different meanings of the
God's name of the Just, which is considered in the Collection of Risâle-i Nur as
one of the Great Names of God. He draws our attention upon the wonderful consistency
between the truths in the Qur'an and the universal laws. He also refers to the opposing
views of the Mutazila on God's justice, and interprets these views under the guidance
of Bediüzzaman's ideas.

Nimet Demir phrases in her article that the respectfulness of the right and justice
in the whole individual and social life will end up in the progress and spiritual
development, whereas the disrespect will bring about the decline and imperfection.
Thus, she highlights the significance of justice whose realization is one of the
four targets of the Qur'an.

Nejat Turhan explains the relationship between the "tranquility" (sekine) and
justice. He comments the idiom of "the justice is the basis of true government"
and talks about the problems in the distribution of justice in the official buildings
of Law.

Mahmut Kaplan writes his article after a through scan of some diwans. He translates
the verses on justice in the qasidas and mirror-for-princes into Turkish and elucidates
those translated verses.

Hikmet Hocaoğlu scrutinizes in his work the features of Hz. Ali as presented
in Risâle-i Nur as a model personality and the connection of Hz. Ali to Risâle-i
Nur.

***

Now, we invite you to visit the pages of this issue and hope to meet again in
the next issue with our comprehensive dossier subject of "Christianity".