Page 30 - Justice and Compassion in the Qur'an

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JUSTICE AND COMPASSION IN THE QUR'AN

The Exemplary Life of the
Prophet Muhammad (saas)

Allah commands His messengers to maintain justice
among people. The Prophet Muhammad (saas), the last
messenger, started to spread the religion of Islam in Mecca,
where he received the revelations, with a just attitude.
At that period, the Arabian Peninsula, and especially
Mecca, was shaken by social problems. In the period
preceding the Age of Bliss, which is called the "The Age of
Ignorance," there was severe discrimination between races
and religions. Disputes among tribes, an unjust economic
order, plundering, intolerant attitudes between members of
different religions, differences between the poor and the
wealthy and many other injustices were the natural
consequences of such discrimination. The maintenance of
justice could not be established; the poor were oppressed by
those in power and were subjected to violence because of their

race, religion or language. People were forced to work under
very hard conditions, and were virtually tortured.
In commercial life, under the burden of the interest-ridden
system, small-scale businesses disappeared, whereas the
wealthy tended to extravagant consumption. Some of these
immoral acts became almost like traditions. For instance, the
Arabs of the ignorant age who raided and plundered
commercial caravans sold their spoils at very low prices and
influenced market conditions. Sometimes, they kept these
goods deliberately and generated a black market.
In the Qur'an, Allah gives information about the desert
Arabs who made up the majority of society before the time of
the Prophet Muhammad (saas). This society's disinclination to