SHAFAQNA- Professor Qazi Zadeh stated: According to the behavior and thought of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS): “Justice” means being balanced, proportionate, and stable. Naturally, this balance and harmony can also be applied to governance and considered in contemporary societies.
Below is the full interview between Shafaqna and Ayatollah Kazem Qazi Zadeh, a Scholar at Qom Seminary:
Shafaqna: How can the justice-centered principles of Imam Ali (AS) be reinterpreted and applied in modern societies today?
Ayatollah Qazi Zadeh: It could be said that justice is a clear concept that transcends time and space, and applying it in today’s societies would not pose much difficulty. In other words, some of the issues related to social justice and governance in modern societies were already present in the past, and in some new contexts that have arisen today, the concept of justice can be applied and reinterpreted in modern communities. For example, one of the meanings of justice refers to balance and stability, and it is mentioned in the Quran: “And the heaven He raised and set the balance.”
There is also a narration from the great Prophet of Islam that states: “By justice, the heavens and the earth stand.” In a saying from Imam Ali (AS), we read: “By truth, the heavens and the earth stand.” In these expressions, “justice” refers to being balanced, proportionate, and stable, and naturally, this balance and harmony can also be applied to governance and given attention in modern societies.
If balance is not observed in modern societies, justice is abandoned.
If balance is not observed in modern societies, the concept of justice is disregarded. However, if balance, stability, and proportion are maintained, then the application of justice, as mentioned in the Quran and the words of the great religious figures, is achieved. For example, in a just governance system, there must be a balance between responsibilities and powers.
Anyone with more authority should bear greater responsibility, but if individuals are granted more power without being accountable to the people, the people’s representatives, and the free press (which is an essential element of democracy), and at the same time, others with fewer powers are held accountable for the responsibilities of others, this creates “imbalance” and is far from justice.
The concept of balance and harmony can also be considered in other areas in modern societies, such as the distribution of public resources across various sectors. If some parts of society receive significantly more resources than others, this would again be an example of imbalance, and the justice-centered approach of Imam Ali (AS) has not been implemented in that society.
Shafaqna: How can the justice-seeking teachings of Imam Ali (AS) be used as a foundation to combat gender, racial, and class discrimination?
Ayatollah Qazi Zadeh: One of the important aspects of justice, which is highlighted in the statements of Imam Ali (AS), is that we should view justice as fairness. If justice is understood as fairness, then we must imagine others in our own position and ourselves in theirs and judge accordingly. This is a key behavioral principle found in the words of the Commander of the Faithful. This principle removes discrimination and corruption from society.
Imam Ali (AS) tells his son, Imam Hassan (AS): “Desire for others what you desire for yourself, and detest for others what you detest for yourself.” Furthermore, in the realm of governance, he explicitly refers to this in multiple instances. For example, in a letter to the governor of Egypt, he writes: “Love for the general public what you love for yourself and your family, and dislike for them what you dislike for yourself and your family.”
Thus, the golden principle of “treating others as you treat yourself” can be a practical solution to remove discrimination and corruption from society. Based on this, when Imam Ali (AS) came to power, he faced requests from people asking him to continue the discrimination in the distribution of the state treasury, as was done during the rule of the second and third caliphs. He explicitly said, “If this wealth were mine, I would distribute it equally among all people. However, this wealth is from God, and I will never choose any way other than equality in the distribution of the state funds.”
The roots of gender, racial, and class discrimination
Today, in contemporary societies, the root cause of gender, racial, and class discrimination comes from the fact that we give more rights to ourselves and those close to us, considering them as separate from others. However, if we believe, like Imam Ali (AS), that people are either religious brothers or equal in creation, and all humans are equal, this foundation causes us to eliminate distinctions between ourselves, our own group, and others, and bring an end to gender, racial, and class-based discrimination.