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"Güz 2005" 92. Sayı

  • Justice

    Editorial

    "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?"

    ***

    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".