Taking More
Than Your Right

The Prophet once said that if two men approach me with a land dispute, and the land is given to the one who cleverly puts forward a false case, then it is as if he has been given a piece of fire. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 26717)

This shows that when something doesn’t belong to someone, and even if he gets a court order in his favor, it will not be his. No court decision can change reality and the truth.

The fact is that illegal possession of something is wrong, and no court decision can justify a wrong. If a person’s conscience says that he possesses something that is not his, then the right thing for him to do is to hand it over to the rightful owner and not expropriate another person’s right. A person’s conscience is the ultimate court. The biggest decision is that which is issued by the court of conscience.