Victory in Human
Courts is Not Final

In a human court anyone can save himself by being cunning or clever; but in God’s court, no cleverness or strategy can be of any avail.

According to a tradition, two men once came to the Prophet of Islam. They were fighting over a piece of land. Each claimed that the land was his. But neither of them had any firm proof. The Prophet said, “You have come to me with a controversial matter, but I am a human being. And it is possible that I may decide in favour of the one who is eloquent and clever with arguments. If I decide to favour someone with something which did not belong to him, he should not take it, because for him it would be a piece of fire. He will appear on Doomsday with that thing which did not belong to him hanging around his neck.” Then they both wept. Both said to one another, “Give my brother his right, give my brother his right.” (Musnad Ahmad 26717)

It generally happens that when there is a conflict between two people, they take the matter to court. The court gives its verdict on the testimony of witnesses. But these witnesses most often do not give adequate proof. The court, therefore gives a verdict which appears to be right but in reality is not so. In this way, because of the wrong decision of the court, often the rightful owner remains deprived of what is his and one who has no title to ownership becomes the owner.

The solution to this is that people should not take the human court to be the ultimate court. They must be sensitive to the truth that there is a court superior to the human court. This is the divine court in which nothing is hidden from God. In the court of God, all cases will appear for revision, and there, verdicts will be given on the basis of fact rather than on hearsay. There, many successes will turn into defeat, and many defeats will be turned into victory.

In a human court anyone can save himself by being cunning or clever, but in God’s court, no cleverness or strategy can save him.