Islam emphasizes following justice. For example, a verse in the Quran says, ‘Deal justly.’ (5:8) Another verse says: “…So that men may conduct themselves with justice.” (57:25) In these verses justice (adl) is used in the transitive (lazim) tense of adhering themselves to, rather than in the intransitive tense (mut‘a’ddi) of implementing on others. The proponents of this wrong interpretation distort the meaning of the verse: “…So that men may conduct themselves with justice.” (Quran, 57:25) to mean that ‘You have to implement justice in the world,’ whereas this is an injunction to believers to adhere to justice. This kind of misinterpretation has been done with several teachings of the Quran. The result was that Quranic teachings which are the subject of self-following have been turned into a subject of implementation on others by force.
When you take the above Quranic verse in this sense: ‘It is my duty to follow justice in my life’, it creates no problems at all. However, if you take the verse in this sense: ‘I have to enforce justice on others’, then it is bound to create rivalry. Because there are already some people occupying the seat of power. Under the influence of this interpretation, you will make an attempt to unseat them in order to implement your so-called Islamic order. This would inevitably lead to conflict. If the first interpretation makes you see other people as your friends, the second interpretation causes you to consider others as your rivals.
